|
|
Discriminating between the wild and not wild |
|
|
|
The pain from kneeling on hard rock; the penetrating wetness from lying on its seaweed covering; the agony of fingers poorly gripping the sharp barnacles above for balance; the aching from unaccustomed body positions; all to catch a glimpse of the squishy and mostly disgusting marine life clinging in the shade of overhanging rocks at low tide, and hoping to keep the camera dry while despairingly trying to focus. This is our wild, and it is compulsive. We have overlooked this kind of habitat where we often go, and so it is there to explore anew. The state of the tide on the Pembrokeshire coast is, of course, the limiting factor in our being there, and we are always conscious that we are seeing marine wild nature that only a few hours ago was covered by 3-4m of sea, but it is that which makes it a special place, an ecosystem where the moon and not man is the overwhelming disturbance factor. It was only a couple of months since our first visit there this year (1) and it is a few days before we are there again, hoping to add more species to our growing list of knowledge. As I have noted, the brilliance of wild nature is revealed in the detail (2) and this recent visit a couple of weeks ago gave us another glimpse into the trophic ecology of the wild nature of the sea (1). From knowledge comes ecological understanding Diana and I looked for and found star ascidian (Botryllus schlosseri)(3) a herbivorous sea squirt that grows in the damp shade of a rock overhang or rift in the low intertidal (eulittoral). Its form is a flat, encrusting soft-cushion colony, the individual animals (oval shaped zooids, 2-3mm) clustered together in the star shape that gives its name, and with many stars in the gelatinous tunic-coated colony. The individual animals feed by filtering phytoplankton through a siphon, but share a common siphon at the centre of the star for expelling sea water – hence sea squirt. Colony colour can vary, the colonies we found were cream (4) and finding them gave us a moment of intense excitement. However, there was more to come when we downloaded our photographs only to see that we had unwittingly also captured a darker coloured, blue morph star ascidian (3). Another exciting find clinging to the overhangs were live spotted cowries (Trivia monarcha)(5,6). We have collected empty cowrie shells washed up along the high tide line for many years, especially on the coast of Northumberland, admiring of the closely spaced ridges across the back of this beautiful coral-pink shell, the three dark spots along it, and the narrow opening that runs the length of its underside. Hunching over to get a closer look, and once your eye is in, we can usually spot them in a good location amongst the other small shells, pebbles and sand, and then move on to search the next bit of tide line. It becomes absorbing, and then we compare our finds, the ones in best condition, and who has found the most and the largest, with some up to 12mm in length. We never ever expected to see live cowries, thinking they lived in the sublittoral zone where they would not be exposed, even at very low tide. Their presence on rock overhangs in the low intertidal zone made obvious sense when our marine life guidebooks (7,8) told us that these marine molluscs are carnivores and that their prey are star ascidians and other sea squirts (3,5). From that kind of detail comes knowledge, and from knowledge comes ecological understanding, but also great joy at the wonder of wild nature. We tentatively identified another, rather ubiquitous, colonial sea squirt of these rock overhangs, an orange-red lobe-like sac, up to 2cm long, that hangs down and appears filled with zooids, and which could either be orange flake ascidian (Aplidium punctum)(9) or red flake ascidian (Morchelium argus)(10). Both of these are supposed to hang from peduncles (stalks) which did not match with the blobby lobes of our photographs, but then only our guide books and a few other sources showed them as blobby and without peduncles. We were more certain of the cushion star (Asterina gibbosa)(11) a small starfish new to us, and the beadlet, gem, snakelock, dahlia, strawberry and elegant sea anemones. The seaweeds are the complex vegetational components on which and within which so much sea life dwells – not for nothing is it called a kelp forest! But is the colours that are ravishing: the pink of coral weed; bright green of sea lettuce; emerald green of Cladophra; the reds of dulse and red rags; the golden browns of the kelps (oar weed, furbelows and sugar kelp) thongweed, wracks, and dabberlocks; and all of these seaweeds showing a characteristic zonation through the intertidal range. Colour also comes from the sponges encrusting shady spots on rocks, the common breadcrumb sponge (Halichondria panacea) ranging