Brexit… Michael Gove is an Honourable Man 10/06/201910/06/2019 There are a large number of characters from classical literature who have wielded the knife and slaughtered their own allies. Shakespeare’s plays alone produce several such charmers: Macbeth, Richard III,…
Conservation… Do Buzzards eat Partridge? 31/10/201831/10/2018 In September, to great fanfare and publicity alarums, Chris Packham and George Monbiot released "A Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife". This wide-ranging document claims to having no party political bias, but…
Conservation… Yellowstone, Ethnic Cleansing and Trophic Cascades. 23/03/201829/03/2018 Those many people who enjoy the British countryside by walking or travelling through it will understand that to witness a beautiful view brings us great joy. This act of enjoyment…
Conservation… Michael Gove, the new Northern Forest – and innumerate beavers. 12/01/201830/03/2018 Somewhat overshadowed by the recent and momentous Cabinet Reshuffle - and the news that Larry, the Number 10 Downing Street Chief Mouser, remains in post - was a little reported…
Conservation… What are the ecological benefits of rewilding? 21/12/2017 To be honest, I do not know the answer to my own question. It isn’t as if I haven’t looked for the answer. I have asked the rewilders to provide…
Conservation… What is ‘rewilding’ and who is it for? 02/11/2017 For some time now, I have been searching the fogs and mists in the outer reaches of the conservation movement in an attempt to give shape and meaning to the…
Conservation… How should we manage Predators and Prey? 04/09/201720/09/2017 In the middle of all the arguments and to-ing and fro-ing of the debate upon how we should manage our uplands, the issue of whether shooting does or does not…
Common Agricultural Policy… What is “conservation” and who is it for? 28/07/201728/07/2017 Definitions Even before the referendum, it was becoming clear that all sorts of conservation NGOs and hangers-on were exercised over the possibility of Brexit and what the implications would be.…
Conservation… The impact of upland farming – Part 4 of 4: Definitions and conclusions. 02/03/201702/03/2017 In many ways, George Monbiot's book Feral, is a curious amalgam of anecdote, ecological theory, polemic and autobiography. On two or three occasions, he seems to feel intimately and mystically connected to…
Conservation… The impact of upland farming – Part 3a: A short walk upon Bodmin Moor. 01/03/201701/03/2017 Yesterday, in a spirit of inquiry, I set off early to Camelford and then to the north side of Bodmin Moor. My aim was to walk up to the top…
