Last weekend I was thrilled to be invited to speak at If Not Now, When - the rewilding conference held at Derek Gow’s Combeshead Farm.
For more photos and a chance to comment, please pop over to THIS VERSION.
As I mentioned in the last update, I have been looking after my mother, but she insisted I did not miss out on this - so left Birkenhead at around 0600 and got to Devon at 1230, realising I reached my driving limit about an hour earlier!
I was helped by audio books … first I finished off the latest from Carl Hiassen, Fever Beach. If you are not familiar with his work - it is very funny, satirical take on the USA, mainly centred around Florida - and with eco-revenge at its heart! And then I started Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young - by Zayd Ayers Dohrn - wow, this is fascinating - a deep look into the Weather Underground and other groups of campaigners in the USA who turned to violence during the 1970s, and spent years on the run from the FBI.
Back on subject, Hugh. Sorry.
Rewilding can be a divisive word - even more so than the concept itself. I think the idea is important and imperfect - and most people who treat it seriously, I hope, would agree.
So why was a little hedgehog snuffling onto stage between the advocates for wolves, bison, and beavers? Well, I was not actually there to talk about hedgehogs, much. Instead I was talking about my book, Cull of the Wild, Killing in the Name of Conservation. A bit daunting - I was talking about thinking as much as doing, even digging out some philosophy (who was expecting someone to talk about Hegelian Dialectics?? Not many!) - but I was thrilled with the reaction and have not had so many people come and thank me after a talk …
There were many amazing speakers - it was great to hear Chantal Lyons talk about her new book - Once There Were Giants - due out next year. Will Hawkes talking about migrating insects was mind-blowing. But the highlight? A screening of the film, Derek vs Derek.
I had already had a sneak preview of bits of this remarkable film - thanks to knowing the Executive Producer, Adam Wishart. But seeing it all the way through … wow …
Initially it is being screened at festivals - but I really hope this get broadcast on television before too long.
The story is simple - Derek Gow’s farm rubs up against Derek Banbury’s. Derek G is rewilding. Derek B is conservative, traditional. Derek G has released boar and beavers, Derek B hates the disorder they cause when they inevitably stray from the confines of G’s farm. The film follows them as they mutter and grumble about their neighbours - it brings to life the complexities of trying to change an entrenched position.
Both Dereks were there for the screening and did a brilliant post-screening discussion. The most important result of this film I would argue was not the flourishing wildlife, but the realisation it is possible to disagree agreeably. And as you can see from the photograph ... they are friends.
Not all the neighbouring farmers are as agreeable, and one of them deposited a trailer of dung, blocking the gate into the conference, on the Saturday morning. But the film showed that with care, progress can be made. It reminded me of a quote I have in Cull of the Wild. ‘The point of argument is not winning, but progress.’
I have been booked to speak at next year’s conference … this time with a very different topic, I will be the Friday evening entertainment - hedgehog standup, here we come!!!
There you have the large … now for the little.
Last year the Hedgehog Street campaign, run jointly between the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, launched ‘Go Wild for Hedgehogs’. A simple idea - asking garden owners to leave a patch to ‘go wild.’ No, we were not looking for the introduction of beavers, bison, or wolves into your patch. Just leave a bit - and see what happens.
Did you give it a go? If so, what did you find? There have been some lovely photographs shared on the social media accounts of both societies. I love the idea that we can do so much more by doing a little less! Feels like a win/win to me!
Right - the latest news from my mother - and thank you for so many kind messages - she is still waiting for a decision about surgery and, as I write, still in hospital (though that may change soon). I am sure you have all experienced times in your life when you are trying your best to focus - but are constantly being pulled back by an underlying stress … I find it very tiring ...