Jane V. Adams – The Scabby Plant

Jane is a naturalist, photographer and nature writer living in Dorset. Her work has appeared in books, anthologies and blogs for charities such as The Wildlife Trusts and the International Bee Research Association. When she’s not exploring Dorset’s lanes and countryside she can be found lying on her stomach watching insects in her garden. Jane’s…

Guest blog – Beavers by Nonie Coulthard

I am a kayaker, Nature-lover, conservationist-becoming-activist. I worked (with Mark) on Bee-eaters in The Camargue and (without Mark) on Bee-eaters in Sénégal and I’m now a consultant and volunteer on conservation and local community development mainly in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and other parts of West Africa. I live next to the Angus Glens and I…

Guest blog – Right to Roam by Nick Hayes

I am the author of The Book of Trespass, a polemic that investigates the historic roots of our forced exclusion from nature, and argues why we need to reconnect. I am incredibly grateful to Mark for the opportunity to write to you, and would like to give you a view behind the scenes of our…

Jane V. Adams – Clutching at Straws

Jane is a naturalist, photographer and nature writer living in Dorset. Her work has appeared in books, anthologies and blogs for charities such as The Wildlife Trusts and the International Bee Research Association. When she’s not exploring Dorset’s lanes and countryside she can be found lying on her stomach watching insects in her garden. Jane’s…

Guest blog – Imagining the uplands by Ben MacDonald

Ben Macdonald is a conservation writer and television producer.  The paperback of his book Rebirding is now available from £8.70 here. Twitter: @Rebirding1 Imagine that you want to upgrade your car.  You walk into a showroom.  There are three models available – all with various degrees of rust.  The showman explains at great length that…

Guest blog – Where did our birds come from? by Alan Parfitt

Alan has always been a birder. In the 1950s, his father used to take him bird watching on Graveney Marshes in North Kent (what a great shame they are now to be more or less completely covered in solar panels). During his earning days, amongst other assignments, he was the environmental manager for a large…

Guest blog – Farmed to hell? by Louise Bacon

Farmed to hell? I spend a lot of my time in the farmed environment.  I live surrounded by arable, and have to pass through it to get anywhere.  At work recently (I work in the Polar Data Centre at British Antarctic Survey) we had a midsummer solstice challenge for running/walking, simply personal achievement, nothing else….. …

Guest blog – Rebirth by Danilo Selvaggi

Danilo Selvaggi is Director General of Lipu, Italy’s BirdLife partner, having been in charge of institutional relations. He has a long involvement with environmental politics, communications and cultural ecology, and been an adviser to the Environment Ministry. A graduate in philosophy, he has focused especially on the social and cultural implications of philosophy, especially in…