Tag: British Wildlife

Book reviews in volume 34 of British Wildlife 

Ever since the very first issue back in 1989, British Wildlife has featured book reviews of the most important new titles in natural history publishing, from nature-writing bestsellers to technical identification handbooks, and every review included in the magazine since 2018 is available to read on the British Wildlife website. These reviews provide in-depth critiques and are all authored by experts in relevant subjects, ensuring an honest and insightful appraisal of each book featured. Here is a list of the book reviews included in volume 34 of British Wildlife, all with links to take you directly to the full review.

  1. The genus Cortinarius in Britain by Geoffrey Kibby and Mario Tortelli

“This monograph has keys, descriptions and notes for every species, but its crowning glory is the pictures: coloured drawings by Geoffrey Kibby combined with colour photographs taken in situ by Mario Tortelli.” 

– Peter Marren, BW 34.1 October 2022. Read the review here. 

 

 

2. Land Healer: How Farming Can Save Britain’s Countryside by Jake Fiennes

“Fiennes is forthright, his arguments stocked with enough facts and figures to baffle all but the most diligent reader. Yet for me they convince because they resound with first-hand experience and learning…” 

– James Robertson, BW 34.1 October 2022. Read the review here. 

 

 

  1. Concise Flora of the British Isles by Clive Stace

“I cannot imagine anyone with more than a passing interest in the British flora not having this book, and I suspect that many may now rely on this much cheaper alternative as their British Flora of choice.” 

– Fred Rumsey, BW 34.1 October 2022. Read the review here. 

 

 

  1. Impacts of Human Population on Wildlife: A British Perspective by Trevor J. C. Beebee

“This is a well-written account by a very well-informed British naturalist of the way population affects wildlife. It is written without recourse to technical jargon, but also with a careful, precise and temperate use of language, and with the balanced judgements which you would expect in a small-circulation scientific series published by Cambridge University Press.” 

– Peter Marren, BW 34.2 November 2022. Read the review here.  

 

  1. The Secret Life of the Adder: The Vanishing Viper by Nicholas Milton

“The Secret Life of the Adder is very readable and richly illustrated with some excellent photographs, which, coupled with box features exploring specific sub-topics, will help the book appeal to a broad range of readers.”    

– Howard Inns, BW 34.2 November 2022. Read the review here.  

 

 

  1. Peter Scott and the Birth of Modern Conservation by Chris Moore

“This new biography would be the perfect reading for someone who, after visiting the new museum at Slimbridge, wanted to know more.”   

– Peter Marren, BW 34.3 December 2022. Read the review here.  

 

 

 

  1. The Flow: Rivers, Waters and Wildness by Amy-Jane Beer

“Add to that a generosity of spirit in wanting to share nature with as many people as possible and the result is a warm and immersive book. It flows along like its watery subjects, from one captivating story to the next. It was a pleasure to read.” 

– Ian Carter, BW 34.4 February 2023. Read the review here.  

 

 

  1. The Hen Harrier’s Year by Ian Carter and Dan Powell

“The Carter and Powell duo have triumphed again. This book is informative and relevant, and a delight both to read and simply to look at.” 

– Keith Betton, BW 34.5 April 2023. Read the review here.  

 

 

 

  1. When the Kite Builds: Why and How we Restored Red Kites across Britain by Mike Pienkowski

“His book deals with all aspects of the work, from early discussions about whether [the Red Kite reintroduction programme] would succeed (many thought not) to the practicalities of establishing a team, choosing the first release sites and then collecting, rearing and releasing the birds.”   

– Ian Carter, BW 34.6 May 2023. Read the review here.  

 

  1. One Thousand Shades of Green: A Year in Search of Britain’s Wild Plants by Mike Dilger

“Mike Dilger is an amiable and enthusiastic companion, describing the pleasures and pitfalls of flower-finding with a smile, a presenter who loves his subject and longs to tell you all about it.” 

– Peter Marren, BW 34.6 May 2023. Read the review here.  

 

 

  1. Plant Atlas 2020: Mapping Changes in the Distribution of the British and Irish Flora (2-Volume Set) by Peter A. Stroh, Kevin J. Walker, Tom A. Humphrey, Oliver L. Pescott and Richard J. Burkmar

“To suggest that Plant Atlas 2020 is a formidable achievement of British and Irish field botany rather undervalues it. It has left me breathless.” 

– Peter Marren, BW 34.7 June 2023. Read the review here. 

 

  1. The Lost Rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole

“Shrubsole has written a stimulating book, and shown himself to be a powerful advocate for nature. Time will tell how far he gets with his stated ambition ‘to find Britain’s lost rainforests and bring them back’.” 

– James Robertson, BW 34.7 June 2023. Read the review here. 

 

 

  1. Trees and Woodlands by George Peterken

“The book is a timely reminder of the enormous diversity of British woodland types and of the need to respect the individuality of the woods themselves.” 

– Rob Fuller, BW 34.8 August 2023. Read the review here.  

 

 

 

  1. The Biodiversity Gardener: Establishing a Legacy for the Natural World by Paul Sterry

“I thoroughly enjoyed this well-designed, informative and utterly different wildlife gardening book and as a keen observer of my own (much humbler) garden I can wholeheartedly recommend it.”   

– Brett Westwood, BW 34.8 August 2023. Read the review here.  

 

Since its launch in 1989, British Wildlife has established its position as the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiasts and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Individual back issues of the magazine are available to purchase through the NHBS website, while annual subscriptions start from just £32 – you can subscribe online or by phone (01803 467166). Visit www.britishwildlife.com for more information.   

