Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of wood engraving illustrations
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Living with change
- 2 A short dose of Earth history
- 3 Climate change
- 4 Down on the farm and into the woods
- 5 Plant and animal introductions (and some recent arrivals)
- 6 Our overcrowded isles: human population and aspiration
- 7 Fresh water: quality and availability
- 8 Hunting, shooting and fishing: the enigma of field sports and wildlife
- 9 Wildlife conservation at home and overseas
- So how is our wildlife faring? The details
- Glossary and abbreviations
- Notes
- Index
- Plate section
Foreword
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of wood engraving illustrations
- Foreword
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Living with change
- 2 A short dose of Earth history
- 3 Climate change
- 4 Down on the farm and into the woods
- 5 Plant and animal introductions (and some recent arrivals)
- 6 Our overcrowded isles: human population and aspiration
- 7 Fresh water: quality and availability
- 8 Hunting, shooting and fishing: the enigma of field sports and wildlife
- 9 Wildlife conservation at home and overseas
- So how is our wildlife faring? The details
- Glossary and abbreviations
- Notes
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
In Britain and Ireland we live in an overcrowded and intensively managed landscape, in which not a single square metre has not been, or is not, influenced by the ‘hand of man’. We have cut it down, ploughed it, drained it, afforested it or concreted it over – in short, we have totally ruined much of it. And yet . . . like you, I still love it with all my heart. I can still find scraps of paradise, things of extraordinary beauty, and things both big and small which make me smile, sing, set my alarm clock to get up, go out and rejoice in. And that is why, like you, I care so much when it comes to conserving it.
But let me ask you a question. If conservation in these islands were a single-company business, all the effort, endeavour, all the strategies, money and employees were under one roof, and that company had shares to purchase on the stock exchange, would you invest in them? Based on results? I wouldn’t. Not because I think that the company isn’t sincere or isn’t trying hard enough, simply because its results are not only poor – they are disastrous.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A Less Green and Pleasant LandOur Threatened Wildlife, pp. xi - xiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015