Fight 1:
Jack and I have now finished a key task of our seasonal winter work. After 3 days of really demanding work we have conservation-laid this stretch of hedge, which was last touched perhaps 20-30 years ago. The larger hawthorn trees were 30 feet in height and they put up a fight! And it came at a cost – I have two very badly infected fingers (one still partly paralyzed), a decent sized gash across the palm of my left hand and multiple nicks on my face. Somehow, Jack is unscathed! But the payback will be huge – now another hedge at UWNR is deep, broad, dense and complex. It will grow quickly to offer a rich habitat to a variety of species. I love this method of hedge management – it just makes sense – despite the fight!
Fight 2:
I received an email this week from Mark Avery, announcing the launch of Wild Justice. Mark is working with Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay to bring the law to bear on those who flout it and bring destruction to our species and our land. Mark fights relentlessly for nature and I would ask each of you to read about what Wild Justice is aiming to achieve, and in turn, support them. (I would also recommend reading Inglorious, Conflict in the Uplands, by Avery. This book lifts the lid on how a very small number of elites (wealthy white males) assault our environment, for what is called country sports. I have included a disturbing pic below, which illustrates just one aspect of this destruction.).
This is what Packham writes on the Wild Justice website:
‘Wild. Justice. Because the wild needs justice more than ever before. The pressures wrought upon our wildlife have reached a crisis point and this is an essential response…Our wildlife has been abused, has been suffering, exploited or destroyed by criminals for too long. Well, no longer. Wild Justice will at last be the voice of those victims and it will be heard . . . and justice will be served.
Write here…