Author Interview – Hoopoe

Author interview with Tony Juniper: Just Earth

In this radical, eye-opening book, environmentalist Tony Juniper CBE explores the interconnectedness of the environmental crisis and inequality, and argues that ecological progress cannot be achieved without addressing these disparities. Collating a range of interviews with global experts, and drawing upon 40 years of research and campaigning, he provides long-overdue answers as to how we can achieve real, lasting change.

Tony Juniper portrait. — Tony Juniper portrait © Jason Bye

Tony Juniper CBE is an environmental advocate who has been active in defending nature for nearly 40 years, through leading major organisations, managing global campaigns, and holding high-level government advisory roles. He is a celebrated author, known for numerous award-winning titles, and was awarded a CBE in 2017 as recognition for his contributions to conservation.

We recently had the opportunity to speak to Tony about his book, where he told us about the most challenging aspects of writing Just Earth, the importance of technology in creating a sustainable future and more.

Firstly, can you tell us a little about yourself and what inspired you to write this book?

I am a long-serving environmental advocate. I have led and advised campaigns and campaigning organisations, worked as a professional ornithologist, worked with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, written some books and I now lead Natural England – the UK government’s nature agency in England.

What message are you hoping to convey with Just Earth, and what do you hope the reader may learn from its message?

Just Earth set outs why and how various kinds of social inequalities are massive environmental issues. This is seen in how the poorest and voiceless get hit first and hardest by environmental damage, including exposure to toxic pollution, lack of access to good quality green spaces and the effects of climate change. Those most affected are the groups who are least responsible for causing such damage in the first place. The injustices linked with this limit the agreement of strong global accords and blocks action in countries around the world – new environmental laws and policies are held back because of the plight of the poor, who during cost of living crises are held up as the reason not to increase costs through moves to sustainable farming and clean energy, for example. Inequality also destroys the trust needed to foster the common endeavour that is so vital for fixing complex global issues. I set out something on what might be done, but it is a big set of challenges that we are facing, and the book seeks to inform the reader about the breadth and depth of what is at hand.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing Just Earth?

It is a complex story that the book seeks to tell. Getting the facts and data woven into a readable and balanced narrative was hard work – I am pleased with the result though, and hope readers will find it interesting and informative.?

Hills of Ingleton Waterfalls by Robin Mulligan, via flickr.

Green growth explores the possibility of decoupling the expansion of gross domestic product (GDP) with environmental damage. How important do you think technology will be in a green growth scenario, and do you think technological innovation can truly pave the way for a greener, more sustainable future?

Technology is a vital component of what is needed, but we’ve had a lot of that for decades and not used it at the scale needed. Just Earth sets out why it is important to look beyond solar panels, AI, batteries and all the rest, and looks into the social and political context in which these technologies are deployed. The idea of green growth has been around for years but there are too few examples of it working in practice. One challenging aspect that runs counter to our consumerist culture is the need to use less stuff. We are already causing massive environmental damage with a minority of the world population living like Europeans, and we simply don’t have enough planet to keep growing as we have during past decades – even if it is a bit greener here and there.

Greyfield Woods by Stewart Black, via flickr.

Chapter 11 sets out a ten-point agenda for a just transition to a secure future. If any, which of these do you believe should be the primary focus in beginning this transition, and how long do you think it will take to achieve?

I think the biggest single thing, which links to the idea of green growth, is to change what we are measuring as growth. At present, gross domestic product (GDP) dominates but fails to take account of the environmental damage and inequalities that go with it. Coming up with more comprehensive measures of growth, that also include metrics linked with social wellbeing, ecological footprint, happiness, health and social cohesion would lead to different outcomes. There are ways of doing this, and in the book, I touch on the idea of a Genuine Progress Indicator, which measures far more than simply how much economic activity is taking place.?

What gives you hope for the future of our planet??

We are in revolutionary times and at a moment when the old ideas of the 20th century are facing serious tests. Environmental goals are being diluted and weakened by some governments and companies and democracies showing signs of stresses and strains that have profound implications. My hope is that during the turbulent times that we are in new ideas will begin to take hold. I propose a new frame of reference to go beyond capitalism or socialism and to instead embrace the idea of Thrivalism, a world view that would aim to create the conditions for ten billion people to thrive and enjoy long and happy lives on a living planet. At this point we need to think big.

What’s next for you? Are you writing any other books we can hear about?

I have various projects in mind, and more will be shared on those in due course. For now, promoting the ideas in Just Earth will I expect take up quite a lot of time, alongside all the other things I do.

Just Earth is available to order from our bookstore here.

Author interview with Merlin Hanbury-Tenison: Our Oaken Bones

Haunted by war and loss, Merlin and his wife Lizzie leave the bustle of London and relocate to his childhood farm in Cornwall, only to find new battles awaiting them; crippling debt, a fragmented ancient rainforest, and Merlin’s father struck down by COVID-19. Drawn into the rainforest’s depths, they discover a desperate fight for survival, aiming to save this magical habitat while trying to heal from their own battles.

Merlin Hanbury-Tenison is a Cornish conservationist and veteran who founded The Thousand Year Trust, Britain’s rainforest charity. The charity’s mission is to catalyse the movement to triple Britain’s rainforest cover to one million acres in the next thirty years. His work has been featured in National Geographic, the Guardian and on the BBC. Merlin lives in a rainforest in Cornwall with his wife Lizzie, an entrepreneur and business leader, and their two young daughters.

We recently had the opportunity to speak to Merlin about his first book, including how he came to write it, how important he thinks species reintroductions are in Britain, which challenges he’s faced and more.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, and what inspired you to write Our Oaken Bones?

I was born and brought up on Bodmin Moor on a small upland hill farm with a slice of stunning and rare ancient Atlantic temperate rainforest at its heart. I left to join the army when I was 19 and served on three tours of Afghanistan. After returning, I began to suffer from complex PTSD and found the rainforest to be the best place to escape to and heal. At the same time my wife, Lizzie, was also suffering psychologically having gone through two traumatic miscarriages and my father had almost died from very severe Covid. All of us found the rainforest to be the best place possible to heal, restore and recover. I was inspired to write Our Oaken Bones as I want everyone to have access to the kind of healing that we experienced, and for all of us to use that knowledge to heal the rainforests of Britain in return. We used to be a rainforest island with 20% of our landmass covered by this beautiful habitat but almost 99% of it has been cut down and destroyed. I hope that Our Oaken Bones might act as a catalyst to ensure that this is the bottom of the bell curve and that we don’t destroy any more of this vital habitat. With every year that passes I hope that we will see more rainforests being restored and planted across our western uplands.

Merlin as a child high in the rainforest canopy, exploring with his father. — Merlin and his father in the rainforest as a child.

This book blends elements of biography, natural history, and scientific discussions to combine your personal journey with biodiversity and the pioneering research being undertaken at Cabilla. What motivated you to adopt this multi-faceted approach to writing?

We are all a part of nature, not apart from it – I am passionate about helping people to realise and remember this. It’s easy to say but much harder to feel. I thought that writing a book about trees would appeal to a small audience who are already interested in that subject. Writing a book about the people who live in, and are working to save these rainforests, felt like a subject that would be more engaging and would capture people’s interest. Rainforests are stunning, vital and rare. All I hope for is that people who didn’t even know that we have rainforests in the UK will read this book and finish it in love with the habitat and passionate about saving them. These are our most romantic and folkloric spaces, but many people are unaware of them or their decline. I hope that by weaving personal, historic and scientific narratives together we can shine a light on this important subject.

