Category Archives: biodiversity

What are we waiting for?

Reading George Monbiot’s book on re-wilding has made me think a great deal about what would need to change in Britain in order for us to restore nature to something like a sustainable level, and to give it the resilience it will … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, conservation, environmental policy, farming, Floodplains, George Monbiot, grazing, management, public land, rewilding, semi-natural, uplands, wolves | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Age of Can Do

Here’s the piece Mark Avery published on his blog this morning. It encompasses some of the thinking I’ve been doing in preparation for this evening’s debate. Let me know what you think. Can Do We are living in the age … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, animism, biodiversity, climate change, conservation, ecosystem services, environmental policy, farming, George Monbiot, grazing, management, Mesolithic, neoliberalism, rewilding, semi-natural, straight tusked elephant, wolves | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Today’s Blog

Here’s the link to today’s blog, which is on Mark Avery’s website.  

Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, conservation, environmental policy, farming, fishing, George Monbiot, management, rewilding, semi-natural, spiritual value | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blogs here there and elsewhere

Tomorrow I am heading up to London for a debate about nature conservation at the Linnean Society, with George Monbiot, Aidan Lonergan and Clive Hamble. I have written something which will go on Mark Avery’s blog tomorrow morning – this … Continue reading

Posted in anti conservation rhetoric, biodiversity, George Monbiot, rewilding, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The fallacy at the heart of the Governments biodiversity offsetting proposals

I have been thinking a bit more about last week’s Biodiversity Offsetting debate at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Biodiversity, which I blogged about here. Something was niggling away at the back of my mind and I couldn’t quite … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, Biodiversity APPG, biodiversity offsetting, EIA, farming, housing, meadows, Owen Paterson, regulatory reform | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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 , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , | 2 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 , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Bye Bye Benyon

So Richard Benyon, Biodiversity and Fisheries Minister, has gone. One of the innocents sent for sacrificial slaughter yesterday in the first reshuffle run almost completely on Twitter. Benyon had done nothing wrong, he was just too old and too rich. … Continue reading

Posted in bees, biodiversity, climate change, farming, George Eustice, Richard Benyon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment