On a June evening I took a walk in Urquhart Bay Wood on the shores of Loch Ness. The main trail took me down to the confluence of two burns. Relaxing a while, I watched a chaffinch fluttering up from a shingle bank and snaping up aquatic flies that were congregation under overhanging foliage. As
During the lockdown summer of 2020 an immature bearded vulture took up residence in a rugged Valley of England's Peak District National Park. On a September Sunday, my birding buddy Steve and I set out at the crack of dawn and programmed WAZE to navigate us North. Three hours later we descended a windy road
As a geographer I thought I should take the opportunity of the first World Rewilding Day to offer up this brief tour of different versions of rewilding that are emerging around the world. All express the paradigm shift in conservation from managing things – species, habitats and sites - to a focus on restoring the
The print edition of my new book on rewilding arrived last week and, looking for a place for it in my bookcase, I realised that I placed my last book next to three classic volumes edited by Andrew Warren and Frank Goldsmith. These volumes, printed in 1974, 1983 and 1993 contain collections of essays from scientists and policy
This opinion article was published in apolitcal on 19 November 2019 Our planet’s nature is at a low ebb. Scientists are warning of a sixth extinction crisis, and in many regions, even insect populations are in serious decline. The failure of public policy to halt the deteriorating state of nature together with advances in ecological science
This article was originally published in The Conversation on 11 May 2018. Header image via shutterstock In the late 1960s a patch of land to the east of Amsterdam was reclaimed from the sea for industry. Following the 1973 oil crisis this plan was abandoned and flocks of geese moved in. As the geese grazed
Photo: Paul Jepson This is the text of a lecture I delivered in the Valuing Nature Keynote lecture series in London on 22 September 2016 ---------------------------------------------------- Helen Meach, CEO of Rewilding Britain started a recent article in Ecos with the statement: “Britain is one of the most ecologically depleted nations on Earth”. Given
Originally posted at Geographical on 24 May 2016 Rewilding needs to be positioned as a forward looking and complimentary approach to the existing model of conservation In the conservation world everybody seems to be talking rewilding. The last year has seen publication of 45 academic articles (including two major reviews) and over 200 media articles
In March I introduced my students to protected area professionals working to conserve the unique biodiversity and landscapes of Tenerife -Europe’s popular vacation island located off the north coast of Africa. Tenerife is becoming a city island. It has developed rapidly since the rise of package holidays in the 60’s and nowadays receives upwards of
First published in The Conversation on 15 July 2015 The restoration of natural ecosystems – “rewilding” – ought to be a chance to create inspiring new habitats. However the movement around it risks becoming trapped by its own reverence of the past; an overly nostalgic position that makes rewilding less realistic and harder to achieve.