In Chapter 6, you detail your successful journey reintroducing beavers to Cabilla in 2020. How important do you think reintroducing native species to the UK will be in restoring our natural world, and are you hoping to introduce any other species to Cabilla?

I believe this is a vital area. We live on an island – if important native species are removed and new, non-native species are introduced the results can be catastrophic. This is well understood on islands like Australia and New Zealand, but in the UK, we seem to have a bit of a societal blind spot about it. Returning beavers to the Cabilla Valley has created the most wonderful explosion in biodiversity and habitat abundance. The change was near immediate and very evident. I believe that we can create similar improvements in the British countryside with the slow and careful return of other species, like Pine Martens and wild cats. This should never be rushed, and the most important focus area is ensuring that everyone in a catchment or a release area is on side and positive about the changes. This is all part of the effort to return to a more equilibrious state of British flora and fauna where species that evolved here are interacting in a more natural way together. It’ll be a very long process, multi-generational, but I’m positive that as long as we all remain optimistic we can restore much of what we’ve damaged and lost over the previous centuries.

There is often friction between conservationists and farmers in relation to the effects of livestock on landscapes, but I really enjoyed hearing about your work with farmers to create a blueprint for new farming methods focusing on ecological and economic benefits. How important do you think the shift from working against farmers, to working with them, in conserving our shared landscape will be?

This will all be impossible without the farming community. About 70% of the UK is farmland so we will never be able to combat climate change, restore biodiversity or bring back our rainforests if we don’t work closely and compassionately with farmers. This should never have been an issue historically and I believe it comes from a place of misunderstanding and poor communication. Conservationists and farmers should be the closest of collaborators and colleagues. We are all striving for the same goal; a Britain which provides food for all those who live in it, has an improving and resilient countryside and is full of some of the most stunning natural habitats on earth. Farmers are the key to making this happen and we can help them by ensuring that Government is providing them with the support and guidance to farm in a way that meets all these goals.

The Cabilla Cornwall Retreat offers a unique space for wellness groups, veterans, key workers and individuals to experience the wonders of nature. What are the key benefits of connecting with nature for well-being, and how does this align with the broader goals of the Thousand Year Project?

There is some simply stunning research underway which demonstrates how spending time in native rainforest environments can be beneficial for human psychological and physical health. I am a living example of this, as are many of my family. We have brought a large number of people into the Cabilla Valley as part of the retreat business here and the impacts have always been heart-warming and invigorating. We always do this work with a focus on the habitat first to ensure that we aren’t bringing people into the rainforest at the detriment of the habitat. This is very important. We are currently living through a mental health pandemic and an obesity crisis. There are many reasons for both of these issues and there are also many cures and methods to help alleviate them. The natural world, and rainforests in particular, are a key weapon in this fight. I would never claim that they might replace clinical or pharmacological healing, but we must begin to view all the options side by side and not in isolation. I have seen such marvellous healing impacts in the valley here and I believe that everyone in the UK, especially those who live in urban areas, should be encouraged and assisted in accessing nature as part of their general health and wellbeing.

Have you faced any significant challenges over the past few years that you can share with us?

So many! This would be another book in itself. Running a small business has been an adventure but I won’t pretend that it hasn’t been extremely difficult. The state of our economy and the environment for small business owners is pretty dreadful in the UK right now. When you add that Cabilla is a hospitality business set up during the Covid lockdowns and have then had to survive through all the financial conniptions that our country has been going through, it has resulted in many sleepless nights. Setting up a charity is also a very challenging undertaking and the ability to fundraise at the moment in the UK is particularly difficult. It took me over a year to convince the Charity Commission that we even have rainforests in the UK and that’s before we even entered into the treacle-like bureaucracy of the charity sector. Running a farm is also very challenging at the moment as we have departed the EU, therefore the subsidy systems are changing which has created a number of very difficult financial implications that we’re still trying to work through. This is all before I even come to the difficulty of reintroducing beavers and then keeping them in their government mandated enclosure – but there’s a whole chapter on that in the book, and I don’t want to spoil the fun here!

What do you hope other landowners can learn from the pioneering and vital work you’re doing?

My hope is that the Thousand Year Project that we have started in the Cabilla Valley will act as a blueprint for other interested farmers and landowners on the uplands who are looking to evolve and transition their farming techniques to one that works with nature rather than against it. We are a small farm and below the average farm size across the UK, so this isn’t some unachievable large-scale project that the average farmer wouldn’t be able to do. Everything that we have done here has been designed to not only repair biodiversity and the habitat but also to create a more resilient farming business model under the new subsidy and farm payments system. My hope is that others will take some of what we’ve done here and implement it on their own farms. This is how we will one day come to see rainforests across the uplands and once again view them as a bedrock of our cultural landscape.

Finally, what are your hopes for the future of Cabilla?

I would love to find a way to bring the valley into some form of public ownership so that the work that has begun here will be guaranteed and continue long after I have gone. The whole point of the Thousand Year Project was to create a multi-generational effort. This should be how all land strategy is viewed and conceived. I want my own children to feel free to do whatever they choose to with their lives in the knowledge that the rainforest restoration that we have begun at Cabilla will outlast all of us. I hope that this will become a national project that truly continues until our rainforests have returned across much of our uplands.

Our Oaken Bones is available from our online bookstore.

Author Interview with Dan Bagur: Pine Marten

Offering new insights into how they grow, learn and live, Pine Marten delves deep into the secretive behaviour of one of our rarest and most elusive mammals. Packed with stunning candid images and a library of behaviours and vocalisations, this groundbreaking book provides insight into Pine Marten social interactions, courtship, mating, nesting and kit rearing, feeding and diet, as well as their relationships with other wildlife.

Having spent several years watching and filming Pine Martens in the forests of Austria, Bavaria and Ireland, Dan Bagur has developed an in-depth understanding of their habits and behaviour. He has written or contributed to over 26 books on nature, and his wildlife photography, artwork and articles are published all over the world.

We had the opportunity to speak to Dan about Pine Marten, including his inspiration for the book, his hopes for the future of Pine Martens in the UK and more.

Can you start by sharing how you first came to work with Pine Martens, and what was the journey that led to the publication of this book?

Before answering, I was pleased when my publisher told me that you wanted to interview me. I’m a lifelong admirer of the NHBS. I used to get your catalogues delivered as a teenager back in the early 90s when you were still a mail-order book catalogue – I’ve bought and enjoyed many books from you over the years.

Back to your question. Yes. As a nature lover, I’ve always wanted a house surrounded by wildlife. When I moved to Ireland, it finally became a reality. The first time I viewed the house, I found a Pine Marten scat in the garden! It’s a dream for someone like me to be surrounded by these endangered mammals and I’ve been watching their behaviour ever since. Being so elusive, they represent a significant challenge to the wildlife photographer/filmmaker, it occurred to me that Pine Martens would be one of the toughest land mammals to study in the wild – observing them is so rewarding precisely because it’s so difficult. You must earn every new insight.

Direct observation is the best way to learn; the animals themselves are the primary source after all. It starts with interest but quickly becomes, well, the word that comes to mind whenever I think about exactly how to define it is joy. Joy can be very addictive. It’s hard to let go of that feeling. Being plugged directly into the Pine Martens and their daily lives is exciting.

