David Attenborough’s much heralded Wild Isles, featuring the flora and fauna of the British isles, is about to land on our screens. He was recently quoted as saying that his only regret is that he hadn’t featured the UK more over the years. Worryingly, the UK is in the bottom 10 percent of countries for biodiversity. But the good news is that more Brits are waking up to what they have, and want to conserve it.
What’s more, great strides are being made in rewilding and reintroductions. Beavers, nature’s architects, were hunted to extinction in the UK but have been reintroduced first into Scotland but then into England too, with a mix of wild-living populations and licensed enclosures. In October 2022 they were officially recognised again as a native species and are now protected.
White-tailed sea eagles have been reintroduced to the Isle of Wight (their last stronghold in England) after a successful reintroduction programme in Scotland where there are now over 130 breeding pairs. And now bison have been reintroduced to a woodland in Kent. So, look to the skies, keep a sharp eye along river banks, and take your binoculars out with you. Nature is all around.