AT a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty, it is perhaps worth reminding ourselves that the diversity of the British countryside which so many of us know and love is a wonderful synthesis of the interaction between geography, geology, biology and climate, moulded by the activity of thousands of years of human endeavour. Although the interactions between the landscape and those who make their livelihood from it have changed over time, the process has generally been one of gradual evolution. Now, the pace of change is accelerating rapidly. If we cannot find ways to respond effectively, we risk being overtaken by events and losing the capacity to shape the future of our countryside.
I believe we urgently need a fresh, positive and practical vision of the future that will inspire and guide the changes we need to make, while re-emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the features that have the greatest long-term value.
The biggest problem we face is the pace and scale of the changes in our climate. The past five years have been the warmest five years recorded, as have 20 of the past 22. As the world warms, what were once extreme weather events—storms, heavy rain, extreme heat and drought—become a feature of everyday life, as do the dire human and natural consequences, as we have recently witnessed in California.
At the same time, technological advances are making it possible for us to do things that were once inconceivable, including deriving new insights from collecting and instantly assessing vast amounts of data about the natural environment and human activity.
Denne historien er fra November 13, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra November 13, 2019-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