Pine marten at night — Pine Marten at night. ©Dan Bagur 2025

A long field study enables you to get a much clearer picture of what’s really happening: you get to confirm and reconfirm your initial assumptions, connect to individuals and see their interactions and behaviour over an extended timescale. I’ve been observing wild Pine Martens for over five years now – I’ve spent many thousands of hours following, watching and photographing them. I’ve encountered many individuals and seen them climbing, courting, growling, chattering, hunting, feeding, fleeing, fighting and rearing their young. Every month I learned something new and understood them a little better. It’s a great help too that Pine Martens fit nicely around a full-time job – most of the action takes place at dawn and dusk, or during the night. I got drawn into their world. I often wonder what they’re doing while I’m not with them.

As Pine Marten populations slowly begin recovering, interest in them is growing and I thought that my observations could be of interest to other naturalists. Conservation relies heavily on public sentiment and if people don’t know about Pine Martens, they will be less likely to help them. Introducing this animal to others was something I felt I could do. Hopefully, after reading this book, the reader might offer Pine Martens their much needed support. I put the focus of the book on Pine Marten behaviour. It’s aimed at amateur naturalists or anyone who is interested in learning more about these incredible animals, and contains lots of new information and photographs that will be interesting to those who already know Pine Martens well.

What was the most surprising or exciting thing you learned in the process of writing Pine Marten?

I think it’s exciting that you can still go out into the woods and make new discoveries about British mammals. Although I studied biology at university, and have always worked in conservation related roles, I don’t work with Pine Martens professionally. That’s part of the magic of direct observation – anyone can do it. There are still many new discoveries out there just waiting to be made, all that’s required is consistency and patience.

I think the most surprising things are how vocal Pine Martens can be and how exciting each sighting still is – even after many years watching them. When they show up it’s always an ‘oh wow!’ moment. I still freeze with awe when I see one.

The most fascinating thing is their intelligence. Watching them solve problems and consider their next move, getting to know many individuals and seeing how unique each animal is – their personality and behaviour are highly individual. Often, I could tell who had visited simply by the signs they had left behind. They’re exceptionally charismatic animals. As I explain in the book, they’re also deeply connected with our historic wilderness landscapes, icons from our lost ancient wildwood.

This book has an impressive selection of imagery displaying a range of behaviours, interactions and life stages. How long did these images take to compile and what are some of your most effective strategies for spotting these elusive creatures?

Thanks. Yes, capturing Pine Marten behaviour isn’t easy. For every photo there were many failed attempts, you have to be comfortable in failure with Pine Martens. Over time, patience brings results and consistency is the key. The situation is made especially testing as it’s often at night and it can be very cold. You have to be willing to spend many thousands of hours sitting quietly in the woods and waiting for the occasional glimpse! For this reason, you have to really want to do it. You need to be passionate about understanding them.

I’ve taken over 10,000 photographs of Pine Martens over the last five years. Each year I understood a bit more about when and where I might see some new behaviour. Because they’re so elusive, learning to track them is essential. It’s vital that you wait as close to the right place as possible. It’s a waiting game – many quiet hours watching the forest, followed by a few seconds of heart racing panic as they emerge from the undergrowth and then quickly disappear again. Over time, it’s possible to build up a behavioural picture from many of these fleeting encounters. The harder something is, the greater that feeling of accomplishment.

Aside from sitting and watching, I also use trail cameras and camera traps to enable me to capture as much behaviour as possible. As you say, I’ve included over 200 photographs in the book because I felt that it was important to show the reader the behaviour that was being described. No number of words beats seeing behaviour in a photograph (or series of photographs as is often the case in this book). Young Pine Marten. ©Dan Bagur 2025

Can you tell us more about your new discoveries in Pine Marten behaviour and biology?

I didn’t set out to discover anything new. Initially, I didn’t plan to write a book. I just wanted to watch them and understand as much as possible – I was curious about how they lived their lives and what they got up to. As previously mentioned, I’ve spent over five years sitting quietly and observing wild Pine Marten behaviour. It took many months before I even knew where to wait for them. I love being alone in nature, so even the downtime in the forest has its own magic. My efforts were rewarded much later when I realised that some of my findings were new discoveries, including a new understanding of the function of the famous Pine Marten wiggle, retromingency in Pine Martens, the true cause of the scat curl and the use of the marten maze. I don’t want to give too much away, but they are all described (along with many other aspects of Pine Marten behaviour) in this new book.

Chapter 5 has an extensive library of field recordings. Why did you feel this was important to include and can you tell us about the process of gathering these?

It’s important to record what you’re seeing while watching wild animals, if you don’t then you can’t share your findings with others. Over the last few years, I’ve built up a large collection of film footage, photographs and sound recordings. Few people have ever seen a wild Pine Marten, let alone heard one. Their calls are an important part of what makes them what they are. Pine Martens (like many other Mustelids) make a surprisingly diverse range of calls – they grunt, growl, purr and scream. I felt it was important to include these. They are quickly and easily accessed by scanning QR codes using your phone. I wanted the reader to get as close as possible to Pine Martens via this book.

I realised that the recordings I had built up were unique – the Pine Marten sound library in this book is the most comprehensive yet published. My recordings have been included in the British Library sound collection and have been published in the ground-breaking book Sound Identification of Terrestrial Mammals of Britain & Ireland by Pearce, Middleton, and Newson.

What does the future look like for Pine Martens in the UK? And how can we work to secure a brighter future for this species?

In short, hopeful but worrying! Sadly, much of this is our own doing. Urban sprawl and habitat loss are an obvious problem, climate change, biodiversity decline and a persecution driven genetic bottleneck add to these issues – among others. Apathy is also a big concern. We still prefer the comfort of fool’s paradise over the often-harsh difficulties of reality. We need to get our heads out of the sand – and fast! Reality will inevitably have consequences we are no longer able to hide from – not just for Pine Martens. As Tew et al stated in a 2024 paper on the future of UK woodland biodiversity, a ‘major cultural shift’ is urgently required.

Although it’s important to face our problems and act, it’s also important to remain positive. There is real cause for hope – important work is being done to help Pine Martens. A few of those making a huge difference are Johnny Birks, Jenny MacPherson, Stuart Edmunds and John Martin, but there are many others. When great people come together fantastic things can be accomplished. The UK and Ireland have plans to increase their much-depleted forest cover over the coming years, and Pine Martens are slowly coming back. There are ways we can all contribute by donating or volunteering. Even small acts, like rewilding our own gardens, can collectively have an impact. Writing in 1992, the acclaimed science writer Edward O Wilson stated that ‘The next century will, I believe, be the era of restoration in ecology’. I hope that he’s right – wouldn’t that be a fantastic thing to witness after the global habitat and biodiversity decline of recent years.

Finally, what’s next for you? Will there be more books in your future?

Yes, I hope so! I had a column on rock pool life in the local newspaper while I was at university and I’ve been writing in one form or another ever since. I’m always working on the next project. Writing forces you to read everything and really understand your subject deeply, and that brings its own reward.

I would like to do something with Puffins in the future. I’m inspired to continue spending time out in nature and see what else is waiting to be discovered. Whatever comes next, I will always be grateful for this time with the Pine Martens – so many wonderful memories and experiences. The Pine Martens will remain with me for the rest of my life. Once you get to know a family of Pine Martens there’s no going back. They’re incredible animals and we’re extremely lucky to have them living alongside us.

Pine Marten is available from the NHBS website here.