 

Book reviews recently featured in British Wildlife

British Wildlife has featured book reviews since the very first magazine back in 1989, and every review included in issues since 2018 is available to read on the British Wildlife website. These reviews provide in-depth critiques of the most important new titles in natural history publishing, from nature-writing bestsellers to technical identification handbooks. They are all authored by experts in relevant subjects, ensuring an honest and insightful appraisal of each book featured. Here is a list of the book reviews included in recent issues of British Wildlife, all with links to take you directly to the full review.

1. Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse by Dave Goulson

“This reader found the book literate, persuasive, sympathetic, and based both on sound science and on a willingness to grapple with the realities. Goulson is the best ambassador for small life that we have.”

– Peter Marren, BW 33.3 December 2021. Read the review here

 

 

2. Slime: A Natural History by Susanne Wedlich

“To say that this is a fascinating story of a neglected subject does not really do justice to it. It is a well-researched and surprisingly genial encounter with this oozy, sticky world, written with a journalist’s sharp eye for a good story.”

– Peter Marren, BW 33.4 February 2022. Read the review here

 

 

3. Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Farm by Lee Schofield

“Wild Fell is an exhilarating tour of Lee’s patch, with side excursions to Scotland and Norway and the Italian Alps for insights into the abundance which nature is bursting to give us. His writing, like the extinct, extant and envisioned landscapes he describes, is studded with moments of immense beauty – you can almost smell rock and moss and nectar, hear butterflies and grasshoppers flit and whirr, feel the shadow of a great wing passing between you and the sun.”

– Amy-Jane Beer, BW 33.4 February 2022. Read the review here

4. Peak District by Penny Anderson

“Readers of the book in the future may know, and in the penultimate sentence they are posed a question about the region: ‘Is it still highly distinctive and special?’ We cannot know their answer, but we can be sure that they will learn a great deal about the Peak District, and probably much about us and what we think about the area today. They will certainly have a good book in their hands.”

– Anthony Robinson, BW 33.5 April 2022. Read the review here

5. Field Handbook to British and Irish Dandelions by A. John Richards

“This new BSBI handbook is quite something. The modern miracle of colour printing allows every dandelion species to be reproduced in colour, and with up to five images per page, and at an affordable price.”

– Peter Marren, BW 33.5 April 2022. Read the review here

 

 

6. Wild Green Wonders: A Life in Nature by Patrick Barkham

“As British Wildlife readers know, Barkham dispenses with literary glitter to get to the heart of an issue, straightforwardly, sometimes understatedly, even modestly, but with an infectious charm and, I think, an innate generosity. I like his writing very much. It informs, it reads well, it takes you to unexpected places, and leaves you thinking afterwards. This is good journalism.”

– Peter Marren, BW 33.6 May 2022. Read the review here

7. Ants: The Ultimate Social Insects by Richard Jones

“Seasoned myrmecologists will probably want this review to answer one fundamental query: ‘I’ve got “Donisthorpe”, do I really need another book on ants?’ The answer is, in my opinion, a resounding ‘Yes!’”

– Adrian Knowles, BW 33.6 May 2022. Read the review here

 

8. After They’re Gone: Extinctions Past, Present and Future by Peter Marren

“After They’re Gone reminds us that environmental change is constant, and sometimes dramatic enough to wipe out millions of species.”

– Laurence Rose, BW 33.6 May 2022. Read the review here

 

 

 

9. Alchemilla: Lady’s-mantles of Britain and Ireland by Mark Lynes

“The author leaves us in no doubt that he is captivated by these plants, and he pays tribute to his predecessors, Max Walters and Margaret Bradshaw, who sorted out British Alchemilla taxa for the first time.”

– Peter Marren, BW 33.7 June 2022. Read the review here

 

10. British Craneflies by Alan Stubbs

“I would strongly recommend this book (and the others in the series) to anybody wishing to broaden his or her natural-history interests and keen to gain new and exciting perspectives on the sites, habitats and landscapes which they visit.”

– Steven Falk, BW 33.7 June 2022. Read the review here

 

11. Trees by Peter Thomas

“But it is an excellent and comprehensive book, and highly recommended for all those professionally involved in trees, concerned about trees, or wishing simply to understand more about trees. It will certainly keep me supplied with a sufficient understanding of them for the next 40 years.”

– Jonathan Spencer, BW 33.8 August 2022. Read the review here

 

12. Cornerstones: Wild Forces That Can Change Our World by Benedict Macdonald 

“Benedict Macdonald, author of the eye-opening and influential Rebirding (see BW 31: 154), is passionate about restoring wildlife at scale by allowing natural processes a freer hand; first and foremost, then, his new book is aimed at building support for this approach to conservation.”

– Ian Carter, BW 33.8 August 2022. Read the review here

 

13. Birds and Us: A 12,000 Year History, from Cave Art to Conservation by Tim Birkhead

“This is modern science at its best and liveliest. It is also a gem of cultural history that could have been written only by someone who is personally immersed in the world of birds. You come away with a renewed sense that birds are wonderful, not least in the way they capture the human heart as well as the head.”

– Peter Marren, BW 33.8 August 2022. Read the review here

Since its launch in 1989, British Wildlife has established its position as the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiasts and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Individual back issues of the magazine are available to purchase through the NHBS website, while annual subscriptions start from just £40 – you can subscribe online or by phone (01803 467166). Visit www.britishwildlife.com for more information. 

