Beyond Conservation: A Wildland Strategy

After decades of operating off-the-backfoot and protecting and conserving nature perceived as under threat, conservationists are becoming proactive and creative in the face of habitat loss, agricultural intensification and climate change. Beyond Conservation offers a revolutionary agenda for both managing existing wildlands in Britain and for expanding and connecting such lands. Central to this strategy is the imperative to 'rewild' or restore and repair damaged habitat and ecosystems, promote existing biodiversity and reintroduce vanished plant and animal species, while working to reconcile human needs and livelihoods and the needs of nature.

Table of Contents:
Introduction * The wild side of natural * Coed Eryri * Caledon * Dartmoor * The potential for networks and corridors * Restoring ecological processes: regeneration of the core vegetation * Restoring ecological processes: the herbivore guild * Restoring ecological processes: bringing back the carnivores * The healing forest * The land in-between: wilding agriculture * Targeted habitat creation * Stepping stones to a wilder policy * Straight to the heart: a wildland strategy *

About the Author :
Peter Taylor is an independent consultant specializing in environmental policy. He was founder and director of the Political Ecology Research Group (1978-1992), and now leads the communications consultancy Ethos.

Review :
'Peter Taylor builds bridges between ecology, countryside policy and spirituality .... This book is novel in its breadth, and offers a sharp challenge to conventional thinking in conservation.' Bill Adams, University of Cambridge 'There is a new determination to be more pro-active, more creative and much bolder, and Peter Taylor's important book captures that mood brilliantly.' Chris Baines, Resurgence 'This is a vitally important and much needed book, which shows the way forward for a renewed and positive relationship between people and wild Nature in Britain. Lucidly and authoritatively covering topics ranging from the ecological role of our country's missing mammals to the healing power of natural forests, and drawing upon the work of practical projects already underway, Peter Taylor articulates an inspiring vision of a possible future Britain, replete with large core areas of wild, natural ecosystems. The book offers a beacon of hope to all those who draw spiritual sustenance from wild Nature, and is essential reading for anyone seeking a positive alternative to the ongoing biological depletion of our country' Alan Featherstone, Trees for Life 'Peter is an informed, passionate and compassionate guide. [This book] deserves to succeed firstly in provoking a necessary debate about the future for nature management on the basis of some perceptive ideas and a clear vision; secondly in challenging us all to see working with nature as an essentially soul-full process and thirdly in strengthening the steadily growing acceptance that allowing more space for wild nature, being less prescriptive, can happen anywhere we choose to let it. It will be read and enjoyed by enthusiasts for the wild [and] will also provide an excellent introduction to wild-land themes for students.' ECOS 26 (2), David Russell, former Head of Forestry at the National Trust