from yellow through orange to a dull green, but in our exploration of more shady areas for sea squirts, we came across an almost blood red breadcrumb sponge (Ophlitaspongia papilla)(12) that has a smoother surface with less but more regularly spaced oscules (round holes). Wilderness and wild were thrown around like confetti A Welsh morning can be really wet, but it was no hardship as our window for discoveries of an hour each side of low tide was not until early afternoon when the rain would have passed. Instead, it seemed appropriate to watch a program on seas, the third episode in the BBCs Wild UK series. This series had two presenters who “explore the wilderness of the UK to reveal the wildlife that thrives there”(13) and in this third episode, they “continue their adventure around the UK's wilderness, investigating the seas” (available until 24 August(14)). Wilderness and wild were thrown around like confetti, which just destroys their meanings when there is no explanation delivered with them, nor did the scenes match with this description. Moreover, only about 15% of the program was made up of scenes of wildlife, the rest being various talking heads. So we had Lucy Cooke discovering how the “white-tailed sea eagle has made a dramatic return to the coastline” except that we were shown a sea eagle nesting in a sitka spruce, a non-native plantation conifer, when inaccessible coastal cliff ledges are the more natural location (15). Moreover, Cooke was seen to feed a sea eagle nick-named “Compo” by tossing a dead fish into the sea from a boat, and watching what must be a habituated sea eagle grab it. We demean wild nature with these pranks, as we should also be embarrassed at this nesting in a plantation tree. The program continued in this vein, with Colin Stafford-Johnson visiting one of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast where after the usual hyperbole – “I'm enjoying a jewel of a wilderness of the Northumbrian coast” - we see Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea)(16) sitting on fence posts and then an adult tern feeding its young through the chicken wire fencing that lines a path up to one of the rangers building. You won’t see this aspect in the photographs of the terns of the Inner Farne on the National Trust website, but you will see the “shingle beds …designed to give the terns an alternative habitat and help us control vegetation on the Islands” and which are the landscaping equivalent of nest boxes (17). Yes, the sea eagles and the terns are seemingly blind to our notions of non-native and the artificiality of the shingle beds, but these are not natural situations, nor are they wild. Worse was to come when we were shown segments, recycled from earlier editions of the BBCs The One Program in 2014 (18,19) that showed a big beam trawler dredging over Dogger Bank with the intention of bringing up fossilised bones of extinct animals like the mammoth. When I wrote about Doggerland, I noted that evidence of bones and tree material emerged initially from across this sunken land in the mid-19 century as inadvertent bycatch in trawler nets (20). The bones mostly found their way in to museum collections and have proven useful in various studies. However, what we were shown here was the private aspiration of Dutchman Dick Mol to dredge up enough parts to complete a skeleton of a mammoth, and whose family’s personal collection of over 30,000 fossil specimens, which is not open to the public, had been collected from over 40 “fishing expeditions” (21). This is a kind of selfish rapaciousness, and which is the only fitting description since the extent of bycatch of so much else was appalling. Moreover, as I noted before, this rapacious approach destroys any stratigraphical, palaeogeographical, and archaeological context of the finds that there may be. If there was a highpoint to the program, it was coverage of the activities of NARC (Neptune’s Army of Rubbish Cleaners)(22). This is a voluntary group of mostly divers formed in 2005 that carry out underwater clean-ups along the Pembrokeshire coast. As well as the clearing of the obvious detritus of abandoned fishing equipment, they have hauled out bicycles, shopping trolleys, revolving chairs, skate boards, batteries and a kitchen sink. It is when you see them clearing the entanglement of fishing line from spider crabs and lobsters, dog fish released from hooks, and removing lost crab pots so that they are no longer ghost fishing, that you realise how immediately important their efforts are. As importantly, they back this up with campaigns to reduce fishing tackle loss and ghost fishing as well as marine litter in general. We must have benefitted from their activities in our low tide excursions. That this group formed because of the damage they saw to marine habitats and wildlife from human irresponsibility