Still, I'm glad to see the FUW are concerned about ecological harms. Below are the stated reasons for each river body in my catchment failing to meet its legal targets. I look forward to hearing the FUW's strategy for addressing these persistent, extensive and escalating harms to our environment.

“The FUW [Farmers' Union of Wales] remains fundamentally opposed to rewilding, given the clear evidence of the ecological harm and economic risks it poses" Same article: this image of the landscape they're describing, prior to its purchase for rewilding. Think the FUW needs some new arguments.

Notably, facilities to test for the sort of environmental damage the big businesses who fund Reform cause

Also the major university of North Wales. Also specialists in all kinds of important environmental disciplines. Kindly fuck off Isabel. Stay in Dubai where your real loyalties lie.

🍃A big day today as Tir Natur, Wales' biggest (and only large) rewilding project is live. I've been critical of some rewilding projects in the past, and will continue to be where I see a need. I'm going to try and explain why I've been volunteering to help this project, and why it's important (1/N)

The biggest rewilding project in Wales has been launched today 💪🌿 "this site will demonstrate what’s possible when we allow nature to take the lead and work for people again." Awesome news for all of us in Wales. Welcome Tir Natur! nation.cymru/news/charity...

This May sees the release of Our Land - a feature length documentary film about the Right to Roam campaign, directed by Orban Wallace. www.youtube.com/watch?v=est-...

Exciting news: this May sees the national release of OUR LAND. A beautiful documentary feature film about the @righttoroam.bsky.social campaign, directed by Orban Wallace. Trailer here 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=est-...

‘To live a normal life again, it’s a dream come true’: UK’s first climate evacuees can cast off their homes and trauma

What a surprise that - after arguing with two valuation engineers and a complaints handler, who were all adamant the insurance payout was absolutely the right amount and no they couldn't possibly etc - the valuation offer has increased significantly the moment I referred the case to the Ombudsman.

Hang on guys, wait, I think Jonn might be on to something here. Give him a chance.

Good reminders, both heartening and strange, of the discombobulating way a lot of people settle their voting decisions.

The amazing people of Ilkley, Otley, Harrogate, and slightly further afield all rocked up to smash the destructive invasive Rhododendron out of West Wood. Tomorrow’s crew are gonna have light work because this lot exceeded expectations drastically and left us with one or two out of 80!!

Telegraph headline feels inflammatory - there's no tearing, just careful removal of a flag from a grade 1 listed historic monument that belongs to the nation.

These exchanges show you everything about who these people are. Their venal character, their intense mediocrity, their total self-absorption. A void where life is supposed to be. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Rope swings are inevitable: if nature and climate have conspired together to create a tree whose bows offer the perfect height for a swing, in a location looking over a river or steep slope, at some point in time one will appear.

"EVER SINCE I WAS YOUNG I WANTED TO SIT ON THE BOARD OF AN INTERNATIONAL MINING CONGLOMERATE"

Wes Streeting saying on Today that Mandelson is ‘not the man we thought he was’ but the trouble is, he is exactly the man we thought, just on a much worse scale than almost anyone thought. And there is an alternative world where none of this is this govt’s problem, because they never gave him a job

A correction for the ages (from The Guardian's review of 'Melania'):

It *is* a flex: as a former audio secretary to a squillion rich men, I can confirm that a) proper grammar and b) computer literacy, at least in those >about 50, are the reserve of the bourgeois, and the richer the man, the shorter/more doggerelized his emails/messages

Quite. Just think how many important issues in need of reform aren't getting a look in at the moment because of a lack of parliamentary time.

I'm sorry but it's very funny to me that the legislature of a G7/P5 country of 70 million is currently drafting the "Fuck This One Guy in Particular Act of 2026." Also, imagine tolerating a system of privilege so entrenched you need to rewrite centuries-old rules just to get at one douchebag.

So many beautiful responses to this piece by @amyjanebeer.bsky.social - foxes and robins: the familiars of the passed.

@amyjanebeer.bsky.social's very moving Guardian Country Diary www.theguardian.com/environment/... is getting lots of lovely letters here www.theguardian.com/society/2026... and here www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle... A kingfisher "visited" me after my dad died in the autumn.

Good web conference on recreational disturbance issues in the outdoors today. Lots of common ground, still some philosophical gulfs to bridge. A few takeaways. -the reason many of our protected SSSIs exist is *because* the land was originally protected for access. That's why the two often overlap.

Been thinking about this and it's either that they really are just as childish as they seem, or that it's a weird sort of flex: 'too important to spell / understand grammar / use syntax that doesn't make your eyes bleed' Writing as though you're not in a manic rush equates to less importance?

