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 trustee and former Chair of the excellent World Land Trust – click here
- an author (click here) with a new book coming out this summer ↓ ↓ ↓
My new book, Reflections, will be published in less than four months – on 4 July.
Have a look at what is in it, what people say about it, and maybe order a copy to be sent to you on publication day – click here.
What they say about my new book (so far):
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.
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To get in touch – email mark@markavery.info