is a strong recognition of the intrinsic value of marine wild nature, and we were moved to contact the group and make a donation. Most people will only get to see them if they are washed up dead on the coast The format of the BBC program was such that the presenters gave recommendations on what viewers should go and see for themselves. By coincidence, we had seen one of their suggestions, moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)(23) the day before at St Brides Haven. We had headed out a little early on the red rock ledges that line each side of the Haven, knowing that we could watch the kelps emerge as the tide lowered, but also with the hope of seeing sea gooseberry comb jellies again (24, 25). As we walked along the rock edge, a steady stream of comb jellies floated by, but with small, moon jellyfish interspersed so that together they looked like a ghostly procession. Further along the ledge is a narrow inlet, astonishing for the size of the kelp revealed at low tide, but which also acts as a trap for drifters like the two jellies. The inlet was a great vantage point to observe the fascinating, iridescent shimmering flashes of colour – green, yellow, orange, red - reflected by the lines of motile cilia that run along the length of the comb jellies. We could also observe the pinkish internal organs suspended inside the diaphanous umbrella of the moon jellyfish as some tumbled and turned as they drifted. As both moon jellies and comb jellies are pelagic species in that they live away from the coast, we were very fortunate in being able to watch them, and I do wonder whether the moon jelly was a suitable recommendation in the BBC program when the likelihood is that most people will only get to see them if they are washed up dead on the coast. Thus a day before we saw the moon jellies, we came across a dead, compass jellyfish (Chrysaora hysoscella)(26) washed up and stranded in a rock pool on Newgale beach near the high tide line. Much larger than the small moon jellyfish we saw, this gets its common name from the series of brown blotches that surround the perimeter of the yellowish-white umbrella, and V-shaped markings on the surface of the bell point inwards, thus together giving the appearance of the points of a compass. It is an especially attractive jellyfish, the rim of the bell having tentacles, and there is a manubrium (stalk-like structure) hanging down from the centre that has four, partially fused and frilly oral arms (mouths) attached. Luckily, a live compass jellyfish had also drifted into the inlet at St Brides Haven, and so we were much better able to marvel at its complex structure as it too turned and angled. Afterwards, we discovered that there was a link between compass jellyfish and sea gooseberry. We had noticed that a number of the comb jellies had one or two spots internally, and it turns out that these were probably a small amphipod crustacean (Hyperia galba)(27) that is known to burrow in and live under the bell of compass jellyfish and inside comb jellies (28). Some sources regard them as parasitic in that they live off the mass of jellyfish eggs (but also the food consumed by the jellyfish itself (29)) whereas one of our guidebooks says that the crustaceans are commensals when within comb jellies, just living off what the comb jellies catch (7). I had to peek through my fingers to watch I watched bits of the next program in the Wild UK series on mountains–“today, we're revealing the wildness of mountains”(available until 25 August (30)). I had to peek through fingers covering my eyes, because there were many things that maddeningly jarred. A segment with Scot Newey from the James Hutton Institute on finding reliable methods of estimating the number of mountain hares (31) was recycled from an episode last year of the BBCs Winterwatch (32) and it was appallingly blighted by the presence of Kathy Fletcher from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT). Newey was asked what had caused the overall decline in population. Although he explained that hares were killed because of a virus disease that affects grouse and which is carried by a tick that is hosted by hares, he was quick to point out that red deer were a more important host of the tick. Thus to have the involvement of an organisation like GWCT that supports grouse shooting estates was not just in poor taste, it also meant that a major culprit of the decline of mountain hares got off lightly, without the condemnation it justly deserved. I have since found that wildlife photographer Stephen Barlow had a similar reaction when he saw the original broadcast on Winterwatch last year, and wondered why there wasn’t that condemnation, when it was “not a big secret” why mountain hares are in decline – he called it a “blood boiling moment watching Winterwatch… The shooting estates have been