 

Volume 33 of British Wildlife

With publication of the August issue of British Wildlife, the magazine’s 33rd volume is complete. While we wait for the start of volume 34, in October, we have taken the opportunity to look back at some of the themes and topics covered during the past year, ranging from in-depth natural histories of species and places, to critiques and commentaries on key topics in environmental policy. The selection below offers just a small sample of recent subjects – for a full list of articles from volume 33 and further back in the magazine’s history, visit the British Wildlife website.

Species-focused articles have spanned the taxonomic spectrum, covering everything from fungi through to the (long-extinct) elephant species that roamed Britain through prehistory. Further mammalian subjects have included the Walrus and other Arctic vagrants and a long-term study of Greater Horseshoe Bats in south-west Wales, while, turning to the more ‘obscure’, we have seen pieces on the Narrow-headed Ant and Brilliant Emerald dragonfly, two rare insects with unusual split distributions in Britain, the remarkable biology of limpets and their influence on rocky-shore ecosystems, and the identification of British Stropharia fungi. Meanwhile, contributions on botany have explored the culture and ecology of Common Elder, and the place of Wild Leeks in Welsh history.

33.7 June 2022

Places featured include the unique primeval floodplain forest of the Gearagh in south-west Ireland; the surprisingly diverse grasslands formed on toxic mine spoil and metal-rich rocks in northern Wales; the vibrant St Nicholas Fields, an urban Local Nature Reserve in the heart of York; the varied submerged and coastal habitats of Plymouth Sound, Britain’s first National Marine Park; and Beinn Eighe NNR in the western Highlands, which in 2021/22 is celebrating its 70th year as a National Nature Reserve.

33.5 April 2022

Other articles have reviewed some of the most serious challenges for conservation, such as the disruption to invertebrate life-cycles caused by climate change, and the ecosystem-level impacts of overabundant carrion in the countryside. Meanwhile, on a practical level we have seen case studies on work to restore dynamism to Welsh sand dunes, the conservation of beach-nesting Ringed Plovers, the effects of grazing by cattle on the vegetation of lowland heathland, and techniques for finding and reviving ‘ghost ponds’ – old infilled farm ponds – for the benefit of aquatic species and other farmland wildlife.

33.6 May 2022

In environmental policy, we started the volume with analysis of what to expect from the COP 26 climate-change summit (held in Glasgow in October/November 2021), while later issues saw scrutiny of the government’s response to the protected landscapes review and, most recently, a critique by Professor Sir Dieter Helm of the government’s proposed Nature Recovery Fund. Outside the main articles, the conservation news feature has continued to keep a finger on the pulse of the most important stories and developments, including guest contributions on the scandal surrounding release of sewage into rivers, the tragic and ongoing outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in wild bird populations, and analysis of potential threats to existing environmental-protection powers from the draft Levelling Up Bill.

33.4 February 2022

On top of this, we have continued to explore the role of rewilding in UK conservation as part of our ‘Wilding for Conservation’ series. Recent articles have discussed the possible limitations of rewilding based on perspectives from landscape history, the importance of ‘wildwoods’ in mitigation of climate change, and observations from a long-term study of rewilding in ex-coppice woodland.

Looking ahead, readers can expect a similarly eclectic mix from volume 34, including contributions on the folklore of the alluring but highly poisonous plant Henbane, the creation, management and wildlife of the Gwent Levels, the history of the Black Rat in Britain, efforts to conserve Black-tailed Godwits in the fens of East Anglia, further articles in the Wilding for Conservation series, and much more.

33.8 August 2022

British Wildlife is a subscription-only magazine published eight times per year: visit www.britishwildlife.com or email info@britishwildlife.com for more information. Individual subscriptions start from just £40 – you can subscribe online or by phone (01803 467166). Individual back issues of British Wildlife are available to purchase through the NHBS website.

Conservation news highlights from British Wildlife

The conservation news feature has been a fixture of British Wildlife since it first went to print in 1989, and continues to provide a roundup of the most important stories from the world of conservation in Britain and Ireland, covering campaigns, controversies, new initiatives, publications, and policy developments, all accompanied by expert commentary and analysis. 

Here we look back at recent issues of British Wildlife and highlight some of the key stories covered in conservation news, as well as in the main articles, from the past six months. 

February 2022 issue

  • In January, the Environmental Audit Committee issued the output from an inquiry into water quality in rivers. The overarching conclusion was that the ‘chemical cocktail of sewage, slurry and plastic polluting English rivers puts public health and nature at risk’.
  • In 2018, a team from the RSPB discussed in British Wildlife how the Landscapes Review (unpublished at that time) could provide the chance to instal nature at the heart of management of protected landscapes in England. The government responded to the review and opened a consultation; in a recent article David Hampson, Policy Officer at RSPB, analyses the response and highlights opportunities for improvement.
  • On 1st January, Defra issued an updated general licence for bird control in England. This led to further confusion regarding the definition of ‘livestock’ and the timing of when gamebirds are classed as livestock or wildlife.

April 2022 issue

  • The current outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which was first detected in captive birds in October 2022, is the largest and most severe on record and continues to impact captive birds and a number of wild bird species.  
  • There is an abundance of proposals to build new major infrastructure, housing estates, leisure and business parks on open countryside. A report published by the RSPB in February revealed that there were more than 8,000 live planning applications within 500m of an SSSI in July 2021.

May 2022 issue

  • On 13th April the government announced that the benthic habitats of Dogger Bank and three other Marine Protected Areas are to be legally protected from all forms of bottom trawling and demersal seine nets. 
  • An increasing number of raptors, including a White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla in Dorset this spring, have been found dead in recent years, having ingested the rodenticide brodifacoum, an anticoagulant designed to kill rats. In 2020, 23 raptors were found across England, while 25 were recorded in the first half of 2021. In previous years the numbers had been in single figures.
  • The new Natural History GCSE was formally announced on 21st April, 11 years since the idea was first proposed.

