A Good Read

One of my Christmas presents was the new Richard Mabey book. There's a pleasure in reading Mabey almost independent of the subject matter and you can sit down with his books just enjoying the wonderful English and the way he puts together a viewpoint which is never forced on you. But the title of his latest book captured my interest. He argues that we are too obsessed with eradicating undesirables in our landscapes. He also gives examples of places where aggressive species have eventually been overwhelmed by native plants and trees when left to their own devices. A beautiful and wise book.

Not much wisdom on Blacka where we get the usual self serving conservationist dogma about bracken and birch being undesirable, that nature is there to be controlled and managed and this can only be done by those fully qualified and licensed to chain saw - what else from those whose career depends on this aproach.