slaughtering Mountain Hares in huge numbers to protect the grouse shooting”(33). Mountain hares are the only native mountain herbivore that we have today (34) and given the extent of persecution revealed in a very recent report from OneKind on its campaign for mountain hares, then support must be given for the slaughter to be stopped (35). Another dreadful blot in this mountain program was the recommendation to go and watch hen harriers – “The mountains of the UK are home to some of our hardiest and most enchanting wildlife. In spring and summer, the hen harrier can be found on upland heather moors”. I expect Stephen’s blood would have boiled at this as well, since there was no mention of the persecution of hen harriers, or its parlous state in England. A nine-year old report from Natural England notes –“Of all birds of prey, the Hen Harrier is the most heavily persecuted in relation to population size in the UK”(36). Pairs in Scotland have dropped from 505 in 2010 to 460 (37) but harriers in England may be on the brink of extinction because for the second year in a row, there were only three successful nestings from a total of seven attempts, and which is no more than 1-2% of what should be possible from potentially suitable habitat (>300 pairs) – “What is utterly unacceptable is the ongoing illegal killing and disturbance of this protected bird of prey, primarily associated with intensive moorland management for driven grouse shooting" (38). Each week, viewers of Wild UK were urged to “keep sharing your wild experiences online with us using the hashtag #MyWilderness” (39). You will see mostly photographs of cute birds and animals, bucolic pastoral scenes, the odd public park, some coastal scenes, the odd pet animal, even some that rile at the notion that our uplands are wild, but there are very few that show any semblance of wild, and there is of course no wilderness. Thus what would you have learnt about wild nature from the Wild UK series, or the threats that it faces, or even some measure of understanding of the real meaning of wilderness? Endless misrepresentations that occur in the promotion of wildlife I guess these smug broadcasters must think that there is something edgy about using words like wild and wilderness, but they are not alone in the endless misrepresentations that occur in the promotion of wildlife. The wildlife trust’s National Marine Week started when I got back from Wales - it’s actually two weeks in order to take advantage of the tides. An artist had collaborated with the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to paint a large mural of a cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)(40) on a wall of the Portsmouth City Museum as a launch to the Marine Week (41). I grew up on the Solent coast between Southampton and Portsmouth and, as a child, collected cuttlefish bones, the internal shells of the cuttlefish that were washed up on the beach. We always had one for our budgerigars to gnaw on, as it was a source of calcium, and their beaks were kept from overgrowing by the abrasiveness of the gnawing. Sometimes, a dead cuttlefish would wash up, and it’s large eyes, the short, octopus-like arms that reach out from its mouth, and the brown mottling and striping of its back, was far more exotic than the cockles, ragworm, flatfish and hermit crabs of this coast. Cuttlefish are harvested by pot trapping from the Solent, their ink being used in pasta and risotto, and various body parts are also cooked (42.43). The harvest in the Solent ramped up between 2000 and 2012 (44). Cuttlefish die after laying their eggs, and because of their low fecundity, and to avoid further depletion of the population, a Code of Practice for cuttlefish traps was brought in within the District of the Southern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority in 2014 (45). The Code was a first voluntary attempt, before bringing in a more stringent byelaw, to minimise the damage caused through pot trapping to cuttlefish eggs – the eggs become attached to traps and thus care must be taken when the traps are in use, and then when finished fishing for the season, fishermen should not remove their traps from the sea until the cuttlefish eggs attached have hatched, typically during late August or September. This enabling of the eggs to develop and hatch, potentially will re-populate the cuttlefish fishery. The theme this year for the wildlife trust’s National Marine Week is “The Sea and Me, exploring individual relationships with the sea” (46). How can that individual relationship be explored when no information was given by the wildlife trust on the exploitation of its chosen flagship species, and the measures needed to prevent population decline? What does this say about the value of wild nature placed on this marine species by the wildlife trust, other than it is great