Author interview with Susan Young: Night Vision and Daylight Camera Systems for Wildlife

This comprehensive guide describes how wildlife can be monitored and recorded in a non-intrusive way using well-developed and reliable technology. Detailing key techniques for capturing high-quality footage of a range of species, from nocturnal mammals to elusive birds, this practical resource is ideal for both professional ecologists and amateur naturalists alike who are seeking to enhance their understanding of the natural world.

Susan Young is a photographer and writer based in South Devon, who has a wealth of experience in wildlife photography. She has authored several books, including CCTV for Wildlife Monitoring and Wildlife Photography Fieldcraft, and is currently carrying out research with Natural England, the Woodland Trust and Mammal Society on the use of remote cameras for wildlife monitoring.

We recently spoke to Susan about her latest book, where she explained how she first started working with visual systems, how ecological and wildlife-watching camera systems differentiate, and more.

Firstly, could you share a little bit about yourself and your background working with visual systems?

My background is in physics and engineering, but I have had a keen interest in wildlife from a very early age. Since moving to Devon some years ago, I developed my interest in photography and wrote several books on various technical topics. I used trail cameras before they became ‘famous’ and finding some aspects frustrating, moved to bird box cameras – I then became interested in using security cameras with separate recorders as they had more useful features.

In 2015/2016 I started as a volunteer with Natural England and the Woodland Trust where I was encouraged to develop my ideas for portable CCTV systems, which led to the discovery of three calls of Barbastelle Bats not previously recognised. Further work with dormice, otters, deer, small mammals and birds showed just how well the systems performed, being much richer in features than trail cameras and much less expensive than thermal systems.

Your previous book, CCTV for Wildlife Monitoring was published in 2016. What inspired you to revisit the topic for a second book, and what advancements or changes does your latest title encompass?

My book in 2016 was more of an introduction to CCTV technology, which was just taking off and becoming more readily available. Since then, the technology has advanced dramatically, with HD cameras giving very high-quality images, and recorders becoming available with solid state drives making them very portable.

There are many other features not found in other visual systems – in particular, security recorders have inbuilt video analysis which can be controlled by the user, greatly reducing the amount of video data to analyse. My book has detailed step-by-step instructions for all aspects of the night vision camera systems with the aim of flattening the learning curve.

Night Vision systems are commonly associated with ecological research and wildlife watching, how do the camera systems you describe differentiate from them?

The systems I describe have a raft of features, as described above, making analysis much easier. They can also be left outside unattended and are particularly useful for remote areas. They are also relatively low cost and portable.

Why did you feel that it was important to include a section on public engagement and education in this book?

Public engagement is important for raising awareness of the plight of our wildlife, as well as for attracting funding. High-quality videos from security camera systems, particularly of protected or rarely seen species, have proven successful. My book gives step-by-step instructions to encourage the use of this technology without the need for costly specialists.

Regarding schools, introducing children to technology at an early age makes use of the systems less daunting in later life.

Have you come across any emerging or under-utilised applications for this technology that you believe hold potential?

Many of the applications I have developed using my camera systems are new and I believe hold great potential. Because the systems can be set up and left for long periods, it means little or no disturbance to wildlife – for example monitoring breeding birds of prey in remote habitats, observing dormice behaviour in dormouse boxes, or surveying bats in hazardous environments.

Have you encountered any particularly memorable or exciting wildlife captures? Can you share any highlights from your experience?

On the conservation front, discovering new Barbastelle calls was very exciting, as was viewing previously unseen dormouse behaviour. On the naturalist level, filming four young Fallow Deer running round and round my rural garden in play was very heart-warming.

Finally, what’s next for you?

I am planning some research using my systems for small mammals which are often under-recorded. I am also producing educational material for the Mammal Society.

Night Vision and Daylight Camera Systems for Wildlife is available here.

Interview with WILDGuides Publisher Rob Still

The award-winning WILDGuides collection is a series of comprehensive and practical natural history titles. Ranging from photographic field guides covering the wildlife of Britain, Ireland and Europe, to visitor guides and reference works on wildlife across the world, this authoritative, easy-to-use series contains some of the best identification guides to date.

Robert Still is the co-founder and publishing director of WILDGuides, and has contributed to more than sixty titles in the series. In his spare time, he is a prolific natural history author, ecologist and graphic artist. We recently had the opportunity to speak to Rob about the WILDGuides collection, including how each volume is produced, which titles are due to be published over the next few years and more.

Firstly, can you tell us about the history of WILDGuides and how the collection came to be?

I (Rob) had been working as a designer, using photoshop and producing somewhat rudimentary montages and cutouts for adverts since 1991. When the programme’s features really took off in the late 90s, my thought was whether these new capabilities could be used to produce ‘best birding’ moments, such as idealised scenes of multiple tanagers in the same tree, or a Sueda bush chock full of vagrant Phylloscopus.

From there, it was a short transition to figuring out if the technology could be used for field guides – hence the birth of WILDGuides, which started with a guide to Galápagos wildlife by Andy Swash published in 2000, followed relatively quickly by Whales and Dolphins of the European Atlantic (2001) and Britain’s Butterflies (2002) – this covered a relatively small number of species and all were easy to cut out. Britain’s Dragonflies (2004) followed and was the first book written by Andy prior to the expansion into the other taxa groups as seen today, alongside multiple evolutions/editions of the first titles.

For anyone unfamiliar with the collection, how would you describe them, and who are they intended for?

The books are intended for anyone who wants to put a name to something they encounter in the field. I would describe them as a guided, primarily photographic pathway that hopefully helps in that process.

Each work in the collection is a passion project of dedicated scientists, conservationists, and researchers. How long does it take to produce a title from start to finish and what kind of work goes into creating them?

It varies a great deal. Some have taken a good 10 years from concept to fruition, others have taken just a couple of years. However, a title typically requires a couple of photography seasons, as a significant number of the images in each book are commissioned and the specific image requirements often don’t come to light until the design process is underway.

How do you decide what makes a good subject for WILDGuides? What are you looking for when creating new volumes?

A good subject is really any group or taxa within a defined region – WILDGuides is looking to work with any experienced specialists to present that group in the WILDGuides way.

One of the strengths of the WILDGuide collection is the use of a unique ‘roadmap’ for each published topic, allowing users to navigate identification, and the book itself. Can you elaborate on the process of these roadmaps, and why you feel they are so important for these guides?

Sure, it is a relatively straightforward process insofar as it is simply the production of an identification pathway from start to finish. This is slightly disingenuous, as on occasion, it can be harder than one might think to unequivocally achieve this. It requires a team that really knows the subject being prepared, who is able to combine their field experience to focus on what really matters in the identification.

Their importance to the guide, I believe, is that they are an amalgamation of this ‘hands-on’ experience and so the pathway is both realistic and pragmatic.

Can you speak on the process of updating editions in the collection?

Obviously, nature is dynamic and lists of taxa within a region change. New, reliable field identification features come to light, improvements are suggested by our users and the exponential rise in available images means that there is now a good chance that better pictures (in terms of quality and showing the key identification points) become available. Consequently, we keep an update file covering all of these areas, and will update these editions when the time is right to do so.

What can we expect from the collection over the next couple of years? Are you able to share any new titles that are on the way?

Yes, the existing collection should improve over the coming years with the feedback and new images mentioned. WILDGuides is also looking to expand the series into other taxa not already covered to match the increasing diversity of species groups that people are looking at, with the hope that more accurate records are sent to organisations managing citizen science databases.