June 2022 issue 

  • National Highways, together with the Wildlife Trusts, have launched a new £6 million Network for Nature programme that will create and restore habitats across England.
  • The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill was introduced in May, and will see the replacement of the current environmental assessment process with Environmental Outcomes Reports. 
  • Somerset Wetlands, England’s second ‘super’ National Nature Reserve (NNR), was declared on 19th May, the 70th anniversary of the creation of NNRs.

British Wildlife is a subscription-only magazine published eight times per year: visit www.britishwildlife.com or email info@britishwildlife.com for more information. Individual subscriptions start from just £40 – you can subscribe online or by phone (01803 467166).

‘Wilding for Conservation’ series – one year in

Rewilding has remained very much in vogue over the past 12 months: a wealth of new initiatives and enterprises have emerged, ‘celebrity rewilders’ have made headlines and, most significantly, Defra has announced recently that one part of the new, restructured farm-subsidy system in England will incentivise a switch from agriculture to nature restoration on large landholdings. With momentum only set to build, discussion of the direction of travel, and opportunities and challenges for rewilding remains as important as ever – the ‘Wilding for Conservation’ series, launched in British Wildlife at the start of 2021, aims to provide a forum for that discussion. Here, we revisit the varied topics covered in the series’ first year and look ahead to articles coming up in 2022 and beyond.

Wilding for Conservation, edited by Rob Fuller, began in the February 2021 issue of British Wildlife with an editorial explaining the aims of the series, including to ‘explore the many facets of rewilding as they relate to conservation in Britain’ and ‘bring ideas contained within the expanding scientific and cultural literature to a wider audience, while providing examples of what is happening on the ground in the UK and elsewhere’.

That same issue featured the first two articles in the series. To start, Steve Carver and Ian Convery set out the history and principles of rewilding, and argued that this approach in its pure form could offer a more ambitious future for conservation in Britain. Accompanying this was a piece by Rob Fuller and James Gilroy, who examined the limitations of, and similarities between, rewilding and ‘traditional’ conservation management, and discussed how the two could be used in tandem to produce the greatest possible benefit for wildlife.

In the May 2021 issue, Jonathan Spencer explored the economics of rewilding, offering a brief history of how industry first maintained, and then later destroyed, high-nature-value habitats, and explaining how the emergence of natural capital approaches and changes to farm subsidies could present new financial opportunities for rewilding enterprises.

In June, Keith Kirby, described European strict forest reserves – protected woodlands left to develop with minimal intervention – and outlined how these might provide lessons for rewilding in British forests.

In the November issue, Hugh Webster reviewed the ability of large carnivores, including wolf and lynx, to regulate populations of other species, and cautioned against building the case for reintroduction of apex predators on their potential ecological benefits, which may fail to materialise.

Most recently, in December 2021, the charity Rewilding Britain introduced a selection of projects currently trialling wilder approaches to conservation, and explained how rewilding can be applied, and yield benefits, in a great variety of contexts.

Wilding for Conservation will continue through 2022 and beyond with articles on a range of topics, including a landscape-history perspective on the limits of rewilding, the reality of passive rewilding in established woodland, the roles of rewilding in carbon storage and mitigating the impacts of climate change on wildlife, case studies on the New Forest and Southern Uplands of Scotland, and much more. And alongside the series, British Wildlife will continue to bring readers the best of natural history and species conservation, and the most important developments in environmental policy.

British Wildlife is a subscription-only magazine which has been published by NHBS since 2016. Annual subscriptions, starting from just £40, can be taken out online, by email (info@britishwildlife.com) or by phone (01803 467166). Individual back issues of British Wildlife are available to buy from the NHBS website.

British Wildlife Book Reviews

British Wildlife has featured book reviews since the very first magazine back in 1989. These reviews provide in-depth critiques of the most important new titles in natural history publishing, from nature-writing bestsellers to technical identification handbooks. They are all authored by experts in relevant subjects, which ensures an honest and insightful appraisal of each book featured.

Since 2018 every review included in the magazine is available to read on the British Wildlife website. Here are ten titles that have featured so far in some of the recent issues of British Wildlife, all with links to take you directly to the full review.

1. Beak, Tooth and Claw: Living with Predators by  Mary Colwell

“She walked and travelled through the farms and uplands of Britain and Ireland. She talked to people on both sides of the divide – sheep-farmers, salmonfishers, raven-tamers, writers, scientists, conservationists, gamekeepers. She watched her chosen predators in the field and noted how they ‘fit into the landscape’.”

Reviewed by Peter Marren in the June 2021 issue (BW 32.7) – read the review here

2. Broomrapes of Britain & Ireland by Chris Thorogood & Fred Rumsey

“This monograph has been meticulously proofread, and is neatly laid out, well printed and generally excellent. I am particularly grateful to the authors for finally nailing down a violet-coloured broomrape which I found, years ago, growing on the seashore near Sandwich.”

Reviewed by Peter Marren in the August 2021 issue (BW 32.8) – read the review here

 

3. Much Ado About Mothing: A Year Intoxicated by Britain’s rare and Remarkable Moths by James Lowen

“Most of his literary energy lies in individualising the moths. He is a generous and imaginative, and, yes, ‘intoxicated’ describer. The quest has barely got going before we are introduced to the Pale Tussock’s ‘shag-pile furriness’ and the male Muslin Moth’s ‘grey mad-professor hair’.”