subject for a mural on a brick wall? Unsung in my own country Pressing forward a claim of greater acuity in interpreting the meaning and experience of wild and wilderness may seem arrogant on my part, but unsung as I maybe in my own country, I sometimes have the prescience in understanding the need to forestall what I see as diminishing the prospects for wild nature. As it was, the announcement last week that “Rewilding” Britain had signed up to an agreement with “Rewilding” Europe to “coordinate their rewilding and communication activities and to enhance the understanding, support and implementation of rewilding in Britain and Europe” came as a massive relief rather than the disappointment that some might think it would be for me (47). Yes, it shows that ultimately I had no influence over the direction of “Rewilding” Britain, having cautioned a number of times about the despicable acts of “Rewilding” Europe, and endlessly dissected its warped logic; commented to “Rewilding” Britain on its lack of a strong direction and the inherent tensions deriving from its inability to differentiate between the aspiration and outcomes of the projects it supported (still a burning issue) but providing it with my own assessment, and signalled that “Rewilding” Britain must always distance itself from “Rewilding” Europe (48-51). Well, at least the announcement made it official that “Rewilding” Britain will be going nowhere useful - it still can’t agree on what a real wild area is - and so the conservation industry will love this match made in heaven between "Rewilding" Britain and "Rewilding" Europe, as will the ecolologically illiterate media and politicans, DEFRA etc., as it won't be challenging to any of the vested interests that hold back wild nature. Thankfully, I no longer have to waste thinking space on "Rewilding" Britain. Instead, I can concentrate on the new, science based movement for wilding (see later). There was at least some recompense recently for my efforts when I was contacted by Maria Bolevich, a freelance science journalist from Montenegro (52). Maria is writing about wilderness in Europe, wondering whether recent reports of road building, tourist developments, and logging in some of the protected areas in East/Southeast Europe were destroying Europe’s true wilderness, or were these just scare stories put out by local NGOs. Maria gave me a list of examples to consider: tourist developments in National Parks in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro; road widening through a Natura 2000 site in Bulgaria; loss of old growth forest in Romania; and the controversial logging in the Białowieża Forest in Poland. She also asked if there was something in Europe that can be called "true wilderness" and, if so, were those areas sufficiently protected? Moreover, was there a way that an economic value could be placed on wilderness? The biggest problems Maria had come across with her example areas was a resistance amongst local people because wilderness, protected species and rivers were not seen to pay their bills, and that specialists were not very familiar with what wilderness is. What was interesting was that all those locations she gave as examples have significant biological diversity, not least wolf, bear and lynx, if not in the location, then at least within the country. Considering the presence of these animals alone, it shows a high baseline of wild nature, and certainly a much higher baseline than our grossly depauperate country. However, I had to say that none of the locations would qualify as wilderness areas, even if there may be some parts of them that had that biophysical characteristic. Having looked through the respective protected area legislation of each of the countries, I found there was either insufficient protection or, if there was the ability to zone for stricter protection, such as for core areas in the National Parks, then these core areas where indeterminate or of insufficient size. You may think this a petty point, but a wilderness characteristic, the self-assembly of species in self-perpetuating processes, has to be at a sufficient scale to function naturally, and in the absence of our dominant cultural interference (53). A wilderness characteristic is defined by criteria Sufficient size and legal protection were two of the criteria we used in compiling a register of wilderness for Europe, along with no habitation or settlements, no habitat management or wildlife management, no motorised access, no road building and no extractive use of natural resources (54,55). Thus in the example of the Białowieża Forest, the strict protection and size of the core area in the National Park, and in meeting all the other criteria, meant that it was included in the register. However, the wider forest around the National Park has no such strict legislative protection because