In this informed, incisive and passionate commentary on the state of nature and conservation, Mark Avery reflects on our relationship with the wildlife around us. From the cats that pass through his garden to the chronic decline of farmland wildlife, from the Pasqueflowers he visits every spring to the proportion of national income devoted to saving nature – everything is connected, and everything is considered.This book analyses what is wrong with certain ways we do wildlife conse...

Devoted to birds and wildlife since childhood, Mark’s early scientific research at Oxford, Aberdeen and the RSPB provided a solid background for his management, ambassadorial, and political lobbying activities which were to follow – and his larger than life, yet quietly humane personality has provided the final tools in his own, unique, nature conservationists’ toolbox.In this book, Mark mixes a great many stories from his professional life at the RSPB with personal anecdotes and p...

How and why did our most acclaimed birdwatchers take up birding? What were their early experiences of nature? How have their professional birding careers developed? What motivates them and drives their passion for wildlife? How many birds have they seen? Keith Betton and Mark Avery, passionate birdwatchers and conservationists, interview members of the birdwatching community to answer these and many other questions about the lives of famous birdwatchers.Following on from the succes...

How and why did our most acclaimed birdwatchers take up birding? What were their early experiences of nature? How have their professional birding careers developed? What motivates them and drives their passion for wildlife? How many birds have they seen?Mark Avery and Keith Betton, passionate birdwatchers and conservationists, interview members of the birdwatching community to answer these and many other questions about the lives of famous birdwatchers. They take you behind the sce...

****SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE**'Desperately needed' -** Isabella Tree'I doubt any more important book will published this year' - Stephen FryIn this indispensable follow up to his acclaimed The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the World, Charles Clover chronicles how determined individuals are proving that the crisis in our oceans can be reversed, with benefits for both local communities and enti...

ONE OF 2015'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY.A hard-hitting, passionate and well-researched book about the conflict between driven grouse shooting and nature conservation in Britain, with a foreword by Chris Packham.Driven grouse shooting, where flocks of Red Grouse are chased by lines of beaters so that they fly over lines of 'guns' that shoot the fast-flying birds, is a peculiarly British fieldspor...

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZEThe collected writings from one of the nation's most celebrated nature writers.**'**Barkham is an outstanding author.'CHRIS PACKHAM'Wonder-filled . . . A treat. Patrick knows how to tell a good story, and that combination of kindness, wonder and good fortune that seems to be present in his own life shines through.'CAUGHT BY THE RIVERWhat is happen...

With Bewick on my knee, I was then happy...' Jane EyreCharlotte Bronte's heroine was not alone in her enjoyment of Thomas Bewick's British Birds - since its first publication in 1797 it has become one of the best-loved classics of natural history. Bewick's masterful woodcuts are more than scientific records; each beady eye and jaunty pose betrays the artist's love of birds.This edition includes over 180 bird species, from garden favourites such as robins, blackbirds and fin...

**'Captivating. Will change the way you think about the natural world, and your place in it' Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallIn Feral, George Monbiot, one of the world's most celebrated radical thinkers offers a riveting tale of possibility and travel in the wild**How many of us sometimes feel that we are scratching at the walls of this life, seeking to find our way into a wider space beyond? That our mild, polite existence sometimes seems to crush the breath out of us?...

The Sunday Times bestseller by David Attenborough, who marks his 100th birthday this year - a deeply personal account of his love of the natural world, and the devastating changes to it he's witnessed first hand.As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day - the loss of our planet's wild place...

Stephen Moss answers in detail over 450 questions, submitted by birdwatchers of all levels, and in doing so he conveys a veritable feast of bird-related information in a friendly and accessible style.This RSPB-endorsed book answers all those burning questions about birds that beginners and experts alike may ask themselves as they go about their birding. How do ducks keep their feet from freezing in winter? Why don't swallows stay in Africa? Are birds really dinosau...

In a triumph of marketing, the Tasmanian salmon industry has for decades succeeded in presenting itself as world’s best practice and its product as healthy and clean, grown in environmentally pristine conditions. What could be more appealing than the idea of Atlantic salmon sustainably harvested in some of the world’s purest waters?But what are we eating when we eat Tasmanian salmon?Richard Flanagan’s exposé of the salmon farming industry in Tasmania is chilling. In the way...