Reviewed by Peter Marren in the August 2021 issue (BW 32.8 – read the review here

 

4. Butterflies by Martin Warren

“In summary, I have nothing but praise for this book. Anyone interested in butterflies, and especially those involved with sites where butterflies are a significant presence, should read it. It is beautifully produced and printed.”

Reviewed by Bob Gibbons in the August 2021 issue (BW 32.8) – read the review here

5. International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective by David Stroud et al.

“It is therefore authoritative and densely packed, yet commendably succinct, well paced and easy to read. Inevitably specialist, it is nevertheless a compelling read and will become a worthy source of reference for years to come.”

Reviewed by Anthony Fox in the October 2021 issue (BW 33.1) – read the review here

 

6. Why Nature Conservation Isn’t Working: Understanding Wildlife in the Modern World by Adrian Spalding

“We deliberately choose big, glamorous species to release simply because we like them. Spalding thinks that all this is wrong, that wild species have an existence entirely separate from Homo sapiens in time and space, in their lives, in their habitat, and in their evolutionary and historical past (and future).”

Reviewed by Peter Marren in the October 2021 issue (BW 33.1) – read the review here

7. Human, Nature: A Naturalist’s Thoughts on Wildlife and Wild Places by Ian Carter

“As Ian Carter puts it, the many and varied connections he has with nature play a significant part in making his life feel worthwhile. They have provided the material for the journals he has kept over three decades, and form the substance of this book. His thoughts on the conundrums and contradictions in the way humans interact with wildlife build into a thoughtful and timely look at contemporary relationships between people and nature.”

Reviewed by James Robertson in the October 2021 issue (BW 33.1) – read the review here

8. Ecology and Natural History by David M. Wilkinson

“Although it is clearly written, and eschews mathematics, it is dense with concepts and facts, with a strong whiff of university teaching. It is therefore one of the more technical New Naturalists. But where does it say that nature has to be simple? Its complexity is surely part of its fascination.”

Reviewed by Peter Marren in the October 2021 issue (BW 33.1) – read the review here

 

9. Freshwater Snails of Britain and Ireland by Ben Rowson et al.

“This is a terrific book: a ‘must have’ for anyone who wants to learn how to identify, accurately, freshwater snails in Britain and Ireland.”

Reviewed by Jeremy Biggs in the November 2021 issue (BW 33.2) – read the review here

 

 

10. Britain’s Insects: A Field Guide to the Insects of Great Britain and Ireland by Paul D. Brock

“Its structured approach offers a general illustrated guide to insect orders (such as mayflies, or dragonflies and damselflies), including some larvae. Then, when you reach an order, there is a good introduction and the species accounts are further broken down into sections…”

Reviewed by Bob Gibbons in the November 2021 issue (BW 33.2) – read the review here

Since its launch in 1989, British Wildlife has established its position as the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiasts and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Individual back issues of the magazine are available to buy through the NHBS website, while annual subscriptions start from just £35 – sign up online here.

 

COP 26: The road to Glasgow… and beyond

In just a few weeks, the UK will host the UN’s 26th Climate Change Conference, COP 26, in Glasgow. In an editorial in the October issue of British Wildlife, David Stroud, former Senior Ornithologist at JNCC and co-author of International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective, describes the build-up to the conference and what we can expect from the event itself. The editorial is shared in full below.

Psychologists tell us that humanity evolved to focus on immediate threats – the sabre-toothed tiger lurking in a cave – rather than to ‘over the horizon’ challenges that will affect us only at some distant time in the future. That, at least, is the suggested justification for humanity’s failure to address seriously the problem of anthropogenic climate change over the last half-century, despite increasingly definitive evidence of the existential threat it poses. The frequency of extreme weather events in recent years, however, no longer allows lack of immediacy to be used as an excuse: from flooding and wildfire to sea-level rise, the consequences of climate change are apparent here and now and they are part of the lived experience of people across the world.

The effects of global heating are not restricted to weather catastrophes. As naturalists, we are ever-more familiar with changes to our flora and fauna, as documented elsewhere in this issue (pages 13–20) and previously in British Wildlife. This presents significant challenges to national conservation policies, which have traditionally relied on essentially static networks of protected areas and protected species lists. Despite the announcement of various welcome (but limited) projects, UK governments are yet to promote or implement climate-change adaptation at the scale required to make a meaningful impact.

The October 2021 issue of British Wildlife

In August, the Sixth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided the starkest of stark warnings yet (IPCC 2021). This report was described by the UN Secretary-General as nothing less than ‘a code red for humanity’ (UN 2021). He noted that the internationally agreed threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels of global heating is ‘perilously close… The only way to prevent exceeding this threshold… is by urgently stepping up our efforts, and pursuing the most ambitious path. We must act decisively now…’ With the 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) soon to be held in Glasgow, the international community has an immediate opportunity to act on this latest science, and to use it as a solution. But will the response be adequate?

The nearly 30-year history of UNFCCC COPs is chequered and has been (rightly) dominated by issues of international development. Essentially, when the UNFCCC was negotiated, developing countries highlighted the need for developed nations – those with the largest economies and the greatest greenhouse-gas emissions – to take primary responsibility for the global issue they had (albeit unwittingly) created by more than two centuries of carbon-driven industrialisation. For this reason, the UNFCCC’s 1997 Kyoto Protocol (of COP 3) was framed on the basis of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’, placing the primary obligation to address the problem on developed countries (it also, importantly, recognised the contributions to climate change of greenhouse gases other than CO2).

