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Category Archives: biodiversity
Return to “Any Room for Scrub?”
While I may be painted by some as a reactionary fighting against the forces of progress (in the form of the re-wilding movement), I have been thinking about this stuff for quite a long time. Reading George Monbiot’s rant about … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, Common Agricultural Policy, ecosystem services, farming, George Monbiot, grazing, management, rewilding, scrub, self-willed land, uplands
Tagged Cumbria, England, English Nature, European Union, Fell, Foot and Mouth Disease, George Monbiot, Habitat, Heath, juniper, Lake District, overgrazing, Park, rewilding, scrub, Wordsworth
6 Comments
Feral by George Monbiot – a review
The Feral Shore I have promised myself, and some of you, that I would write a review of Feral by George Monbiot. I enjoyed the book, at least in parts. Although I will try and refrain from Ad hominem criticism … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, animism, anti conservation rhetoric, anti-environmental rhetoric, biodiversity, carbon storage, climate change, Common Agricultural Policy, Cultural Cringe, Downland, ecosystem services, environmental policy, farming, forest elephant, George Monbiot, invasive species, management, Mesolithic, neoliberalism, rewilding, self-willed land, soils, straight tusked elephant
Tagged Feral, George, George Monbiot, Mark Avery, Monbiot, re-wilding, Straight Tusked Elephant, Trophic Cascade, Yellowstone National Park
15 Comments
What are we paying for?
So it seems that having successfully killed off the valiant attempts to get the Common Agricultural Policy reformed so it provides Public Goods for Public Money, The National Farmers Union is now campaigning to to ensure that the UK government … Continue reading
The Elephant in the Room
my first cartoon ever! and possibly my last. I haven’t posted much this week as work and personal life have intervened. But I have been doing a lot of thinking. I’m still struggling with the idea of Self-willed Land. I … Continue reading
Posted in anti conservation rhetoric, biodiversity, forest elephant, George Monbiot, invasive species, Life of Brian, management, Mesolithic, rewilding, self-willed land, straight tusked elephant
Tagged African elephant, African forest elephant, Asian elephant, Biology, Elephant, Elephantidae, George Monbiot, habitat management, Nki National Park, re-wilding, rewilding
10 Comments
For the Greater Good
Yesterday’s Guardian (or it may have been the Observer) carried an interview with NFU President Peter Kendall, in which Peter observed sagely that climate change is now the biggest threat to British Farming – not through gentle warming, but extreme, … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, anti-environmental rhetoric, biodiversity, carbon storage, climate change, ecosystem services, European environment policy, farming, grazing, neoliberalism, public goods, soils
Tagged Agriculture in the United Kingdom, Bedfordshire, Christopher Booker, common agricultural policy, Genetically modified organism, James Delingpole, National Farmers' Union, Peter Kendall, Public good, Roger Scruton
2 Comments
Very like an Ant
Argentine Ants were introduced ( technically called Human Mediated Dispersal see for example here ) into Europe from their native distribution in South America and have formed a single supercolony stretching an amazing 6000km along the Mediterranean Coast. There are … Continue reading
Posted in ants, biodiversity, invasive species
Tagged Ant colony, Argentine, Argentine Ant, California, Environment, Introduced species, Invasive species, South America
3 Comments
On Dams and Dredging
Dredging a main river in May On May day this year, it was a lovely morning, and being between jobs, I decided to go out for a walk along a local river flooplain. The hedges were alive … Continue reading
The Conservation Cringe
Heard of the Cultural Cringe? As someone who is half English and half Australian I have an inkling of what it is about, a cultural inferiority complex derived from colonial times when “Colonial” culture was looked down on. Gladly those … Continue reading
From Prosperity to Action in 25 years
In 1989 Margaret Thatcher’s Government published Roads for Prosperity. This White Paper set out plans for “The largest road building programme since the Romans” with plans for a 12 lane M25, an outer M25 from Harwich to the M4 near … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, climate change, deregulation, Forestry Commission, public land, regulatory reform, road verges, transport
Tagged Department for Transport, Government, Highways Agency, Margaret Thatcher, Patrick McLoughlin, privatisation, public land, Reclaim The Streets, Road, Twyford Down
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