Wild Isles

Fabulous Grasslands Episode: shocking statistics but I was surprised to learn that 40% of the UK’s land surface is covered by grass! However, much of this land mass is monoculture and has been denuded of the variety of natural flora and fauna species and no longer able to support the wildlife it once did. Furthermore much of this lost wildlife it seems includes insects crucial to our crop cultivation and our ability to meet future food needs. We have poisoned and messed with the chain of life and driven some species to extinction or very close to it.

Good news though,  some enlightened farmers are addressing the challenges with restorative farming practices, utilising ancient and traditional livestock breeds to enhance grasslands and are employing rewilding strategies to promote harmony.

Yes, really enjoyed this episode. Hares are one of my very favourite creatures, we use a CS in North Norfolk, and you can see dozens in the next field, so lovely. Fabulous scenery. We often see Black Grouse up on North York Moors, but never seen them fighting for mates. Seen Hen Harriers up there as well.

Low flying over the high moors skimming the Heather when hiking, another wonderful sight & sound of the moors👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻

It was up there near The Howard CaMC Site on the Moors a couple of decades ago (Cropton Forest) that I saw and heard my first Nightjars. Last year, my first crossbills too near Spiers House. Beavers have also been introduced in the past few years very close by. There are pockets of good work going on up there but more tolerance and help is needed to save our wildlife and their moor and forest environments. 

We do need a bit of perspective. Before humans became farmers ( not that long ago in the scale of things) the UK and other countries were covered in scrub and not wild flower meadows. They evolved and changed. We have the ever increasing need to produce food for the again ever increasing population so intensification continues. We better off  members can pontificate as we have the resources to make food and environmental decisions but the vast majority of the world population cant. Its a treadmill that keeps turning faster all the time.

Yes, we have been watching the wonderful TV series. We love the NY moors, we used to use the Cropton Forest campsite, back when it was a campsite and not the Cabin area it is now. Never seen so many different coloured pheasants in all my life as up there. Mind, it’s no wonder they had to take stock and do away with the camping, it could descend into an absolute swamp, and there was nearly always a tractor on hand yanking vans out of the mud.😱 You didn’t venture up there without a Land Rover or similar in those days🤣 We have used a now ex CL in Dalby Forest as well, it’s now a private campsite. The Howard could get boggy, but it’s got some HS pitches nowadays. Nice location if you like being miles from anywhere. We love the drive up from there to the Lion Inn, superb food. 

Freshwater: what a fantastic episode but what a sewer we are making, have made, of our watersheds in general and lower river systems in particular. As highlghted in this programme the future of our Atlantic Salmon, once common across the isles, looks bleak as do the iconic chalk streams of Southern England. As a life long fly fisherman I have been a supporter of the trout stream restoration projects and was involved in The Lincolnshire Chalk Stream initiatives. I now no longer fish for wild Brown Trout or Salmon but I’m still active in the rewilding and restorative work being done. The waters across Britain have certainly deteriorated over the last three decades but thing can be turned around. It’s really very little to do with feeding an increased populations, that’s a hoodwink, but more to do with profits and deliberate lack of political will for selfish reasons. We should all now shout out to save what’s left of our freshwater systems and the ecology within. The alternative is dire. This show illustrated the challenges and issues very well.

Apparently we are now in the bottom 10% of countries worldwide when it comes to our wildlife and habitat protection. We’ve lost and continue loosing so much. What a terrible position to be in!
www.saveourwildisles.org.uk

We need to act now so our future generations of campers, motorhomers and caravaners can enjoy the great outdoors! I do hope so for my grandchildren’s sake.

Turn the place wild and starve? The population needs food so farming intensifies. Its reality. Now look  at Europe and the droughts. We will need to increase production further  just to survive. So easy those of us with the ability to live well, enjoy luxuries like caravanning but the vast majority of the population ar'nt so lucky.

The sensible and foresighted in our society recognise that there must be a sensible solution to this very real and imminent problem we are facing. It’s not about turning the whole ‘place’ wild at all, that is an extreme view so is sterilising all  of our land mass  to make farmed monocultures.
It’s about finding sympathetic and productive agricultural methods which recognises the crucial symbiotic role that nature plays in the health of our world. We need to find some room for other species which share these isles with us. We loose them at our expense and detriment. The happy medium must be found. This series really does explore the issues and highlights the symbiotic relationship between species and our position in nature. Much of our food production will not exist without those very important pollinators. We are the custodians of our planet’s future health.

We need to address the causes of drought and climate change too! Lots to tackle but it has to be done!