The UNFCCC’s 2015 Paris Agreement (COP 21) made the progressive step of moving away from Kyoto’s top-down assignation of national targets, and instead established a bottom-up approach to delivering objectives through ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ or NDCs. In essence this allows each country to put on the table what it pledges to do, hoping that this is collectively adequate. Importantly, the NDC approach was agreed by, and thus brought on board, the developing countries – still recognising ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’ while acknowledging that low- and especially middle-income countries also have individual contributions to make to the global solution.

The human development needs of the poorest countries, however, are yet to be met, as recognised by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Thus, for affluent nations such as the UK there are actually two requirements for an effective Paris Agreement: not only to offer an adequate NDC, but also to contribute to the ‘financial mechanisms’ that allow developing countries to skip dirty, greenhouse-gas-emitting industry and move directly to green economies. ‘Resource mobilisation’ from the developed world will therefore be a central focus of COP 26.

Media commentators have been calling recently for binding quotas to be agreed in Glasgow. While theoretically desirable, this will not happen and it misunderstands the complexities of the global political process. Should there be a World Government at some point, such a prescriptive approach might be achievable – but for now it lives in fantasyland (along with alternative economic systems). The reality is, regrettably, much messier and is here for the foreseeable future.

At COP 26, the UK has a unique responsibility to ensure a successful outcome. Not only does it have to contribute an NDC of significant ambition as one of the world’s largest economies, but as conference chair the UK has a crucial cheerleader role, with an onus to encourage all other countries to deliver ambitiously, too. Decisions at the COP will, as is the norm for such meetings, be taken by consensus, which leaves a real risk of lowest common denominator decision-making because all countries effectively hold a veto. The role of the UK diplomatic services here is critical to build momentum, impetus and pressure (as was that of France ahead of 2015’s COP 21). They also have a vital job in gaining prior intelligence from other countries and working to fix problems and issues ahead of time through face-to-face dialogue in other capitals. As at all intergovernmental COPs, most of the content of decisions is developed well beforehand, while the conference itself is used to finesse the details and formally sign off the final texts. With (we hope) all 197 Contracting Parties attending and just a few days available together in Glasgow, there is no time to do otherwise.

Parties will already have prepared their broad national negotiating positions over the course of the last year, not least because for a meeting of such significance these will typically need to be agreed by the head of government. Many parties work together, giving them greater collective influence. National positions further evolve within regional and other negotiating blocks, including the 27 member states of the EU; the G77 (a coalition of 134 developing countries) and China; the African Group; and the multiple Small Island Developing States which, faced by pressing existential impacts from rising sea levels, have become an increasingly influential political force in climate negotiations.

Yet ultimately, while civil servants can prepare much of the ground, at the COP the tough, final negotiations and trade-offs will be undertaken by heads of government and their ministers. In this, simple peer pressure is important: no national politician likes to be presented as internationally unambitious. And personal relationships, as in any negotiation, are key to success.

Public pressure can also play an essential role by creating a political climate in which it is easier to commit to difficult things when they are presented as ‘the desire of the people’. The last few years of school strikes and other radical actions have demonstrated great public concern, rendering it increasingly difficult, for European leaders at least, not to engage. Hence, the environmental community has an important lobbying role, reminding politicians of what is expected from them, not just ahead of the COP but crucially after it as well, and holding governments globally to account. Commitments are easy to make, but also easy to forget (especially when they involve tough policy changes), and an important agenda item at COP 26 will be the first global stocktake on progress in implementing the measures agreed in Paris.

Beyond governments, contributing to the necessary profound societal change involves all of us. The latest form of climate-change denial is to accept the reality but to make no consequential alterations to one’s lifestyle: ‘business (and life) as usual’. Yet everyone will need to make changes – not least to rediscover the much-anticipated (but so far elusive) ‘new normal’ that was predicted to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic. This will include switching urgently to more sustainable modes of transport, insulating our homes, changing diet and, critically, reducing consumption and having simpler lifestyles: buy less and live more. In promoting such behavioural changes, the environmental community has an important leadership role within society. Gandhi stressed the need to ‘be the change you want to see in the world’. Exactly.

References
IPCC. 2021. Sixth Assessment Report.
UN. 2021. Secretary-General’s statement on the IPCC Working Group 1 Report on the Physical Science Basis of the Sixth Assessment.

Subscriptions to British Wildlife start from £35 – for more information or to subscribe, visit the website. Individual back issues are available to purchase through the NHBS website.

 

International Treaties in Nature Conservation: A UK Perspective
By David Stroud et al.
Paperback | Published May 2021 | £19.99

Read our interview with the author.

 

 

All prices correct at the time of this article’s publication. 

British Wildlife: highlights from the past year

The August issue of British Wildlife is now out, marking the completion of the magazine’s 32nd volume and – more notably – the first since its expansion. The increase from six to eight issues per year has allowed more space for articles on the usual eclectic mix of topics from natural history, conservation and environmental policy. With the selection below we hope to give a taste of the variety that readers have enjoyed in recent months – for a full list of previous articles, see the British Wildlife website.

Volume 32 of British Wildlife

Species: in-depth profiles of individual species or groups have been a mainstay of British Wildlife since its inception. Highlights from this latest volume have included an introduction to the remarkable life histories of cephalopods in British seas; work to unravel the distribution and habitat associations of truly Wild Apples; the myths and misconceptions surrounding pollinating insects; ecological insights from efforts to conserve the Ring Ouzel; and the surprising history of Water Voles in terrestrial habitats.