On the near horizon are updates to Britain’s Spiders and, at some stage, Britain’s Birds as well as new titles covering Britain’s Trees, Birds of East Africa and Birds of Madagascar, each in the style of Europe’s Birds. Further down the track we are looking at gaps, particularly in Britain’s series, that are relatively obvious to spot – so if any reader of this piece wants to be a potential part of that expansion, we’d love to hear from you!

Explore the full WILDGuide collection here

Author interview with Richard Lewington: Pocket Guide to British Spiders

Featuring 130 of the most common and readily available spider species, Pocket Guide to British Spiders is the ideal companion for both beginners and more experienced enthusiasts alike. Detailing identifying features, webs, egg cocoons and behaviour, these accounts are interspersed with beautifully illustrated spreads showing similarities and differences at a glance, making this introductory guide the perfect companion for use in the field.

Richard Lewington is a renowned wildlife illustrator, whose beautifully detailed drawings feature in a wide array of identification guides including The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, and Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1999, he was awarded Butterfly Conservation’s Marsh Award for the promotion of Lepidoptera conservation, as well as the Zoological Society of London’s Stamford Raffles Award for contribution to zoology in 2010.

We recently had the opportunity to speak to Richard about his latest book, including how he first became an author, why he chose to focus on arachnids and which techniques he uses to create these stunning illustrations.

Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you first became an author and illustrator?

I became a freelance wildlife illustrator soon after leaving art college in the 1970s. I’ve always had an interest in the natural world, particularly butterflies and moths, so invertebrates were the subjects I concentrated on right from the start. I’ve always worked in collaboration with various experts, until about 25 years ago, when I wrote and illustrated my first book How to Identify Butterflies. Since then, I’ve written and illustrated five books, though most of the books I work on are collaborations with authors with specialist knowledge of the subjects.

Pocket Guide to British Spiders is your 29th identification guide published since 1979. What inspired you to focus on arachnids for this book, and how did you choose which of the 680 British species to include?

I’ve had an interest in spiders for many years and have a collection of paintings, some of which I did about 50 years ago. I thought they would form the basis of a pocket guide, and I added more illustrations in the last few years to go with those I already had. The aim was to include common, well-known and easily identifiable species – about 130 in total. As many spiders are very small and similar to each other, it is necessary to examine them through a microscope to identify many of them, which is the next step up for those who want to study them in greater detail.

I was surprised to learn about the somewhat limited conservation efforts being undertaken to protect endangered spider species across Britain. What are the largest threats to spiders, and how can we protect these vital invertebrates in the future?

As with much of the natural world, spiders are under threat from habitat loss and pollution, but because they don’t have the same appeal as some other groups, they receive less attention. However, they are just as important, helping to keep the balance in ecological systems by eating and being eaten by a vast number of other creatures. Gardens are becoming more important, and we can all help spider well-being by not being too tidy in the garden to encourage a good variety of mini habitats in which they can live.

Pocket Guide to British Spiders includes a vast amount of detail on nomenclature, structure, anatomy, mythology, identifying features and more. What was the most interesting thing you learned while researching this book?

Probably their diversity. They vary hugely in size, shape and colouring, and can be found in every habitat from mountain tops to beneath the surface of water. Many also occur throughout the year when many other invertebrates are dormant.

Having illustrated many guides throughout your career, can you give us an overview of the techniques you use to create such detailed works of art, and explain how your painting style has evolved over time?

I start by doing a detailed, measured drawing on layout paper. This is transferred to watercolour paper and, using Designers’ Gouache paints, I apply washes, gradually building the colour intensity and the effect of light and shadow. Details such as textures and highlights are added to give a three-dimensional appearance. More recently, I’ve been scanning the artwork before sending it to the publishers, so that I can adjust, enhance and touch-up the images using a tablet and image enhancing software.

What were the most difficult aspects of illustrating spiders, given their intricate and often microscopic features?

Spiders can’t be preserved in museum collections like butterflies and beetles, as they have soft bodies which shrivel after death, so working from live specimens or from detailed photographs are the best options. This means going into the countryside to find specimens and asking other spider enthusiasts to help. I like to take my own macro photographs from the exact angle to avoid any distortion, I can then work using the photos and the live specimen, observing it under my microscope. It’s also necessary to have a good knowledge, so that the subjects can be correctly identified, as some are very similar.

Finally, what’s taking up your time at the moment? Are you planning to write or illustrate any more books over the coming years?

My next book will be a field guide to Orthoptera, which I completed several years ago but has been long delayed. After that I shall be working on a project about my work as a wildlife illustrator, concentrating mainly on British moths, butterflies and their caterpillars.

Pocket Guide to British Spiders is available from our online bookstore.

Author interview with James Shipman: Identifying Bats of Britain and Ireland

Packed with insider information, Identifying Bats of Britain and Ireland offers expert guidance on how to identify bats in the hand for beginners and field ecologists alike. Filling a gap between introductory books and more technical volumes, this humorous guide uses detailed images, diagrams and tables to communicate, in simple terms, the fundamentals of bat ecology, survey equipment, techniques required when training for a bat licence and the key features that distinguish one species from another.

James Shipman is an ecologist and bat enthusiast who loves to inspire and motivate future bat workers. He works as a senior ecologist and is involved in numerous bat-related projects. In 2016 he was recognised with the Bat Conservation Trust’s Pete Guest Award for outstanding contribution to bat conservation.

We recently chatted with James about his inspiration for the book, which challenges he faced when constructing a detailed identification guide and more.

Can you tell us a little about yourself, your history of working with bats, and why you chose to write this book?

Originally I planned to work as a game ranger in South Africa, but after returning to the UK, I studied zoology, met my wife and fell into landscaping as my first career and passion. A roofer and a builder both mentioned that I may ‘like’ working with bats, as I’m an animal person, so I explored the idea of them as a hobby!

After a few events I was gripped, and I have now volunteered with bats for nearly 15 years with the intention to install passion, enthusiasm and fun into everything bat-related for volunteers and professionals! Within this time I have helped to train over 50-75 individuals (could be more, I don’t count!) and after nearly 20 years in the landscaping sector, I now work in ecology as a professional.

During my years of training, I found that the more serious and technical books available out there made it hard to learn, and that digestible guidance that was fun, relatable and easy to work with would be beneficial! A lot of my trainees suggested the idea for the book originally, and other bat authors with Pelagic mentioned to the publishers that I would bring a nice approach to ID for ecologists – so here we are.

You have taken a relatable, and oftentimes humorous, approach in the way Identifying Bats of Britain and Ireland was written. Why did you feel this was important, and with that in mind who is this book designed for?

Who said science, research and volunteering can’t be fun! If you enjoy what you do, it’s more fun and you usually get more out of it!

I thought it was important to bring my open, welcoming personality to bats and volunteering into the book, as well as an understanding of how hard it can be to learn in the world of ecology.

Public opinion of bats is often contested, and their associations with rabies and vampirism contribute to this negative perception. This guide contains a section on the myths and rumours of bats – why did you feel it was important to debunk these misconceptions?

Well spotted! It’s one of my favourite parts of any walk, talk, training or even in the book itself. Bats have such a negative view through media – whether it’s Halloween, Covid or other diseases, the positives (not just bats but anything in life) are very rarely talked about! So let’s try and win one for the bats – 2,000 less mosquito bites a night is a good seller!

This guide also features vagrants and species that are extremely rare in the UK. How did you navigate writing about species that you may not have met? And did you find it challenging to construct identification guidance for these scarcer species?

