Guardian writer. Books, butterflies, Norfolk Wildlife Trust President. THE SWIMMER, biography of Roger Deakin, out now. (The silver fox in the Speedos is Rog.)
The Swimmer is slipping into the touring waters again this summer. Really looking forward to returning to some of my favourite indie bookshops and festivals. More dates to come.
As most of the media bangs on about Farage and Reform, the Green Party have won as many seats – all 4 of the seats they targeted. Two were big river seats – people on the River Waveney and River Wye want clean rivers!
5 years in prison for a peaceful protest about the climate crisis after a trial in which the defendants couldn't talk about the crisis? This is a scandal of our age.
Wow. Tesco netting off swallow nesting sites in trolley shelters at Norwich supermarket. Likelihood is returning swallows will get caught and die. Terrible publicity for
@Tesco
. Would be wise and kind to take the nets down.
@ChrisGPackham
Lucky I haven't been cycling recently - a robin is nesting in my bike helmet. It's a Crystal Maze for a robin to get inside our garage but she's rearing four chicks.
Wildcats released into Scotland – "the first time a predatory mammal has been deliberately reintroduced in the UK". Small steps but hopefully such careful, slinking reintroductions will be followed by more dramatic dashes to restore native wildlife.
Congratulations
@ChrisGPackham
for the joyous vital positive bird-and-human-song-filled peaceful empathic wet
#PeoplesWalkforWildlife
. And thank you all you lovely people who walked.
Weetabix from our old pack (top) and new pack (bottom). Huge price rises for shrinking product. About 3g lighter too but I can’t see any weights on
@weetabix
packs. We are being ripped off by profiteering inflation and shrinkflation
Environmental activists can no longer explain their motives to a jury. This situation is not only laughable and farcical; it is deeply sinister. This judgment and these laws MUST be overturned.
“The judge’s characterisation of climate breakdown as a matter of opinion and belief is completely nonsensical and demonstrates extraordinary ignorance.” Well said Bill McGuire
I bet we can stop Darwin’s oak being ripped apart but what we need to rip up is are the countrywide plans for these dismal 20th century developments - link roads for new car-dependent suburbs, all driven by the enrichment of a few developers and landowners
Hope
@ChrisGPackham
's interim injunction halts
#HS2
's destruction in 5 ancient woodlands. Even if you're pro-HS2, it shouldn't entail illegal birds nest destruction & farcical soil translocation at totally wrong time of year
@WoodlandTrust
@Natures_Voice
I've written about extraordinary ancient yew trees – it is incredible that there are 500,000+ protected listed buildings in Eng+Wales but no equivalent protection for ancient trees. Surely a law all political parties could agree upon.
Ted Green, 89, (who probably knows more about ancient trees than anyone) told me today: "The Darwin oak is one of the 1,000 most important ancient trees in Europe." What will our children make of us destroying this tree for a "relief road"?
Esme found a grass snake in our garden his morning. I had strolled right past it. Such a beautiful animal and so pleased they are back again (We first found them last year shortly after making a little pond.)
“I’m devastated by the lack of foresight, intelligence, commitment, understanding and determination to do anything about the single biggest issue in our species’ history” Spot on
@ChrisGPackham
Because of an outcry about a beautiful old pear tree that was being cut down, human beings replanted the roots and stump. Amazingly, that ancient pear is still alive and regrowing. Sometimes we need to celebrate tiny victories. We can do the right thing.
Dear
@SheffCouncil
@Ameyplc
Please halt Monday's severe pruning of the Chelsea Road elm. You'll destroy the rare white-letter hairstreak butterfly & a much-loved local tree. You'll bring more negativity & bad publicity upon your great city. Just stop.
Martin White, whose story is told in this long read, devoted his life to reviving lost nature. Many people disagree with his work. Others may recognise our world would be less beautiful without his efforts. Very sadly, he passed away yesterday.
An ex-police officer has his neck broken during peaceful hunt monitoring. Princess Diana's sister vouches for one attacker in court. 2 attackers avoid prison & 4 masked attackers never identified. Why do hunts behave as if above the law? Because they are.