Places: the magazine continues to celebrate the most important wildlife sites in Britain through regional features and reserve profiles. Recent articles have described work to conserve the botanical treasures of the Lizard, in Cornwall, and the unexpectedly rich biodiversity of conifer plantations in south Wales, while, from East Anglia, we have seen accounts of Holkham NNR – an exemplar of the benefits of large-scale habitat creation and a flexible approach to management – and the contrasting fortunes of two broadland reserves, Sutton and Catfield Fens.

Conservation: British Wildlife aims to tackle current controversies in conservation and shed light on long-term and pervasive threats to the natural environment. Volume 32 has highlighted the potential to eradicate mink from East Anglia and, possibly, from Britain as a whole; the catastrophic impact of nitrogen pollution on bryophytes and lichens; and the environmental impacts of salmon farming in Scotland. On top of this, we have continued to explore the role of rewilding in Britain through the ‘Wilding for Conservation’ series, which most recently has considered the economics of rewilding and lessons from observations of woodland dynamics in European Strict Forest Reserves.

The new Wilding for Conservation series

The August issue itself includes articles on the painstaking efforts to save the Pine Hoverfly, one of Britain’s rarest insects; the importance of long-term ecological studies; the potential for biological recording to influence – and help to defeat – planning applications; insights from studies of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly in Cornwall; and the amazing diversity of wildlife recorded at WWT London Wetland Centre during its first 20 years of existence.

The August issue of British Wildlife

And to give a hint of what is to come in volume 33, subscribers can look forward to articles on Humpback Whales in British seas, the significance of climate change in invertebrate declines, the restoration of dynamism to dune systems, and work to protect the critically rare Narrow-headed Ant, along with more from the Wilding for Conservation series, the usual selection of columns, news and features, and much more.

Subscriptions to British Wildlife start from £35 – for more information or to subscribe, visit the website. Individual back issues are available to purchase through the NHBS website.

British Wildlife book reviews

British Wildlife has featured book reviews since the very first magazine back in 1989. These reviews provide in-depth critiques of the most important new titles in natural history publishing, from nature-writing bestsellers to technical identification handbooks. They are all authored by experts in relevant subjects, which ensures an honest and insightful appraisal of each book featured.

It can be helpful to read a review before deciding to buy a new book, and so since 2018 every review included in the magazine is available to read on the British Wildlife website. Here is a selection of books that have featured so far in the current volume of British Wildlife, all with links to take you directly to the full review.

1. Woodland Flowers by Keith Kirby

“In Woodland Flowers Keith Kirby invites us to look at the ‘wood beneath the trees’ and to consider what its flora can tell us. The focus of this, the eighth volume of Bloomsbury’s British Wildlife Collection (which I have contributed to myself), is on the vascular plants of the woodland floor; to this end Kirby embraces ferns as honorary flowers, but for the most part he steps aside from considering other elements of woodland ecosystems (including the ‘lower’ plants, fungi and fauna).”

Reviewed by Clive Chatters in the October 2020 issue (BW 32.1) – read the review here

2. Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

“This is Sheldrake’s first book, and, while his expertise means that the readers should feel that they are in safe hands from the off, in truth the experience is more like being whisked down a burrow by a white rabbit, or on a tour of Willy Wonka’s research facility: a trippy, astonishing, and completely exhilarating ride.”

Reviewed by Amy-Jane Beer in the November 2020 issue (BW 32.2) – read the review here

 

3. His Imperial Majesty: A Natural History of the Purple Emperor by Matthew Oates

“Part autecology, part monograph and part impassioned love poem to a species that has captured the author’s heart, the pages offer an enjoyable blend of the Purple Emperor’s recorded history, biology, ecology and conservation.”

 

Reviewed by Simon Breeze in the December 2020 issue (BW 32.3) – read the review here

 

4. Britain’s Habitats: A Field Guide to the Wildlife Habitats of Great Britain and Ireland (second edition) by Sophie Lake, Durwyn Liley, Robert Still and Andy Swash

“But do we really need a field guide to habitats? Possibly not. I certainly will not be taking my copy into the field. Yet this perhaps misses the point. What this book does is remind the users of other field guides that their organisms of interest do not live in isolation – they are nothing without their habitats. So, make this book an essential companion to your species guides.”

Reviewed by Anthony Robinson in the February 2021 issue (BW 32.4) – read the review here

5. Beetles of Britain and Ireland. Volume 3: Geotrupidae to Scraptiidae by Andrew G. Duff

“Anyone interested in identifying and studying beetles simply cannot afford to be without [these books] and any quibbles can only be minor. Andrew cannot be too highly commended for his diligence and hard work to make so much information available to all.”

Reviewed by Richard Wright in the April 2021 issue (BW 32.5) – read the review here

 

6. The Bumblebee Book: A Guide to Britain & Ireland’s Bumblebees by Nick Owen

“This is the latest book to enter the now relatively crowded marketplace of bumblebee guides, which may leave one wondering what it can offer to the more seasoned hymenopterist – read on! The author’s intention is to provide a book at the ‘entry level’ of bee study, Owens stating from the outset that he ‘aims to provide an easily accessible introduction for those with little or no previous knowledge of bumblebees’.”

Reviewed by Adrian Knowles in the April 2021 issue (BW 32.5) – read the review here

7. Bringing Back the Beaver: The Story of One Man’s Quest to Rewild Britain’s Waterways by Derek Gow

“There is no better place from which to view the tragi-comic events which unfold, and no better person to describe it than Derek Gow, a man of action as well as a powerful Beaver advocate. This account is unexpected, oddball, and, despite its serious side, enormously entertaining.”