it is a state-owned production forest in which some areas are zoned for strict protection in the State Forestry management plan, and which may or may not protect remnants of old growth forest (2).There is a similar situation for many of the old-growth forests of the Romanian Carpathians in that they have no national conservation status and are not protected, but are seen as a resource to be exploited (56). However, as with the wider Białowieża Forest, all areas of old-growth forests of the Romanian Carpathians should be identified and given strict legal protection so that potential wilderness areas are not lost to future generations. The road building in Bulgaria and the tourist developments in the three National Parks were all about growth and income generation, the Parks in particular under pressure to source funding for themselves. If there were cumulative impacts on the fauna in these particular areas – Maria raised birds, lynx, and bears – then it seemed that national authorities were likely to trade off any threat there against having viable populations, and linkages between them, at a national level. Trade-offs are also part of the economic valuation of the benefits and costs of wilderness protection, but that doesn’t mean you can put an absolute value on wilderness (57). Its about opportunity costs: if we choose an option, we lose other options. For example, the plan to build new roads or manage forests in a wilderness area would mean that the area would no longer provide the same level of wildlife habitat, and natural processes like water regulation or micro-climate are affected. On the other hand, strict scientific reserves may mean restricted access opportunities. Valuations include direct values or indirect values (e.g. direct is watching birds, hiking trails, spiritual uplift, whereas indirect is regulating services for humans in water purification and carbon storage provided by wilderness areas) but also non-use values, i.e. values derived from wilderness areas without using these areas directly or indirectly. Such non-use values are those derived from the existence of wilderness areas (existence value), or the benefits provided for other people of the same generation or future generations (altruistic value) or the benefits obtained from the possibility to use wilderness in the future (option value). Sometimes you just have to ask people what value they put on wilderness, their Willingness to Pay for the existence and use of wilderness. The inverse of that is putting a value on the Willingness to Accept compensation for having to relinquish the benefits of wilderness. Of course, asking people does mean that you have to explain what a wilderness is, and so this method of evaluation is a good way to increase public involvement and awareness for wilderness protection. Robustly discriminating between the wild and not wild Finally, I had to agree with Maria that there is not a great familiarity with what wilderness really is, not least because it doesn’t appear in many European languages, and there are very few incidences of the word in protected area legislation in Europe (58). That this is the case on a continental scale is unlikely to have been known by the presenters of the Wild UK series, but then they also didn’t show any obvious signs that they had a clue to its meaning. It behoves them, and the rest of our ecologically illiterate media, to stop misleading people by bandying the word around. Does a personal wilderness have currency if there is no coherency in meaning and understanding across other examples of personal wilderness? When will we begin to robustly discriminate between the wild and not wild? How do we protect it from our incorrigible selves if there isn’t that common meaning and understanding? I hope to make headway on this in a months’ time when I will be running a workshop on self-willed land at the launch of the Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas at the University of Cumbria (59). My colleague Erwin Van Maanen will be running a complementary workshop on the setting up of the IUCN Rewilding Task Group. We will also be joined from America by Michael Soulé, the originator with Reed Noss of the original concept of rewilding as being complementary to biological conservation, but with an emphasis on the regulatory roles of large predators in driving landscapes with a natural range of variation (60). I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the “R” word in the Task Force name, but the Centre for Wildlife Conservation at the University of Cumbria, the Rewilding Foundation in the Netherlands, and the Wildland Research Institute at the University of Leeds, are now mandated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to get on with building that science-based movement for wilding, and move us on towards greater wildness. Mark Fisher 11 August 2017 (1) Rumination, mindfulness and Awe Walks, Self-willed land June 2017 www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/awe_walks.htm (2) Addressing ecological and legislative issues, Self-willed land July 2017 www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/wilding_works.htm (3) Hiscock, K. (2008) Botryllus schlosseri Star ascidian. