Category Archives: conservation

A State of Mind

Today is an important anniversary for me. It’s a year to the day since I went to my GP and he diagnosed me with anxiety and depression. I had known there was something wrong for a long time but had … Continue reading

Posted in conservation, ethics, George Monbiot, spiritual value | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Conservation and Re-wilding: the film

The Linnean Society filmed the debate I had with George Monbiot in November, discussing the pros and cons of Re-wilding and Conservation. The film, which was professionally made and edited, is now available to watch here . I haven’t seen … Continue reading

Posted in conservation, ethics, George Monbiot, landscape dynamics, Linnean Society, rewilding, self-willed land | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Set our Landscapes Free

Species need landscape features to shift at differing speeds. Shifting Patterns in Time and Space Some species depend on constantly and fairly rapidly changing circumstances such as the creation and loss of bare ground, changes in the inundation status of … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, Common Agricultural Policy, conservation, Floodplains, greenspace, landscape dynamics, management, rewilding, scrub | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Owen Paterson: Enlightenment Man

Owen Paterson is Enlightenment Man in the modern day. OP believes that the environment needs to be improved and repeats this at every opportunity. He also promotes individualism and the public benefits derived from private profit-making. This is his central … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, badgers, biodiversity offsetting, Charities campaigning, conservation, deregulation, enlightenment, environmental policy, ethics, George Monbiot, management, neoliberalism, Owen Paterson | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

vanishing meadows – less than 5000ha left in England     Natural England come in for a great deal of stick from other conservationists – Walshaw Moor is a good recent example. But I’d like to praise them for some … Continue reading

Posted on by Miles King | 6 Comments

Biodiversity Offsetting and Lodge Hill Part 2

At the end of Natural England’s press release confirming Lodge Hill had become an SSSI on tuesday were these words. “The decision to extend the SSSI clarifies the environmental importance of the site but does not determine whether or not … Continue reading

Posted in biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, conservation, housing, Natural England, neoliberalism, Owen Paterson, public goods, public land, scrub, the cabinet, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The meat of the argument

At least wednesday’s debate on conservation and re-wilding at the Linnean Society, one of the questioners asked whether meat eating and conservation could be reconciled. Afterwards the same person pressed home their point – how could conservationists justify meat eating? … Continue reading

Posted in agricultural pests, conservation, ethics | Tagged | 8 Comments

Conservation needs Change

This a continuation of the series of blogs stimulated by the re-wilding and conservation debate at the Linnean Society on Wednesday. I looked at how people’s relationship with nature has evolved to the point now where we can more or … Continue reading

Posted in agriculture, animism, Beavers, biodiversity, Common Agricultural Policy, conservation, ecosystem services, environmental policy, European environment policy, farming, Floodplains, Forestry, Forestry Commission, greenspace, housing, management, neoliberalism, NFU, Owen Paterson, public goods, public land, regulatory reform, semi-natural | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

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

Re-Naturing or Re-wilding

It was a great debate yesterday evening at the Linnean Society. The only thing that would have made it better is if we had carried on for another two hours. I think pretty everyone in the audience had a question … Continue reading

Posted in conservation, forest elephant, George Monbiot, rewilding, semi-natural, straight tusked elephant, wolves | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment