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… 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…
Environment… Open letter to the Rt. Hon. Michael Gove, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 11/10/201727/03/2020 NOTE: This letter was originally published in Country Squire Magazine here on 2nd October 2017. Dear Mr Gove, As you are aware, Lynx UK Trust has recently submitted an application…
Environment… The Unintended Consequences of George Monbiot. 11/10/2017 NOTE. This article was originally published in Country Squire Magazine here, on 21st March 2017. Don’t get me wrong about all this – I’m rather fond of George Monbiot’s…
Farming… Should Wolves and Lynx be re-introduced into the British Countryside? – Part 2: Lynx and Wolves – a Brief Biology and Discussion. 28/09/201705/03/2018 Part 1 of this series discussed the generalities of introductions into the British landscape and the problems that they have usually engendered. This brings us to consider the specific…
Environment… Should Wolves and Lynx be released into the British countryside? – Part 1: Introductions and Re-introductions. 18/09/2017 An integral part of the rewilding agenda is that of the release or encouragement of large predators back into environments where they have been absent for a long time. In…
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…
