THE wolf is outside, huffing and puffing. Threatening to blow my sheep- shed down. In France, where I am writing this, the reintroduced Canis lupus presently kills 15,000 sheep, cows, goats and horses annually. It’s a tragedy for French agriculture. Curiously, also a tragedy for Nature.
It was not meant to be like this. The grey wolf was commended for its potential ability to restore the ecosystem by preying on France’s wild boar. Keeping the swine in check, so to speak. Bringing natural balance to the countryside. Allowing Nature to manage Nature.
Alas, the return of the wolf to France illustrates the multiple problems with ‘rewilding’ as a conservation strategy—with fangs on. France has grassland habitats of outstanding biodiversity, but they only look wild. They were created by Bronze Age farmers and have been maintained ever since by sheep and shepherds. (The Causses in the Massif Central have UNESCO heritage status precisely because of pastoralist sheep-farming.) If the sheep go to the wild dogs, so does grassland habitat rich in fauna and flora. It will revert to wood- land. Is such wolfy woodland better for Nature than biodiverse grassland? No. Just different.
Denne historien er fra July 26, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra July 26, 2023-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