Fortunately I have handled and seen these species abroad in my years of volunteering and training (which I will touch more on in your last question), and I have even been lucky to handle one or two of these in the UK too!

The hardest part of it all was trying to address the elephant in the room (or maybe I should say vagrant in the sky!). I believe there are now 21 species found in the UK – some of these are not proven residents, but are not far off – plus a few others that I chose not to include at the time of publication as records were too scarce!

Were there any other challenges that you came across in the process of writing this book?

As previously mentioned, mental health is important in all areas of life, and I felt that slight delays in finishing this book were due to anxiety of judgement on the final product. However, many close friends and ex-trainees assured me that more positives will come of this work than negatives.

The book is aimed at any level of bat worker and should taken with a light hearted approach. It’s important to address these things when discussing books and publishing – it’s a hard process, and without friends, family and a decent publisher (plus the bats) you can sometimes feel isolated. Luckily, I had the best support from all of the above!

What’s your advice for those just getting started in this field?

Well I could say read the book (haha), there are some good sections about starting out with bats. In short, don’t give up, persist, find bat workers who are open, friendly and passionate with no judgement (they are out there, I’m one of them), and most importantly have fun!

Finally, what’s next for you? Do you have plans for more books in the future?

Um… a break! It’s harder than I ever imagined. However, I would love to eventually write a similar book for bats of Europe! But it may take a while to compile some new jokes!

Identifying Bats of Britain and Ireland is available from our online bookstore here.

Author interview with Peter Marren: Rare Plants

Featuring hundreds of stunning photographs, the 14th volume in the British Wildlife Collection explores the meaning of rarity in our changing world and climate. It discusses the importance of these species in our landscape, provides an overview of different conservation techniques, examines the justifications for intervening in the life of a wild species and more.

Peter Marren is a natural history writer and conservationist whose wildlife-centred writing portfolio includes newspaper journalism, obituaries, book reviews and humorous opinion pieces. He was a regular contributor to British Wildlife magazine for 33 years and is the author of more than 20 books, including Bugs Britannica, After They’re Gone, and Mushrooms – the first title in the British Wildlife Collection series.

We recently chatted with Peter about Rare Plants, where we discussed how he first became interested in botany, why he chose to focus on rare species, what inspired him to return to the British Wildlife Collection and more.

Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you became interested in botany?

I have been interested in wild flowers since boyhood. I was lucky enough to have had a rural childhood, but my first serious attempt to track down rarities was during my gap year when I tried to find every British species of orchid. I failed.

What I love about flowers is that they evoke so much about our surroundings, the colour and texture of the landscape, its land-use and history, and its seasonality. Rare flowers in particular express the fine tuning of nature, and their presence suggests that here we are standing in a special place – one that, for whatever reason, has changed less, has perhaps preserved more of its naturalness, more stability. They are also wonderful in themselves. Orchids, for instance, trick and confuse insects into doing their bidding. Our alpine flowers are living links with the Ice Age. Bluebells have a scent that is impossible to reproduce chemically. These are some of the reasons why I love field botany.

Your first contribution to the British Wildlife Collection was the first monograph in the series, Mushrooms, which was published in 2012. What inspired you to return to this renowned series for the 14th volume?

I returned to the series because Katy, who edits the titles, asked me to! In the 1990s I wrote a book in association with Plantlife and the then English Nature, titled Britain’s Rare Flowers (1999). The rights are now owned by Bloomsbury, who publish the British Wildlife Collection, and she suggested that I revise the book for the series. It didn’t take long for a revision to turn into a completely new book, and I broadened the scope from angiosperms to wild plants in general, including pteridophytes, bryophytes and algae, and to Ireland as well as Great Britain – hence, Rare Plants. I dedicated it to my old friend, the plant photographer Bob Gibbons and his partner Libby, and half the 300-odd images are his.

Cottonweed (Achillea maritima) by Liam Lysaght, via flickr.

Why did you decide to focus on rare plant species for this book?

I concentrated on rarities partly because they are the focus of conservation efforts, and partly because they are the highlight of any excursion (as botanical trips are known). Rare plants have more ‘geography’. If only you knew enough, you could probably place yourself exactly where you are in the landscape without recourse to a map simply by looking at the plants. Britain is that kind of place: intimate, complex, infinitely varied. Above that, there’s the eternal thrill of tracking down a rarity, whether it’s a flower, or a bird, or a Ming vase. If you love plants, then setting your eye for the first time on an elusive species you have long known about and pictured in your mind is a moment to savour. As I hope I communicated in my book, Chasing the Ghost.

This is an incredibly well-researched and detailed book that covers all aspects of Britain and Ireland’s flora, from the uniqueness of some species and details on why plants become rare, to their role and representation within our culture. What was the most interesting aspect of researching this book?

What I enjoyed most when researching Rare Plants (and it was quite an enjoyable book generally) was the impressive new work on apomictic plants, that is, the ones that do without sex and so perpetuate minute differences. It helps that whitebeams and hawkweeds are not only beautiful in themselves, but tend to grow in beautiful landscapes. I was also enthralled by all the activity in the world of mosses and liverworts, mapping them in the same detail as ‘higher’ plants and getting them onto the conservation agenda. Some species have incredibly narrow niches, confined to lead mining spoil or lime kilns, or china-clay pits. Both are the work of relatively small groups of specialists who combine biological know-how with the ability to communicate to wider audiences – and to take brilliant photographs. I could say the same about lichens, but they aren’t really plants. So someone else will have to do them.

Eyebright by Donald Macauley, via flickr.

In the first chapter of the book, you discuss the IUCN’s criteria and red list. How accurate do you think this assessment is, and are there any disadvantages to using this method of classification to determine the rarity, and future protection, of any given species?

The IUCN criteria are only as good as current knowledge allows. Conservationists love to list and pigeon-hole; it creates a kind of order. But, in a rapidly changing world, the vulnerability of species is itself changing. Government and officialdom haven’t yet caught up with climate change and its implications for our flora. I think the most endangered plants are now our northern and arctic-alpine species, especially those that need long, cold winters with plenty of snow. It isn’t outright habitat destruction so much as the subtle consequences of a warmer but wetter and windier climate. The other problem with pigeon-holing is that it is boring. It creates the idea of fragile ‘things’, like pieces of china, and diverts our eyes from the marvels of the living plant with its ability to meld with its habitat, compete with its neighbours, and find necessary partnerships to survive.

The same idea of plants as passive ‘things’ has led well-meaning conservationists to substitute gardening for conservation. Plant conservation is under-funded and, alas, also under-expertised. Academic botany is in decline (count the university courses – not many).

Lady's-Slipper Orchid - Cypripedium calceolus by Bjorn S, via flickr. — Lady’s-Slipper Orchid – Cypripedium calceolus by Bjorn S, via flickr.

Finally, what’s taking up your time at the moment? Are you planning on working on any future volumes in the British Wildlife Collection?

I doubt I’ll be writing any more books for this series. They take a long time and I’m getting on a bit! Besides, these are hard times for writers who aren’t footballers or chefs, or others who have become famous from constant exposure in the media. While the natural history bookshelf has never been more bountiful, some of us are working for less than the minimum wage! I’ve recently finished a book (my 27^th, I think) about the world’s most noxious plants called The Devil’s Garden, which was fun, and I hope will be fun to read. I love plants that defend themselves with alchemy, vicious thorns and stings, horrific poisons, or play mind-games with their pollinators; in short those with a wicked reputation. They provide an antidote to the idea of plants as passive and compliant.

