I like nothing better than visiting areas with the rewilding thinkers and discussing the theory and practice of ecosystem recovery. I recently teamed up with four of Europe’s finest Deli Saavedra, Ignacio Jiménez Jordi Palau and Pedro Prata on a road trip to Eastern Portugal, Central Spain and the Pyrenees. I went with three questions in mind: 1) is there an
Turning off Iceland’s snow-covered route 34 into the packed car park of Thingvellir National Park it was clear we had arrived at a major international tourist destination. Squinting into the sun we followed the stream of tourists past the visitor centre with its cool orthogonal design to a viewpoint with a panoramic view of mountains, the
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
On 20th March 2020 over half-a-million 16-year olds were sent home, informed that the exams they had been working towards were cancelled, and expected to occupy themselves unsupported through a lockdown until the autumn. My daughter was one of the luckier ones. As lockdown eased and a glorious spring moved into summer she was able
This blog was first published on the Ecosulis web-site on 11 May 2020 There's never been a better time to rewild your garden. Rewilders great and small Wild nature is currently at a low ebb in Britain: once common birds and insects have suffered sharp declines because our landscapes are too intensively managed and treated
This blog was fist published as a guest blog by Rewilding Europe on 17 February 2020. Rewilding could be a global warming game changer, not only in Europe but also farther north. According to a recently published scientific article, Arctic rewilding with large herbivores has the potential to transform ecosystems and the global carbon budget.
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 first pulished on the Ecosulis blog on 8/10/2019 The UK's national parks were created as part of progressive policy to reimagine our national identity after empire. Seventy years on, it is time to rethink their meaning and purpose. New pastoralism and natural asset thinking could revitalise the UK's national parks. Time for