Our relationship with nature is deeply dysfunctional. Why not report a dog is off a lead near a school? 78 people died of domestic dog bites over 25 years to 2015 in England and Wales. Over 50 years, wolves linked to 8 fatalities across Europe and Russia
Can a positive legacy of this crisis be a recognition that access to high-quality green space with 1km of home is a modern-day human right, crucial for health and wellbeing? Gov could set up new generation of parks as part of post-corona settlement.
I've visited this big, desolate farm a couple of times and what's happening here is totally fascinating. I'm going to follow how the landscape changes, and how people's views change too (and if the economic model works).
Just over four years ago, I walked the line of HS2 from London to Birmingham. Today I feel gutted for the people, wild species and beautiful places along its route. It was a vanity project then; and is irresistible now to a particularly vain PM.
Our new
@DefraGovUK
environment secretary is married to a very senior executive on one of the water companies presiding over polluted rivers and streams. This sums up rotten Britain today. Dirty politics, dirty water. It is gross.
Hundreds of thousands of us should be marching on Westminster about this scandal. Until then, (almost) every politician will continue to ignore it. In the meantime, thank goodness for the existence of Chris Packham to talk about it.
How about
@Amazon
for the Amazon? 10 cents on every transaction, goes to save the rainforest. Amazing planet-saving legacy - how about it
@JeffBezos
? (Free idea, me and Rick Williams just thought it up in the pub.)
@guardian
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but I've walked the line of HS2 from London to Birmingham and I don't think it destroys a single golf course and certainly no churches. The route beautifully illustrates our society's priorities.
The cost of
#HS2
:
5 internationally protected wildlife sites
693 local wildlife sites
108 ancient woodlands
33 SSSIs
Places supposedly protected.
Not to mention wholly out of control financial expense. It's way too much. Think again. Stop it now.
Thank you
@WildlifeTrusts
I dug a small garden pond in March and 12 weeks later this beauty has turned up (Esme grabbed it before I could say anything; she knew it was a grass snake. Snake fine. Esme delighted.) Nature is amazing.
I loved discovering this story of a hard-nosed commercial arable farmer reading
@isabella_tree
's Wilding, secretly visiting
@KneppWilding
to see if it's all it was cracked up to be, and then driving big change on his farm and in his county. Truly hopeful!
Results of the 5-year Devon wild beaver "trial" are in. Congrats
@DevonWildlife
. Their report is fascinating and very accessible – recommended reading. Who doesn't love a "beaver deceiver"?!
Report about
@8outof10bats
here. Personally, I think it is incredible how Chris Packham creates amazing, positive things like this, so fast, from scratch, by himself. Supporting wildlife and people. (And I'm really looking forward to this show!)
Dorset is not the place for eagles to be reintroduced. I’m not challenging government for more money for Dorset so it goes on this. I don’t condone this at all, but I want
@dorsetpolice
to focus on
#countylines
rather than spend time and resources on this.
I've written this little true story to show us how unexpectedly lovely things can happen. And now is the perfect moment to gaze upon some gorgeous twinkly-black-eyed harvest mice.
More good news (I've got plenty of depressing news up my sleeve but I'll share that another day). Let's celebrate the burgeoning triumph of the biggest and most successful insect species restoration project in the world.
When farmers set up a charity with a set of radical aims that could be espoused by the Green Party, this is really significant and exciting. Congratulations
@Wildeastuk
. I pledge to do my bit, and pay more for nature-friendly food.
This is hugely, massively significant. Ten years ago, farmers blocked the reintroduction of white-tailed eagles into East Anglia. Now they are leading it. Bravo
@WildKenHill
and others. I hope they are supported. Epochal change in the English countryside.
Blessed by the universe with a walk at Wells-next-the-Sea: sun setting, full moon rising, space and peace, pinkfooted and Brent geese; barn owl hunting, curlew calling, and met the gaze of a short-eared owl and a rough-legged buzzard. Now my heart is full!!!