I'll be speaking on access to trees and related land justice themes at the @arbassociation.bsky.social conference on 'Green Equity' this April. Drop me a line if you're going!

Wherever there’s a sacred spring, there’s a good chance a clootie tree existed next to it. For centuries people have visited healing waters and tied a rag (‘clootie’) belonging to a sick loved one to the branches of a nearby tree. When the rag disintegrates, it’s hoped the loved one will be healed.

Perhaps Goldsmith thinks he can minimise the damage. He can't: merely give legitimacy to a 'party' that openly plans to destroy a liveable climate.

Spoke to Shleagh Fogarty yesterday sbout why the Chancellor is wrong: our “student loan” system is not remotely fair. It’s regressive and embedding inter and intra generational wealth inequality. It’s not a loan system, it’s a bad grad tax in all but name. youtu.be/uOC6Arrf2us?...

Hello all. As those of you who also follow me on Instagram may know, A few days before Christmas we lost my precious sister to a savagely aggressive cancer, which took her in the space of month. Nic was the best and kindest of people. Having her as my little sister was an extraordinary blessing.

‘Star. Sister. Bird. Blossom. All the same interchangeable stuff.’ The most beautiful, moving piece of writing, & a tribute to loss from dear @amyjanebeer.bsky.social

Good material in this for shaping lines against Reform. Farage is Trump's puppet & UK analogue. The moral / ethical stuff works for a left audience but not the Reform-curious. Most salient Trump concerns centre on geopolitical instability and ensuing fear.

Quite. A £250 cap on ground rent is better than the status quo but this is such a Labour fudge. Just get rid and if get rid is too complicated for now then cap this nonsense at £1 and move on. Even the "Residential Freehold Association" can't find an actual argument for its preservation.

Forgive us our trespasses… Sandwiched between the North Circular & housing estates of Ilford lies a rare & precious jewel: the largest tidal reedbeds in London. However, they are in a bad way: smothered in plastic & rubbish swept in by the tide & with invasive species encroaching further every year

I’m really quite surprised at the BBC website today. ‘Here is a video, some people say it does not show what it very obviously shows’ is not how you report this.

The centre-left's determination to thwart anyone with charisma is a real superpower. bsky.app/profile/jess...

I know it's boring to complain about this stuff but could they seriously not afford to buy some replacement tiles? If Cardiff had a signature style it would be this.

Just reflexively oppositional, YOU NEGOTIATED THIS DEAL! If you'd not held the election when you did, Rishi would have signed it. YOU WERE IN THE FOREIGN OFFICE AT THE TIME.

Glad to see @duvalrv.bsky.social getting this out into the press. As this site is on 'my' @chilternsnl.bsky.social patch, I have tried for the last few years to open a dialogue to progress this, but found the 'celebrity firewall' impenetrable. Id be happy to help with communicating to new owners.

💎 💎 Found this gem of a book 📕 on this gem of a barge ⛴️ near King’s Cross in London There are varied contributions in this wonderful book, including from @jon-moses.bsky.social @guyshrubsole.bsky.social @emlinford.bsky.social I even got a lovely barge stamp on the title page 💚

#Pesticides may drastically shorten fish lifespans, study finds - Even low levels of widely used agricultural chemicals were linked to accelerated ageing, research suggests www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This, by the way, is the other result of commodifying education and turning students into consumers. The more it costs the more it's cheapened.

I was involved in organising the mass protests against this policy in 2010. I still remember the Nick Clegg "Students living in a dream world" headline in the Standard the day we got charged by police horses. We knew it was going to be a disaster but were still patronised by much of the press 🤷‍♂️

How to trespass: It often doesn’t come naturally - we’re conditioned to stick to paths, obey signs, and respect boundaries. We’re going back to basics to share core principles for roaming respectfully and interacting with the world around you with care.

Production soaring at the incel factory formerly known as the Daily Telegraph

"My commitment to Right to Roam comes from a deep rooted need for justice”

BREAKING: Explosive new poll for ITV Cymru Wales puts Plaid Cymru surging ahead of Reform UK in May’s Welsh elections. Plaid 37% Reform 23% Greens 13% Labour 10% Tories 10% Lib Dems 5% Plaid could form majority with Greens on this basis, with Labour out of govt for first time since devolution.

This is an insane poll. 11 seats for the Greens in Wales would be just as seismic as the 45 for Plaid. Wales would be nearly certain to go the Scottish of the last few decades with a minority Nationalist Government propped up by Greens and a banished Labour party fallen into obscurity.

Suffice to say the journey back home last week didn't quite go as I'd hoped. Farewell gothmobile, I could just about sleep in the back of you and you proved a trusty steed. Relatedly, if Keir Starmer nationalised the car insurance industry he would get an immediate fifty point bump in the polls.