Vivat flores!

(Long live the flowers)

Rare Plants is available from our online bookstore here.

Author interview with Richard Broughton: The Marsh Tit and the Willow Tit

Marking the first monograph for either species, Richard Broughton’s The Marsh Tit and the Willow Tit reveals the remarkable lives of these wonderful little birds. Compiling decades of personal research, as well as a detailed review of external studies from across both Europe and Asia, it explores each species’ taxonomy, food and foraging patterns, social organisation, challenges and conservation, alongside more than 150 illustrations, maps, charts and photographs.

Dr Richard Broughton is a research ecologist with a wealth of experience across birds, mammals, forests and farmland in Great Britain and Europe. He has studied Marsh Tits, Willow Tits and their habitats for over 25 years, and prior to this he completed a Master’s degree in GIS as well as a PhD in Marsh Tit ecology, before joining the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Cambridgeshire.

We recently chatted to Richard about his inspiration for the book, which challenges he faced when developing such a detailed study of these two species and more.

You have studied Willow Tits and Marsh Tits for much of your career. What initially captivated you about these charismatic birds, and what inspired you to write a book about them?

I had Willow Tits on my local patch in Hull when I was a youngster at school, and I had Marsh Tits and Willow Tits around my first office near Huntingdon when I started my science career. Both species were always a bit special and enigmatic – not so common that you saw them every day, but when you did it was like seeing parallel lives going on around you. They’re a lot like us, mostly preferring to live as couples in stable relationships, with busy social lives and a close attachment to their neighbourhood.

From a research perspective, Marsh Tits and Willow Tits are fantastic species to study. They are widespread from Britain to Japan, they’re territorial and they don’t migrate, so the same birds are present all year round and you can really get to know them – how they communicate, organise themselves within their communities and solve the problems of living in different types of woodland, it’s all really fascinating. And there’s so much that we still don’t know, with lots of discoveries to be made, but also some urgency. We don’t fully understand exactly why they’re declining in many areas, so the inspiration for writing the book was partly to bring together all that we know about their ecology and what pressures they’re facing. If Marsh Tits and Willow Tits are struggling, then we need to listen to what this is telling us about our woodlands and forests.

Both species have suffered severe range declines – how can the general public work to better support these birds amid habitat loss and climate change?

The main thing is to know where Marsh Tits and Willow Tits are still hanging on, and where they are declining – taking part in surveys and reporting sightings to the county recorders and BirdTrack are great ways of helping to monitor both species. Protecting and expanding their habitat is essential, but for that we need to know where they are, and in what numbers.

It’s also important to realise how we can unintentionally make things harder for Marsh Tits and Willow Tits when we do favours for their competitors. There is growing evidence that increasing numbers of Blue Tits and Great Tits could be harming Marsh Tits and Willow Tits by taking over their nests and dominating their foraging space. The vast scale of bird-feeding in gardens, woodlands and nature reserves is changing our woodland bird communities, and it really boosts the dominant species, which can then put extra pressure on Marsh Tits and Willow Tits. For this reason, it’s important to consider the unintended negative impacts of well-meaning interventions, such as bird-feeding and nestboxes, on more vulnerable species like these.

I was surprised to learn about the ineffectiveness of nest boxes in supporting Marsh and Willow Tit populations in relation to competition. Do you think this is also the case for other species across the UK, and what alternatives could we use to mitigate this issue?

The problem with nestboxes for Marsh Tits and Willow Tits is that they’re far more likely to increase the densities of their dominant competitors, especially Blue Tits. If you add more nestboxes to a woodland then you will get more Blue Tits, but Marsh Tits and Willow Tits don’t work that way.

This is because they have much larger territories, and you could fit 15 pairs of Blue Tits into a typical Marsh Tit or Willow Tit territory. These large areas contain enough natural nest sites for Marsh Tits and Willow Tits, and so these species are limited by the area of woodland habitat and not by tree cavities or deadwood for building their nests. As such, adding nestboxes cannot increase the numbers of Marsh Tits or Willow Tits like it does for Blue Tits.

This shows how it is important to fully understand a species’ ecology for any conservation actions to work. A better solution is to promote diverse, wilder woodlands that have plenty of opportunities for Marsh Tits, Willow Tits and other woodland species at more natural densities. If not over-managed, woodland can quite quickly develop enough nesting sites on its own.

Within the book you mention the woodland restoration projects being undertaken in Scotland, which are striving to establish woodlands to support native species, including Marsh Tits and Willow Tits. Can re-establishing these complex habitats truly help to encourage population growth? And what would be your main recommendations for large-scale restoration projects with these species in mind?

Expanding woodland habitat is a good way to help buffer Marsh Tits and Willow Tits from population declines, as the losses in Britain are greatest in areas of more fragmented habitat. In Finland, too, logging and habitat loss is driving population declines. Increasing the amount of woodland reduces habitat fragmentation, which in turn helps birds to disperse across the landscape and provides space for more breeding pairs, so it can only help. The natural range of Willow Tits, and probably of Marsh Tits, once covered much of Scotland, and so restoring forest cover in that country could help to re-establish their populations.

Looking ahead, Scotland could eventually provide an important refuge for Marsh Tits and Willow Tits, being further from the intensive agriculture, urbanisation and more intense warming of southern Britain. We can look to other natural and regenerating forests in Europe to see what this restoration could look like in Scotland and elsewhere in Britain – varied tree density and structural diversity, lots of standing and fallen deadwood, and plenty of water in streams, pools and soils. Where we still have such places in Europe, like in Poland’s Bia?owie?a Forest, then Marsh Tits and Willow Tits both find places to live in different parts of the same woodland.

The Marsh Tit and the Willow Tit is very thoroughly researched and includes an extensive breadth of information. Did you encounter any challenges when developing such a detailed study of these two species?

I was lucky that there have been major studies of Marsh Tits and Willow Tits in Europe over the past century, and I have been involved with several of them in recent decades, so I was familiar with their findings. For other studies, it has never been easier to find and access published papers and reports online, and even to translate them automatically.

Nevertheless, it was still quite challenging to find many studies from Asia, which is where more than half of the world’s Marsh Tits and Willow Tits are thought to live, along with their closest relatives, the Black-bibbed Tit, Caspian Tit and Sichuan Tit. This is slowly changing, as more research is being done in China, Japan and South Korea, but there are still large gaps. In Europe, too, we still know relatively little about Marsh Tits or Willow Tits in some regions. Even in Britain, the recent discovery of a previously unknown population of Marsh Tits in the Scottish Borders shows that we still have things to learn!

What have been some of your favourite moments while researching this book? And did any of your discoveries surprise you?

It’s been a great pleasure to look back through all of the previous studies of Marsh Tits and Willow Tits and pay tribute to the dedicated researchers who spent so many years in the woods and forests, peering into the lives of these little birds. What shone through for me is just how connected the forest ecosystem really is. Marsh Tits and Willow Tits are part of a complex web of life, with some really surprising relationships. For example, Bison and Red Deer stripping bark from trees helps to create the cavities that are the Marsh Tit’s favourite nest sites. Meanwhile, Willow Tits forage on carrion from Wolf kills, which helps them to survive northern winters. At the other end of the spectrum, Marsh Tits and Willow Tits both drink nectar from blossom and might be significant pollinators of woodland shrubs, and they might also be seed dispersers for some woodland plants.

