Mark Avery is many things including;
- a senior conservationist with 25 years at the RSPB and 12 years subsequently as an independent campaigner
- a son, husband, father and grandfather
- a co-founder of Wild Justice with Ruth Tingay and Chis Packham – click here
- a not-bad birder and keen but barely adequate all-round naturalist
- a scientist by training with a PhD on bat behaviour (long time ago – 1983)
- a former Chair of the excellent World Land Trust – click here
- an author (click here) with a new book out this summer ↓ ↓ ↓
My new book, Reflections, was published on 4 July.
Have a look at what is in it, what people say about it, and maybe order a copy from the publisher – click here.
What they say about Reflections:
Chris Packham – If I were ‘king for a day’, Avery would be instantly installed as the benign dictator of conservation in the UK. If you love wildlife, read this, think about this, and act upon this.
Stephen Moss – A timely, brutally honest, yet inspiring account on what has gone wrong with wildlife conservation, and how we can put it right.
Ian Newton – Mark Avery is uniquely qualified to write this immensely stimulating and thought-provoking book. Reflecting on his lifetime in conservation he discusses the successes and failures of the past, and draws important lessons for more effective conservation in the future.
Guy Shrubsole – Reflections is a work of distilled campaigning wisdom, told with the irrepressible optimism of a passionate advocate for nature who’s spent decades working tirelessly for wildlife. With wit, verve and clarity of prose, Mark Avery lays out a strikingly radical set of proposals for how to turn around the decline of wildlife in these isles.
Baron (John) Randall – Dr Avery must be congratulated on this important book. He hits the nail on the head. I found myself nodding my head vigorously while reading it. The time for action is now.
Sir Tim Smit – Mark Avery has written a love letter to Nature. Yes it is well written and academically sound and all that you’d expect from a person of his track record, but the real pleasure of the book is that under all that patina of propriety and science you feel a Mr Darcy launching himself into the lake because nothing is more important to him than capturing our hearts with his passion. A real triumph.
Patrick Barkham – A clarion call for more nature in Britain and how we can get it. Wise, knowledgeable, provocative and good humoured – Mark Avery is a national treasure.
Beccy Speight – Deeply felt and clear eyed, this book admirably achieves its aim of being ‘realistically hopeful’ about a wildlife renaissance and what it will take for us to get there. You don’t have to agree with all its conclusions. But the questions it intelligently explores, based on a lifetime of experience in conservation, of ‘what sort of world do we want to live in?’ and ‘what should I do about it, then?’ are the essential ones of our times. Read it and be both enlightened and challenged.
Derek Gow – A brilliant, thorough book full of insightful observation. A must read for those who care about natures future and wish to understand the character of our contorted relationship with it.
Nicola Chester – Mark Avery has been a guiding light in conservation all my life; a constant north star. This important book bears witness to what we’ve lost, what we’ve done about it, what works and what we must do next. It is both a reckoning and a resounding call to real action, at the most crucial time of our lives – of all our wild lives. Here is hope, predicated on action. There is work to do; and we’d better get on with it.
India Bourke in New Statesman – If the British conservation movement were a forest, Mark Avery would be one of the ancient oaks (even though he is still a mere 65 years old). During the past four decades he’s been the conservation director of the RSPB and co-founded Wild Justice, which campaigns for legal change on nature’s behalf. His latest book, Reflections, now pours that experience into a mission statement for all those who claim to prize UK wildlife.
From the daisies he mows around on his lawn to the spiders in his bath, Avery’s love of the creeping, crawling, soaring world is evident on every page. And equally as direct is his wrath (“pah!”) for those who threaten its existence, from corporate lobby groups’ vested interests to conservation NGOs’ own “feeble” opposition to Brexit. Alongside the gripes, however, are persuasive solutions. Bringing back beavers is a “no brainer”, he writes, while more support for public ownership is key to a progressive future that puts equity for both people and nature at its heart. If enough people press this energising book into the hands of those in power, maybe our politicians too might soon agree.
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