This could herald a massive change for the pheasant and partridge shooting industry that has come to dominate much of our lowlands. And another David v Goliath victory for
@WildJustice_org
Like many, I'm loving running, cycling and walking on peaceful roads, almost free of traffic and pollution. When this is all over, do we have to go back to 'normal'? Surely we can find a way to live with much less driving?
Hooray! After 5 years living here, we have our first mole in the garden. His or her heaps make great soil for my veg beds. Hope he or she enjoys our earth wriggling with worms.
I've had a rant (see below). I really hope these 4 schools get in touch with
@BritishSpiders
or
@Buzz_dont_tweet
and turn ignorance into a learning opportunity
There may be much bigger global issues but this Sheffield tree court case – based on ludicrous injunctions to stop peaceful protesters trying to save a few TREES – is a massive scandal & reveals a deep rot in privatised single-party local gov
Spreading a little Friday happiness.... at least, these lovely farmers and charities are, creating new wildflower meadows from seeds harvested from roadside verges.
We need all the good news we can get at the moment and this is good news. We can make a difference and bring back declining species. It's always a struggle but it can be done and is worth striving for.
It is unsurprising when the Johnson government u-turns but still amazing that this particular zombie policy staggers on, year after year, without scientific or public support.
Hooray for white storks nesting in Britain again – hopefully more conservationists and farmers can be helped to follow
@kneppcastle
and
@isabella_tree
's example and do such bold and practical work
Oh dear. No British papers have massive global
#ClimateStrikes
on today's front pages except
@guardian
&
@FT
. Guess young people don't read papers but the old folk who do need to know about the climate crisis. Dinosaur mainstream media/capitalism must engage or face extinction.
We seem too preoccupied by human crises to notice that animal populations have fallen by an average of 68% since 1970. That's a crisis for our planet. We need more media and social media attention on this extinction crisis.
Elect Conservatives again = continue the decade-long policy disaster that is the badger cull. I’ve read the consultation doc and I’m shocked by its dishonesty. Can’t quite believe govt scientists are putting their names to this. They should be ashamed.
Not sure if there's a big "practical turn" in nature writing but I wrote this piece more because whenever I feel despair the antidote is to plug in to all the amazing stuff being done in my area by local people.
“Nature is not just a nice thing to have: it is vital for our national health, wealth and security” - well said
@TonyJuniper
. Hope
@UKLabour
listening. (And this insectless summer is really sad. 2012 was bad but this could be worse.)
This beautiful and wise book is will be the nature writing hit of 2020. The writing! It makes me feel like punching the air! A goshawk chick "looks like an autumn forest rolled in the first snows of winter". It was a pleasure to interview
@NaturalistDara
I can listen to and read Chris Packham all day, he is always interesting. Also nice to hear Greta and Sir David Attenborough on Today this morning. How about a programme with all 3? The ultimate environmental supergroup.
Turkmenportal have ripped off my story but that’s ok because their autocorrect not recognising “pademelons” has added to the sum total of mirth in the world
I've interviewed
@NaturalEngland
's Stephen Murphy and Prof Steve Redpath several times, and they are very careful, cautious scientists. And their 10-year study's conclusion is unequivocal: most English hen harrier deaths are illegal kills on grouse moors.
Hooray for the amazing Paul Powlesland and the
@riverroding
trust – another heartening example of hands-on local action to improve neighbourhood nature and tackle the big extinction and climate crises.
When I was small, all books seemed to have penguins (or puffins) on them. Now (after eight tries) I’ve finally written a book that’s got one on it. Hooray! Paperback Roger coming next month…
Strong from
@Natures_Voice
on HS2 (and today's failed legal challenge): "We can see no reason for large-scale clearance of trees, hedgerows, and woodlands in the bird breeding season, especially given the current national crisis...
Such a massive honour to be made prez of
@NorfolkWT
Thank you! I'll do my very best to help wildlife in Norfolk and encourage more people enjoy and protect it.
NWT is delighted to introduce its new President, Patrick Barkham! Patrick is a natural history writer for
@guardian
and an award-winning author of natural history books including 'The Butterfly Isles':
👉
📸 Patrick Barkham by Emily Mildren
"One of the benefits of lockdown is more people spending time in their garden and looking out of the window. And when you look out of the window and see a pine marten you've scored 10/10" Well said
@ChrisGPackham
!