We’re just starting to understand these relationships, but in many parts of Europe they have been broken by the loss of forest species, such as large mammals. It’s exciting to think that nature restoration and rewilding could rebuild some of these ecological networks in our woodlands. Again, there’s still so much to learn about Marsh Tits and Willow Tits, but getting to know them opens a window into the wider forest ecosystem, and the more you look, the more you find.

Finally, what is occupying your time now? Are there new books on the horizon that you can tell us about?

I’m still monitoring my Marsh Tit population at Monks Wood in Cambridgeshire, coming up to 24 years of study, and I’m busy with interesting research at UKCEH on hedgerows, woodland regeneration, sustainable farming and nature restoration. In the past year I’ve been busy as the new Editor in Chief of the BTO’s scientific journal Bird Study, helping other researchers to publish their studies. I’m also still involved with research at the Biaowiea Forest in Poland, which always has exciting opportunities, and last spring I was there finding the nests of Marsh Tits, Willow Tits and Wood Warblers. The Wood Warbler is another declining woodland bird that has lots of really fascinating and surprising behaviour, and that’s another species that I think could be worth writing about.

The Marsh Tit and the Willow Tit is available to order from our online bookstore here.

Author interview with Dr. Tim Reed: Protected Species and Biodiversity – A Guide for Planners and Ecologists

Protected Species and Biodiversity: A Guide for Planners and Ecologists is a comprehensive, accessible book that collates every key element required to gather and interpret survey data for protected species.

Progressing through individual species and group tables, and providing information on planning systems, biodiversity, government guidance and its interpretation, how to secure better quality data, biodiversity net gain and more, this guide also codifies what a planner can expect from an ecologist to ensure the effective safeguarding of protected species. As such, it is an essential reference guide for planners and ecological consultants alike.

Dr. Tim Reed has had a lifelong interest in the use of data quality and survey methods as a basis for credible decision-making by those whose actions influence landscapes and protected areas. This has included developing survey methods for waders on moorland, standardising nature reserve management plan formats, chairing development groups for national-level databases, and collaborating with the EU on data standards for directives. Over the past 20 years, Tim has helped major worldwide corporate companies establish biodiversity as part of their risk-management processes, while also working on public inquiries across the UK.

We recently had the opportunity to chat to Tim about what inspired him to write a book aimed at planners and ecologists, how Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) could potentially affect protected species across the UK, the importance of technological advancements in accurate data collection and more.

Firstly, as someone who has spent most of their career working in planning and sustainable development, what inspired you to write this book?

Years ago, when working on immigration and extinctions in island bird communities, one of the things that impressed, but also worried me, was the extreme variability in the quality of data from year to year. Were the gaps in species records (apparent extinctions) real, or were they due to issues with data collection or recording? Moving onto protected areas and the related planning policy framework, the same problems with data quality surfaced there.

Later, when I began working on planning disputes it was clear that local planning authorities (LPAs) were staffed by good, but often overwhelmed, planners. A series of Association of Local Government Ecologists (ALGE) reports have confirmed this. ALGE reckoned there were issues of capacity (people/time) and competence (often limited specialist knowledge) that stopped LPAs doing what they wanted to do. These remain today.

Looking at the often frankly poor material dumped onto them by would-be developers, it was and is hard for planners to know how to address it, how to find out what’s needed, and where the gaps were and are. Suitable methods had been scattered across journals, books, and specialist documents, and were often hard to fathom. The absence of a recent one-stop synthesis of most of the material needed was the main driver for Protected Species and Biodiversity; trying to fill an acknowledged hole. The fact that Natural England and DEFRA’s guidance for Protected Species left much to be desired was a further problem. The idea of the guide was to try and provide an accessible way of seeing what needed doing. Something that would be suitable for planners, householders and developers’ ecologists alike – and for LPA planners to use and see if what had been claimed by applicants had been done properly, or not.

If the guide works, then the hope is that a better, more informed level of debate can take place. If so, better data will be provided and protected species and biodiversity will be the winners. The core methods section (Chapter 5) is suitable for protected species in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) on a gloved hand. — Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) by J P, via flickr.

Biodiversity Net Gain is a recent development in planning and land management. How do you think the introduction of this policy will affect protected species across the UK?

As I try to show in the last bit of the guide, BNG isn’t focused at all on protected species; delivery is still expected through protected species legislation. Yet, there is clearly a hope that BNG will sneak in more of all sorts of species, some of which may be rare or protected. Duffus et al (2024) have neatly shown that the score in the area-condition metric used by BNG isn’t related to either species richness or abundance. Instead, more information is needed, along with species surveys. If so, then they need doing well – and there is a debate to be had on that in the guide too.

This book emphasises the importance of collecting high-quality data for use in planning. As data quality improves, could there be a shift in our understanding of the UK’s condition? And could the true state of the UK’s biodiversity be worse than we initially thought?

Better knowledge, better use of standardised methods, and a better understanding of what the resultant data does or doesn’t mean, along with less use of unverified mitigation techniques: all will help us understand potential impacts of planning proposals on biodiversity a little bit better than we do now.

Better data might well show problems, but could also help in some circumstances by showing that some things are better than we thought, or by waving a flag before it is too late to act. Getting consistently reliable data will allow more meaningful actions at a local and wider scale.

Great Crested Newt by Leonora (Ellie) Enking. — Great Crested Newt by Leonora (Ellie) Enking, via flickr.

Chapter 5 offers an extensive insight into the data local authorities should collate when conducting an in-depth evaluation of protected species. Did you face any challenges in keeping this section accurate?

Of course things do, and will continue to, change. Even when the first draft of the text was completed there were basic changes in NE/DEFRA guidance that required reappraisals and revisions. The species guidance was equally dynamic. So, yes, it was tricky keeping up to date. The role of the guide is to bring together what we knew at the time of writing in an accessible way. If things change dramatically, there may be a case for a revised version in 5-10 years’ time. But in the meantime, it is there and might as well help people trying to understand what needs doing, or where claims need contesting, and why.

How important do you think technological advancements, such as bioacoustic methods, will play in collecting more accurate data?

Technology is critical in helping us better interpret the environment. For example, I use a range of bat recorders, and recorders have got better, and more efficient with time.

Technological improvements are fine, but they still come with error terms. Knowing and stating the limitations of methods and data are critical to help us understand what we can and can’t do with a set of data. In Public Inquiries, I regularly saw untenable claims relating to bat data that rarely matched the reality of the technology used. Query this, and the case often began to fragment. eDNA has its own issues too. So, yes in principle to advances in technology, but yes also to clear health warnings and stated limitations in any planning submissions that use them.

Hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) by Frank Vassen. — Hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius) by Frank Vassen, via flickr.

What do you hope readers and practitioners will take away from your book?

The main message is that good data is key to an informed discussion between developers, opponents and planners. Being able to see what is needed, how it might be done, and why the precepts of BS 42020 (Biodiversity Standard) are core to the process. Openness, transparency and knowing what is needed will help us all – and biodiversity in particular. Poor data, bad methods and doubtful claims won’t help. If this guide helps LPAs pick some of those up, then it was worth writing.

Finally, what is occupying your time at the moment? Are you working on any other projects we can hear about?

Although now largely retired, I continue to write a blog on matters that interest me: serious and whimsical. I’m standing down now from Chairing a Friend’s Group for an island nature reserve. Having written the management plan for the site, the dim and distant origins of the island intrigue me, and there are plans in the pipework for a small book on the history and ecology of the island.

Protected Species and Biodiversity: A Guide for Planners and Ecologists is available from our online bookstore.