independent commentator
It’s not a tribal blog, it’s a dialogue
Every so often, I aim to produce a pithy (under 800 words) piece always with links to references.
Do apply to do a guest blog – note same word count and references if possible. Be prepared for ‘light touch edit’ to ensure positive, rather than divisive, engagement with the widest range of views.
I’m getting unbridled joy from my new purchase, a pair of second hand binoculars, which I bought to reward myself after undertaking a tough session of environmental dialogue brokering in Brussels. Hardware harm Using binoculars can be a badge. I’m a nature watcher. I’m a hunter. Though of course you can be both (I wrote … Continue reading Rose-tinted glasses
The flash of sparrowhawk wings alerts me to the raptor’s presence as I walk through my woodland in Wales. Coming closer, I notice feathers, then the headless corpse of a song thrush. I hesitate. Will it return to consume its fresh kill? There was a hushed post-raptor air of tension but no sign of the … Continue reading Why I ate a songbird
‘When nature feeds you must know when to look’. One of my few Nature Notebook columns for The Times (in amongst some letters) Always look slowly over the edge of a bridge. I’ve done it all my life — perhaps all anglers do. As I peer at the water a big fat brown trout is … Continue reading Looking over bridges
When travelling along Norwegian highways you can feel hemmed in. That’s because of the high fencing erected aimed at preventing wildlife from colliding with human-driven lumps of fast metal. Biodiversity Intactness Index In another country beginning with N, way down in the southern hemisphere, Namibian wildlife roams free. Not in protected areas, but unfenced trunk-by-jowl … Continue reading Hunting bio-intactness
In south-west Scotland, there’s a patch of moorland surrounded by sheep grazed hills, conifer forestry and an old industrial milling town called Langholm. I first visiting it in 2014 when it was the site of a demonstration project comprising of a partnership between GWCT, RSPB, NE, SNH, Buccleuch Estates. They had commissioned me to write … Continue reading Landscape resilience context
Humans have a tendency not to do something unless it’s easy. From bread-makers, recycling rules, planting trees or engaging with environmental media; we want it fuss-free. Obtuse nature “Some of the stuff you write is impenetrable, Rob”. And perhaps surprisingly, I agree. Equally unsurprisingly, it may be much easier to scroll a line of twitter … Continue reading Nature-based chainsaws
Chopping wood this week made me think about parallels on writing my blog to reflect the past year while looking forward to the next year (2022). Celebrate what’s been learned. Acknowledge the knotty stuff. Not take for granted any sweet spots. Reading the grain to cleave out workable pragmatic solutions. All of which, not surprisingly, … Continue reading Green axe challenge
My trip north to northern fields, moors, forests, streets and COP26’s Green Zone is mainly in pictorial form. There’s much to glean from between the lines: beyond the pic, click the link Updale An old friend puts me up for the night in Swaledale. We talk about curlews and 30 years working in land. I … Continue reading COP, field and moor
I thought I could get away with it. Remain objective, unemotional even, coolly and scientifically detached about change in the countryside. But I was wrong. It was working on an interview with Professor Tim Benton that fried my head. The enormity and range of issues. All at the same time rewiring our brains to communicate … Continue reading Gutenberg moment
Just how tricky it is to design new agricultural and environmental policies. Simultaneously. When the Soil Association goes nuts with Defra over a picture of a combine, the Commons Enviro Committee feature an elephant as twitter cover for a report on consumption, Clarkson’s a policy influencer and laconic popstars front up COP26 on food – … Continue reading Curate’s egg
#WoodofStones – a year’s worth of tweets of a tiny National Nature Reserved in Wales