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Monthly Archives: October 2013
A walk in the woods
The afternoon was mild and sunny, after a wet day yesterday. My wife’s uncle noted that the moon was now waxing so mushrooms would not be growing quite so prolifically. We headed up the hill along a very small road … Continue reading
Biodiversity Offsetting – some related issues
here’s yesterday’s blog, reblogged.
Posted in Uncategorized
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Biodiversity Offsetting – some further thoughts
Today’s blog appears on the Woodland Trust Blog site. http://wtcampaigns.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/biodiversity-offsetting-some-related-issues/.
Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, Charities campaigning, ecosystem services, environmental policy, forest elephant, George Monbiot, housing, management, meadows, neoliberalism, Owen Paterson, rewilding, scrub, spiritual value, straight tusked elephant, uplands
Tagged biodiversity, Church, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, George Monbiot, offsetting, Owen Paterson, re-wilding
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Homecoming
I was undecided until yesterday morning, whether to drive up to London or take the train. Pros and Cons swirled around my mind and the signs of rumination and anxiety were clear enough for me to recognise. In the end … Continue reading
Babies and Bathwater
Non-intervention management ((C) Miles King) I boldly suggested the other day that conservation iconoclast Mark Fisher now agreed with me that stopping human intervention on high value nature sites (such as SSSIs) was not the best way of achieving his … Continue reading
Posted in anti conservation rhetoric, anti-environmental rhetoric, biodiversity, environmental policy, forest elephant, George Monbiot, Mark Fisher, rewilding, Saum, scrub, self-willed land, SSSis, straight tusked elephant, uplands
Tagged Conservation, England, George Monbiot, Mark Fisher, Mike Alexander, re-wilding, Restoration ecology, Site of Special Scientific Interest, SSSI, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Tony Whitbread
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Wolves Dogs and Sheep
Where’s the wolf Fido? By User:Squigman (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons I used to be quite good at statistics, but that was a very long time ago. Now I marvel at my colleagues at Footprint Ecology, who painlessly … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, farming, grazing, rewilding, sheep dogs, wolves
Tagged Agriculture and Forestry, Business, Dog, France, Livestock, Mike McCarthy, Sheep, Wolves
6 Comments
Saum, Clarkson, re-wilding and whither British Conservation?
the challenge of maintaining Saum I just read an excellent review of Feral on the blog of Green Alliance Director Matthew Spencer. It arrived, in timely fashion on the same day as George published his challenge to British Conservation in … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, carbon storage, climate change, Downland, forest elephant, George Monbiot, management, Mesolithic, rewilding, Saum, scrub, straight tusked elephant, uplands
Tagged Conservation, Environment, Feral, George Monbiot, Green Alliance, Habitat, Jeremy Clarkson, Matthew Spencer, rewilding, scrub
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Sacrifices, ancient and modern
We like to think we live in such settled, civilised and rational times. It wasn’t so long ago though – up to the 19th Century – that farmers feared the effect of evil spirits on their livestock and made Land … Continue reading
Posted in animism, badgers, churches, farming, self-willed land, spiritual value, Uncategorized
Tagged Badger culling in the United Kingdom, Beltaine, Bonfire Night, Caithness, Church, Golden Bough, Goodman, Goodman's Fields Theatre, Goodmans Fields, Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes Night, Murrain, Self willed Land
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Goodbye Peter Kendall
Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union, has announced his intention to retire from the role next February. I for one, will miss him – simply because he provides me with so many easy blogs to write. Peter is … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, anti conservation rhetoric, anti-environmental rhetoric, badgers, bees, biodiversity, Common Agricultural Policy, deregulation, environmental policy, farming, NFU, Peter Kendall, public goods, regulatory reform
Tagged Agriculture, Bedfordshire, common agricultural policy, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, deregulation, Intensive Farming, National Farmers' Union, NFU, Peter Kendall, Whitehall
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The Eton Ram Hunt and other stories
Those were the days Yesterday’s blog showed how nearly half of the current Government’s Cabinet went to prominent Public Schools, such as Eton, Westminster, St Pauls, Radley, Robert Gordon’s, Wycombe Royal Grammar, Charterhouse, Highgate, Nottingham High School and Frances Holland. … Continue reading
a new nature blog 