Reviewed by James Robertson in the May 2021 issue (BW 32.6) – read the review here

 

8. Heathland by Clive Chatters

“He has written an ecological masterpiece, generous in its sympathies, awe-inspiring in its breadth of knowledge, and genuinely enticing in its journey around heathland Britain. This is a book that ought to influence policy.”

Reviewed by Peter Marren in the May 2021 issue (BW 32.6) – read the review here

 

Since its launch in 1989, British Wildlife has established its position as the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiasts and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Individual back issues of the magazine are available to buy through the NHBS website, while annual subscriptions start from just £35 – sign up online here.

 

Wilding for Conservation: new series in British Wildlife

In a short space of time rewilding has grown to become a powerful force in conservation. The idea of giving nature the freedom and space to forge its own path is not just inspiring, but also raises deeper questions about our relationship with the natural world and how we best serve wildlife and ecosystems through a period of enormous challenge for conservation. To explore these and other aspects relating to rewilding, British Wildlife is launching a new series: Wilding for Conservation. The series started with two articles in the February issue, along with an editorial in which Series Editor Rob Fuller and BW Editor Guy Freeman explain how they hope to contribute to the discussion on rewilding and its role in conservation in Britain. An abridged and edited version of the editorial is included below.

The February issue of British Wildlife

Letting nature take back control

Deceptively simple in essence, rewilding resonates with something latent in many of us – a longing for a wilder world. It has captured the imaginations not only of conservationists, but also of landowners, policy-makers and, especially heartening, many young people too. Enthusiasm abounds for the idea that natural processes can be harnessed as solutions to some of our biggest environmental challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss. Rewilding has rapidly become a central element in this ‘new’ thinking, with many believing that it offers a fresh start for what they see as an ineffective conservation movement presiding over catastrophic declines in nature. But what exactly is rewilding, and what is it not?

Rewilding emerged in the 1990s as a predominantly North American movement, but became strongly embedded in British conservation consciousness somewhat later, partly aided by the publicity surrounding several pioneering projects, such as Oostvaardersplassen, Ennerdale and Knepp. The publication of Feral by George Monbiot in 2013 undoubtedly also helped to fuel interest. In a remarkably short period of time, rewilding has spawned several conferences, bewildering numbers of papers and articles, several influential books and new organisations, notably Rewilding Europe and Rewilding Britain, founded in 2011 and 2015, respectively.

Interpretations of exactly what rewilding means have proliferated and often ranged far from the original concept. Most advocates, however, would seem to argue that it embraces natural processes without defined outcomes, and ideally operates over large tracts of land. In Britain at least, the enthusiasm for rewilding has met with some scepticism, even among conservationists, which may reflect disquiet about the absence of targets, a perceived threat to what has been achieved in the past, or simply confusion over what all the noise is about. One can legitimately ask whether the ideas are actually new or novel. Approaches guided by natural processes were being promoted long before rewilding became mainstream, while the merits of non-intervention versus habitat management have been discussed for decades in British conservation circles. What distinguishes the rewilding ideas that emerged in North America, however, is their focus on wild land on a grand scale, allowing the unhindered movement of animals, including large predators and their prey.

Discussions of rewilding in more heavily modified European landscapes quickly become entwined with questions of what can be classed as ‘natural’, the extent to which we should attempt to re-create historic environments, and the desirability and ethics of using species introductions to try to replicate processes that existed in the past as opposed to allowing ecosystems to develop a new kind of naturalness. Working to create wilder places for both people and nature is an admirable direction for conservation in Britain, but, given the constraints and small scale of many initiatives, ‘wilding’ perhaps captures their essence better than rewilding could.

Existing conservation approaches have not been able to prevent widespread declines in biodiversity over recent decades, although without them things could have been far worse. Some argue that rewilding (or wilding) is a way to set nature on a better course in our islands, but how can we be sure of this? There are severe limitations on land availability for conservation, especially in the lowlands, and the benefits from rewilding may not become apparent for many years. Are we approaching a point at which we need to rethink what kind of nature and wildlife we want?

British Wildlife has effectively been contributing to the ‘wilding debate’ through articles going back to a time when the ‘R word’ was unheard of on this side of the Atlantic. Notable early contributions include two from 1995, one vigorously challenging priorities in British conservation and arguing that greater attention be paid to more natural vegetation, and a second far-sighted article which echoes this from a different perspective and reads like a blueprint for much contemporary wilding. A special issue in 2009 was something of a milestone, containing a set of articles on naturalistic grazing and rewilding, stimulated by Frans Vera’s ideas about how large herbivores shaped pre-Neolithic landscapes. Topics tackled more recently include the nature of past landscapes, the definition of naturalness itself, reintroductions, natural regeneration of woodland and wilding in farmland landscapes.

Over the coming months, British Wildlife will be exploring the many facets of rewilding as they relate to conservation in Britain through a new series, ‘Wilding for Conservation’, a title which, we hope, captures the wide range of approaches to letting nature take back control. We start things off in the February issue with two pieces, one expounding a pure approach to rewilding , the other looking at relationships between traditional conservation management and rewilding . The series will examine some of the questions about rewilding raised in this editorial and bring ideas contained within the expanding scientific and cultural literature to a wider audience, while providing examples of what is happening on the ground in the UK and elsewhere. We hope that readers find the series to be thought-provoking and inspiring.

Articles in the Wilding for Conservation series will appear intermittently through 2021 and beyond. Individual copies of the February issue of British Wildlife are available to buy through the NHBS website, while annual subscriptions start from just £35 – sign up online here.