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I hosted a wide-ranging conversation with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president, Minette Batters, at the Hay Literary Festival earlier this year. Gove re-occurring , ‘cheap’ food arguments, farming bogs, issues with subsidies, admirable poultry, over-hyped soil and culture changes – so much, so little space, so little time…Minette was delayed but had enough breathe … Continue reading NFU blues

The word rewilding has become common currency in nature conservation narratives, but it rarely features in wider discussions on land use. The very mention of the word – especially without context or meaning – stirs up reactions that can equally engage or enrage people. (First published in Ecos – lead editorial 2016) Where I live in … Continue reading Rewilding in the UK – hidden meanings, real emotions

A reflection on a British Ecological Society symposium ‘Making a Difference in Conservation’ from an ‘outsider’. I was delighted to attend the BES/CCI event in Cambridge a couple of years ago, but as things are never straightforward for a single-subject symposium (‘Improving the links between ecological research, policy and practice’), there was nothing ‘single issues’ … Continue reading Wielding evidence

Transylvanian trek Nature Notebook. As published in The Times August 22 2015 – Part 2 of 2 In Romania, on a family holiday travelling with donkeys through the countryside, nature is abundant. Riches abound for those who forage for mushrooms, raspberries and bilberries among the native norway spruce and silver fir. With goshawks and crested tits flitting across the … Continue reading Wild bees and wolves. Nature Notebook. The Times Aug 2015

During a brief moment as a Nature Notebook columnist for The Times, I wrote about woodland I planted in 2012. ‘See the wood’ (part 1) I’m lucky enough to own a sliver of woodland in the Welsh hills. It’s a pleasure, although it did cause me some angst when I created it two years ago. … Continue reading My woodland updated

The calls to work more collaboratively for conservation are becoming louder. For wildlife’s sake it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Many miss the curlew. The State of Nature reports chart declines in much of our wildlife on which we have robust data, which itself covers only 5% of the 70,000 … Continue reading Curlew collaborative

Drawn to an oceanic feast of spectacles on Blue Planet II and other wildlife TV, closer to home, another spectacular is under way as we munch on cheap salmon sandwiches. Atlantic salmon are moving at the moment. Migratory instincts demanding the fish drive forward, bashing against rocks, jostling at the foot of waterfalls, ramming through … Continue reading Smokin’ salmon

The first national conference on farmer cluster groups with Natural England was a ‘swell’ event. The room was awash with the exchange of ideas, chests swelling with pride as farmers restored stone curlews to farmland, yellowhammers to hedgerows, brown trout to brooks, pollinators to headlands while getting together over beers in their local pubs to … Continue reading Together for wildlife

Prompted by my letter in The Times, I received this from a correspondent who had previously set out his personal framing of farming and nature as a guest blog here (part I). Part II   “Farmers provide multiple outputs – including marketable food and raw materials. Most environmental outputs are not marketable but often result in costs … Continue reading Framing food and nature – a personal view part II