THIS spring, as I walked around the field behind our home on the Dorset/Somerset border, I was excited-very excited. I have toads in places where they have never been before and barn owls in my nesting box.
As a retired gamekeeper, I have mixed views about the current trend for 'rewilding' Instead, I think it's far better to 'farm Nature', by putting in place the many requirements that flora and fauna need to thrive. After 40 years of looking after land and manipulating habitats essentially to increase numbers of wild game birds-I am well aware of the immense benefits that this management brings to wildlife. However, there are gaps in this approach and a lack of continuity that breaks the lifecycle of many creatures, as well as crops that only fulfil part of their needs for a short period. In so many cases, Nature is in conflict with other land uses, such as agriculture, as he who pays the piper calls the tune.
My last two keepering jobs were Holkham in north Norfolk and Langholm in south-west Scotland both massive and marvellous privately owned estates that are rich in wildlife, but not without their issues. Therefore, when we moved to the West Country six years ago, my wife, Paula, knew I would go stir crazy if I had no land to play with. Fortunately, we bought a lovely property, in a small hamlet near Sherborne, with a 32-acre paddock.
The field had been grazed by a local farmer ever since the previous owners' daughters gave up their ponies. It's surrounded by intensive dairy and sheep farms, which are sadly bereft of a lot of wildlife, as so many hedges have been grazed out. What's more, the livestock needs a lot of grass, which creates a bland monoculture that's regularly doused in slurry and cut numerous times for silage-if it's not grass, it's maize-none of which is great for the birds, bees or wildflowers.
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