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/1340 (4) @markwilderness (2017) Star ascidian (Botryllus schlosseri) https://twitter.com/markwilderness/status/891589051953930240 (5) Rowley, S.J. (2008) Trivia monacha Spotted cowrie. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/2083 (6) @markwilderness (2017) Spotted cowrie (Trivia monacha) https://twitter.com/markwilderness/status/891590784490844161 (7) Sterry, P. & Cleave, A. (2012) British Coastal Wildlife (Collins Complete Guides). Collins ISBN-13: 978-0007413850 https://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Coastal-Wildlife-Collins-Complete/dp/0007413858/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 (8) Oakley, J. (2011) Seashore Safaris: Exploring the Seashores of the United Kingdom. Graffeg ISBN-13: 978-1905582525 (9) FLOCON PÉDONCULÉ ORANGE Aplidium punctum. DORIS (Données d'Observations pour la Reconnaissance et l'Identification de la faune et la flore Subaquatiques) http://doris.ffessm.fr/Especes/Flocon-pedoncule-orange3/(rOffset)/15 (10) FLOCON PÉDONCULÉ ROUGE Morchellium argus. DORIS (Données d'Observations pour la Reconnaissance et l'Identification de la faune et la flore Subaquatiques) http://doris.ffessm.fr/Especes/Morchellium-argus-Flocon-pedoncule-rouge-1150 (11) Skewes, M. (2008) Asterina gibbosa, a cushion star. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/1563 (12) Ophlitaspongia papilla, Sponges of the NE Atlantic, Marine Species Identification Portal http://species-identification.org/species.php?species_group=sponges&id=348 (13) BBC One - Wild UK http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08zb5wy (14) BBC Wild UK Series 1: 3. Seas 26 July 2017 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08zbd0g/wild-uk-series-1-3-seas (15) Love, J.A. (1988) The reintroduction of the whitetailed sea eagle to Scotland: 1975-1987. Nature Conservancy Council Report No. 12 http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/PDF/pub88_whitetailedseaeagle_NCCReport12.pdf (16) Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) Wildscreen Arkive http://www.arkive.org/arctic-tern/sterna-paradisaea/ (17) Arctic Terns on the Farne Islands, National Trust https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/farne-islands/features/arctic-terns-on-the-farne-islands (18) Trawling for Mammoths, The One Show, BBC 15 January 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01q0gfr (19) A Mammoth Task, The One Show, BBC 16 January 2014 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01q29mg (20) Wilderness uncovered - the past and future of drowned lands, Self-willed land November 2016 www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/doggerland.htm (21) Dick Mol - Renowned Mammoth Expert: Fossil Hunting in the Sea. Mostly Mammoths, Mummies and Museums September 15, 2014 (22) NARC (Neptune’s Army of Rubbish Cleaners) Environmental Diving (23) Heard, J.R. (2004) Aurelia aurita Moon jellyfish. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/2089 (24) One more step towards the trial release of lynx, June 2016 www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/germany_lynx.htm (25) Barnes, M.K.S. (2008) Beroe cucumis, A comb jelly. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/87 (26) Sabatini, M. (2008) Chrysaora hysoscella, Compass jellyfish. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/2020 (27) Hyperia galba, British Marine Life Study Society https://www.glaucus.org.uk/Hyperia.htm (28) Hosie, A.M. (2009) Hyperia galba, An amphipod. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/2208 (29) Hyperia galba, Big-eye Amphipod. Encyclopedia of Life http://www.eol.org/pages/1021725/details (30) BBC Wild UK Series 1: 4. Mountains 27 July 2017 http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08zfpq9/wild-uk-series-1-4-mountains (31) Estimating mountain hare numbers, The James Hutton Institute (32) BBC Winterwatch Series 4: Episode 4 29 July 2016 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z9bq8 (33) SteB1, January 29, 2016. A bit of perspective, Mark Avery Blog Januray 24, 2016 http://markavery.info/2016/01/24/a-bit-of-perspective/#comment-1041373 (34) Lepus timidus, Mountain Hare. UK BAP priority species – Version 2 http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/_speciespages/2379.pdf (35) Mountain hare persecution in Scotland. OneKind - Ending cruelty to animals in Scotland, July 2017 https://www.onekind.scot/wp-content/uploads/Mountain-hare-persecution-in-Scotland-JULY-2017.pdf (36) A Future for the Hen Harrier in England? Natural England NE140 20188 http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/81030 (37) An update on the status of the UK hen harrier population, Martin Harper 28 Jun 2017 (38) Hen harrier breeding numbers in England 2017, Blánaid Denman, RSPB Blog 1 Aug 2017 (39) #mywilderness, Twitter https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23mywilderness&src=typd (40) Wilson, E. (2008) Sepia officinalis Common cuttlefish. Marine Life Information Network http://www.marlin.ac.uk/species/detail/1098 (41) Portsmouth chosen to host huge cuttlefish street mural, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust 28th July 2017 http://www.hiwwt.org.uk/news/2017/07/28/portsmouth-chosen-host-huge-cuttlefish-street-mural (42) Cuttlefish. Species guide, SEAFISH - the authority on seafood January 2014 v5 http://seafish.org/media/Publications/SeafishSpeciesGuide_Cuttlefish_201401.pdf (43) Cuttlefish Potting, District Fisheries, Southern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority http://www.southern-ifca.gov.uk/district-fisheries (44) FISHERIES REVIEW - the economics and biology of fisheries in the Southern district. Southern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority Winter 2013 https://secure.toolkitfiles.co.uk/clients/25364/sitedata/files/Fisheries_Report.pdf (45) Cuttlefish Traps Code of Practice, Southern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority 2014 https://secure.toolkitfiles.co.uk/clients/25364/sitedata/files/Cuttlefishtrapcodeofpracti.pdf (46) Portsmouth chosen to host huge cuttlefish street mural, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust 28th July 2017 http://www.hiwwt.org.uk/news/2017/07/28/portsmouth-chosen-host-huge-cuttlefish-street-mural (47) Rewilding Britain and Rewilding Europe join forces, Rewilding Britain 2 August 2017 http://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/blog/rewilding-britain-and-rewilding-europe-join-forces (48) What is rewilding?, Self-willed land September 2013 http://www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/what_rewilding.htm (49) A challenge to Rewilding Britain, August 2015 http://www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/challenge_RB.htm (50) The free for all of trophic rewilding, Self-willed land January 2016 http://www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/free_for_all.htm (51) Unfinished business on rewilding - a comparison between Rewilding Britain and Rewilding Europe, Self-willed land May 2016 http://www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/europe_britain.htm (52) Best Science Journalists in the Balkans 2016, Balkan Network of Science Journalists 23 July 2017 (53) Fisher, M. (2016). Ecological values of wilderness in Europe. In K. Bastmeijer (Ed.), Wilderness Protection in Europe: The Role of International, European and National Law (pp. 38-66). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BaQtDAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false (54) When nature dies - the impact of the human species, July 2015 www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/traditional_knowledge.htm (55) Kuiters, A.T., van Eupen, M., Carver, S. Fisher, M., Kun, Z. & Vancura, V. (2013) Wilderness register and indicator for Europe. Final report October 2013 Contract No: 07.0307/2011/610387/SER/B.3 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/wilderness/pdf/Wilderness_register_indicator.pdf (56) Knapp, H.D. (2106) Impressions of a forest excursion to romania. European Wilderness Journal Special Edition, European Wilderness Society http://wilderness-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/special-report-deforestation-in-romania.pdf (57) Lienhoop, N., & Hansjürgens, B. (2016). Economic values of wilderness in Europe. In K. Bastmeijer (Ed.), Wilderness Protection in Europe: The Role of International, European and National Law (pp. 94-113). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BaQtDAAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false (58) Fisher, M., Carver, S. Kun, Z., McMorran, R., Arrell, K. and Mitchell, G. (2010). Review of Status and Conservation of Wild Land in Europe. Project commissioned by the Scottish Government. http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/1051/0109251.pdf (59) ‘Nature and Culture: Achieving Balance — A Challenge for Future Generations’, an International Launch Event and Conference, 11 September 2017 (60) Soulé, M. & Noss, R. (1998) Rewilding and Biodiversity: Complementary Goals for Continental Conservation. Wild Earth Fall 1998 http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/MES/rewilding.pdf url:www.self-willed-land.org.uk/articles/wild_not_wild.htm www.self-willed-land.org.uk mark.fisher@self-willed-land.org.uk |
