Guest blog – Wildlife politics by Lizzie Wilberforce

Lizzie gained her enthusiasm for wildlife from her family during her childhood, growing up  in Bristol. Conservation volunteering soon became a passion, and she then moved to Wales in 1996 to study at Aberystwyth University. Since 2003 she has worked in nature conservation in the voluntary sector in Wales.   It was Politics with a big ‘P’ that…

Guest blog – What if a Swift were a bat or a newt? by Dick Newell

Lifetime bird watcher and over 60 years an RSPB member, Dick Newell, retired from the software industry, now devotes time to devising ways to help Swifts, which led recently to the BTO giving a Marsh Award for Innovative Ornithology to Action for Swifts.  actionforswifts.blogspot.com documents a large number of case studies, designs and ideas   …

Guest blog – Disturbing conservation by Ian Parsons

Ian Parsons spent twenty years working as a Ranger with the Forestry Commission, where he not only worked with birds of prey and dormice, but where he developed his passion for trees (see his previous guest blog).  Now a freelance writer, Ian runs his own specialist bird tour company leading tours to Extremadura.  For more…

Guest blog – On natural beauty, a cautionary tale by Andrew Painting.

Andrew Painting, 27, is an ecologist working in the Scottish highlands. He studies human/environment relations at Aberdeen University, and occasionally writes about environmental issues. Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life Oscar Wilde, ‘The Decay of Lying‘ A few days ago I was out on the moor and I saw an exquisite little…