The Quietly Smiling Elephant
Trees = carbon = big profits, are we sure? because it all depends on whether the woodland carbon code is keeping up with the latest science.
Owen Williams
I'm a wildlife artist, writer, countryman, Trustee and Welsh chair of the GWCT, conservationist, and woodcock ringer/researcher with a growing participation in the debate surrounding future land…
Deathbed Curlew
Often understanding the dynamics of a conflict can remove the fog of war.
Cryptochrome ~ the superpower behind animal migration
Uncover the mysterious secrets of bird and butterfly migration, from quantum navigation to multigenerational journeys—discover why every new finding leaves scientists awestruck.
Fjords and Fact Fudging
Think Scotland and southwest Norway should look the same? Discover why this popular rewilding myth ignores deep differences in landscape, climate, and history.
How Tribalism Is Undermining Britain’s Nature Recovery
How have we allowed the critical debate on nature restoration to become so binary and horribly tribal?
The cloud that nearly ate me
Joni Mitchell described clouds as "Rows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air", now come and look at some interesting clouds from both sides with me.
Loopy lupins to the rescue
A cocktail of lupins, distorted history, misleading facts and a twist of land reformist nationalism, makes for a compelling narrative for tree planting in Scotland, but don't be fooled.
Holding Natural England's feet to the fire
When we take a broad perspective on the evolution of the debate about prescribed burning, we see clear evidence of "gate keeping" and the impugning of the work of good scientists to keep inconvenient evidence out of the policy picture.
Woodcock, worms, and wheelbarrows.
How a casual observation led to a piece of citizen science that lifted the lid on the link between woodcock and soil health.
Be careful what you wish for
Now that the government has announced the end of prescribed burning on moorland Chris Packham will be giving his poodles - Sid and Nancy - a jubilant hug. But are there unforeseen consequences of this new legislation?
Clutching at the rewetting straw
How can we have arrived at a place where wildfire risk mitigation on our heather moorlands is now being based on a soggy prayer?
Lapwing hopes lie in the lap of the Gods
With species such a lapwing and curlew closer than ever to extinction, why are the growing number of voices telling us to use targeted lethal predator control still being ignored?