I'd never before imagined the mostly murky waterways of the Norfolk Broads as a forest with all the trees cut down but now it all makes sense. Bring on aquatic restoration. We need more and bigger versions of this exciting
@SupportNWT
-led project
Wow! We just glanced over a footbridge in Ashburton, Devon, and spotted an eel. I've never seen one alive before, and neither had any of my family, even my naturalist Dad! Lovely to watch it pottering about in the little River Ashburn. Would it be looking to lay eggs?
"When I joined the Defra board, I was horrified to discover the degree to which the NFU and industrial fishing representatives were able to influence government policy." Interesting, emotional interview with
@BenGoldsmith
by the brilliant
@horton_official
This is a real problem this summer. I've never seen the Norfolk coast so busy, with loads of wild camping. Inspirational communion with nature is so important but we also need a massive Leave No Trace educational campaign.
It is an honour to be writing a biography of Roger Deakin. I'm enjoying researching his life more than any previous book, probably because interviewing his amazing friends is a total joy.
.
@HamishH1931
has signed a biography, "from roots to fruits" of writer and naturalist Roger Deakin, authored by
@patrick_barkham
, promising to bring Roger's "uniquely wayward spirit and insatiable curiosity" back to pages. More here:
Finally, official publication day for THE SWIMMER, my biography of Roger Deakin. Really excited that it is finally slipping into the hands and minds of readers...
This is a brilliant column by
@GeorgeMonbiot
And less of everything actually means more time to love, sing, dance, read, talk, grow things, and spend time in calm places with other species.
So busy with Guardian stories, I forgot today is The Swimmer paperback publication day. Hooray! Honestly, it’s the most creative and original thing I’ve ever done. Rog would probably say, “That’s cos it’s mostly my words chum” and I’d reply, “Roger, everyone needs a Horatio”.
Sheffield council claim it will cost £500,000 to "save" 41 war memorial trees. They are either (a) imbeciles to accept such an extortionate quote or (b) liars. Which is it?
30 years of red kites back in England is worth celebrating and
@NaturalEngland
and
@TonyJuniper
are clearly supportive of more reintroductions. Glowworms next?
The glory and importance of elders. Brilliant story on the horse-riding 97-year-old botanist by
@phoeb0
- we need more older people in
@guardian
(I’ve done my best over the years to tell some of their stories and will continue to try)
On another day of dysfunctional political turmoil, we can take heart from the return of these wonderful birds and the positive work of
@kneppcastle
(again),
@DurrellWildlife
@CotsWildTweets
and partners. Bring on the stork babies!
Extraordinary and scandalous.
@Minette_Batters
reveals
@NFUtweets
has a direct line to Environment Sec
@ranil
who, according to her, promptly orders a
@DefraGovUK
leak inquiry over
@guardian
's ELMs reports. So that's government obeying farmers' order to suppress a free press.
This is a longish essay about nature writing and nature cures. (If you can't face 3,000 words, the answer is yes, and in return the least we could do is heal some of the damage we have done to other life on Earth.)
Great leaps in Scotland: a ban on the mass culling of mountain hares, and a ban on salmon farmers shooting seals. (And obviously still room for improvement, eg, better protection for beavers.)
Striking results from a scientific study showing how greener play areas boost immunity. Exactly what I write about in Wild Child. We need politicians and planners to recognise that access to diverse green space is a modern-day human right.
Please please please
@BBCSpringwatch
&
@ChrisGPackham
could we have some sensible coverage of false widow spiders and harlequin ladybirds on Autumnwatch? I'm trying & but there's so much misinformation out there
This is such a shame. The project to return white-tailed eagles to Norfolk was led by landowners, and had 91% popular support. But a handful of very influential pheasant and partridge shooting folk have sunk it.
Ban disposable barbecues. Gov petition: Please sign and let's see if any MPs are foolish enough to oppose a tiny, sensible step to reduce wildfires that are catastrophic for people, climate and all nature.
@jake_fiennes
@ChrisGPackham
@RobGMacfarlane