ECOS 44 (5.1)- Selling England by the pound
IAN D. ROTHERHAM Biodiversity offset as conservation opportunity or clever scam? This is an opinion piece based on long-term observations of ecological and environmental site practice in relation to developments requiring planning consent. The article is primarily about ethical issues when consultants work together with developers to challenge and undermine [...]
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ECOS 44 (5)- Biodiversity offset and planning gain in relation to habitat creation and translocation – the wise choices for wildlife
IAN D. ROTHERHAM Emerging in the 1980s and 1990s, ideas of habitat rescue and transplantation, and of habitat creation have developed on an unprecedented scale and they offer considerable potential benefits (see for example, Gilbert, & Anderson, 1998).1 Serious attempts at habitat creation and restoration emerged on the back of [...]
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ECOS Interviews: Jenny Barlow
Thoughts from influential nature conservationists… Jenny Barlow Career Highlights I’ve been lucky to do some really interesting jobs in the environmental and sustainability field but working on the development of the community owned Tarras Valley Nature Reserve has been the biggest highlight so far. Being part of one of the [...]
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Book Review: CORNERSTONES and TENACIOUS BEASTS
CORNERSTONES: Wild Forces That Can Change Our World Benedict Macdonald Bloomsbury Wildlife, 2022, 256 pages Hardback: £17.99 | ISBN 978-1-4729-7610-9 TENACIOUS BEASTS: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think About Animals Christopher J. Preston The MIT Press, 2023. 319 pages Hardback £21.35 | ISBN: 9780262047562 Review by Peter Taylor These [...]
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Book Review: SSHAPING THE WILD and SARN HELEN
SHAPING THE WILD: Wisdom From A Welsh Hill Farm David Elias Calon, 2023, 232 pages Hardback: £18.99 | ISBN: 1915279348 SARN HELEN: A Journey Through Wales, Past, Present And Future Tom Bullough Granta, 2023, 288 pages Hardback: £16.99 | ISBN: 1783788095 Review by Mick Green Here are two books about [...]
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Book Review: REFLECTIONS
REFLECTIONS: What Wildlife Needs And How To Provide It Mark Avery Pelagic Publishing, 2023, 193 pages Paperback: £19.70 | ISBN: 9781784273903 Review by Edward Grierson In the world of conservation, Mark Avery has a reputation as a pugilist. He’s happy to engage with subjects that others are hesitant to approach; [...]
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Wildlife Charities: Political Meddling or Acting For Nature?
There was a great furore recently when the RSPB called the Prime Minister and other ministers liars. This followed Michael Gove the Housing and Communities Minister’s announcement about removing restrictions on new housing in relation to nutrient neutrality and the associated pollution of rivers and streams. This went against previous [...]
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Book Review: WE ARE FORESTS
WE ARE FORESTS: Inhabiting Territories In Struggle Jean-Baptiste Vidalou translated by Stephen Muecke Polity, 2023, 208 pages Paperback: £15.99 | ISBN 9781509556526 Review by Barry Larking I ought to point out at once this work of philosophic enquiry is not actually about forests from an ecological perspective. But it is [...]
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ECOS Interviews: JAMES COMMON
Thoughts from influential nature conservationists… JAMES COMMON Career highlights Since leaving university in 2016 I’ve been lucky to continually work in a field that I love. So much so that I confess, I’ve never really thought of my career as ‘work’ in the usual sense. A lifelong biological recorder with [...]
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Book Review: TRAFFICATION
TRAFFICATION: How cars destroy nature and what we can do about it Paul F Donald Pelagic Publishing, 2023, 288 pages Hardback: £20 | ISBN 1784274445 Review by Janet Mackinnon According to Paul Donald’s Preface, Traffication is “the first attempt at a book (in any country or language) that tries to [...]
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Book Review: BLACK OPS AND BEAVER BOMBING
BLACK OPS AND BEAVER BOMBING: Adventures with Britain’s Wild Mammals Fiona Mathews and Tim Kendall Oneworld Publications, 2023, 368 pages Hardback: £17.99 | ISBN 0861545567 Review by Ian Bond I almost never buy books on wildlife. They mostly seem to be reflections on someone’s journey to find themselves in nature. [...]
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ECOS 44 (4)- Are countryside managers responsible for Britain’s 2022 summer wildfires?
BRYN GREEN Heath and grassland fires – causes and effects Like 1976, the exceptionally long, hot dry summer of 2022 saw unusually large and extensive heath and grassland wildfires in many parts of the country. With climate change promising that this hotter and drier weather is likely to become more [...]
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