Peter Smith

Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot are absolutely correct with one small amendment... Protect, Restore and TAX – Tax land, natural resource use and pollution. Shift taxes from incomes and trade to Land Value Taxes and Green Taxes. Nature needs no funds, no $trillions of pointless projects that are economically inefficient, just make nature’s use (and abuse) expensive. Tax carbon and we will have amazing efficient homes and transport. Tax land and we will have 40% rewilded as its economically pointless for agriculture our human use.  Just as a plastic bag tax resulted in nearly 90% reduction in plastic bag use, or sugar tax cut sugar in drinks by 50% virtually overnight so a tax on land and natural resources will have an immediate and systemic shift to achieve a planet that can survive and still provide prosperity for all. Every economic transaction will contain the abuse of nature and Land used so every transaction will force down the use of land and nature as companies an...

Two recent reports, George Monbiot’s #LandForTheMany  and Chris Packham’s #peoplesmanifestoforwildlife sub report "Where there’s muck there’s brass: revealing the billions hidden in farmland tax shelters” , published today, have started highlighting the economics of land and wildlife destruction. Miles King - has investigated some of the more obvious tax breaks that  farmers get that are incentivising natures destruction in the People Need Nature Report - See here:  https://anewnatureblog.com/2019/06/28/farmland-tax-breaks-revealed/ But the journey these leading figures in wildlife protection have gone down, and the many authors they have drawn together, is still not fully complete.  Both reports have highlighted how we are destroying our planet because our current tax and subsidy systems gives incentives to people to kill our wildlife, pollute and use land and natural resources inefficiently. My personal campaign for the last 20 years has been to highlight ...

“MPs are voting today to commit to reducing Britain's CO2 emissions to ' net zero '. The cost is likely to be more than £1 trillion. Ministers say an impact assessment is not required.” So, says spam Facebook posts from dodgy think tanks spamming my social media feeds today. Their slickly produced videos have pictures of nurses and doctors with an ominous title spelling out how many doctors and nurse £1 Trillion would pay for. View more of the ' Global Warming Policy Forum 's' drivel here:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/theGWPF/videos/ They are attempting to frighten people into being terrified of confronting a global climate catastrophe —and judging by the comments, it is working. Yet such futile trade-offs and false dichotomies lie at the heart of how we approach all societal problems, whether saving wildlife, supporting those with physical and mental health difficulties, or educating our children. It is, fundamentally, utter nonsense. Unfortun...

The uncommon Frogs & Toads of Britain in danger Latest research show sightings of toads have fallen by over 30% in the last 5 years & frog numbers have plummeted 17% in that time. Toad numbers have dropped nearly 70% over the last 30 years, as reported in the Guardian today. But this sort of reporting drives me up the wall as it recommending we build ponds in our gardens to reverse the loss. While it will make a tiny difference, and everyone should have a pond in their garden, it again shows our powerlessness in the face of the real calamity that is befalling wildlife in the UK. And what is far worse shows the timidity of  NGO’s and our media in reporting what is happening to wildlife in the UK, that they will not even highlight the real causes of wildlife loss let alone challenge landowner vested interests and say what must be done if we are to reverse that wildlife calamity..... and Garden ponds have virtually nothing to do with it!  Common Frog at Wildwood T...

George Monbiot wrote another piece on his fears and distaste for the economic process promoted by some economists to calculate the economic value of nature and ecosystem services.  I have seen many criticisms of his approach from those that think he is an idealist and we must calculate a value of nature to help decision making so we can at least save some. I personally say a plague on both your houses as you are wrong and both right, but totally missing the point! The UK government wants to put a price on nature – but that will destroy it To me the real crux of the issue is are we going to make people pay a price to when they destroying nature, thus when priced correctly pushes us to destroy less nature and turn us from abusers of nature to conserveres. Those who abuse nature less in their activities such as farming or manufacturing will then out compete the abusers. We internalise the destruction of nature into our economic choices (also keep the laws that protect nature a...

Beavers! a plan for Wales’s Ecological Renaissance, with the help of David Lloyd George…..? It was my Honour to Give the Annual Lacey Lecture for the North Wales Wildlife Trust this year - You can watch it here: In Honour of W.S. (Bill) Lacey,  Lecturer in the Botany , University College of North Wales & Founder of the North Wales Wildlife Trust A history of Beaver in Britain, a lecture by Peter Smith, Director of the Wildwood Trust. Peter will talk about the history of beaver extinction, the many efforts of people over the last 100 years who tried to reintroduce beavers and the problems they faced. The many benefits to our water quality, flood risks & and wildlife that beaver could bring. Dispelling some of the myths about the augments against beaver reintroduction. The study of ecology has resulted in a growing interest in Rewilding some of our land and the role of animals such as beavers, wild herbivores and the huge ecological benefits of the population dyn...

My next Public Talk will be the on the Return of the Beaver to Wales, for the North Wales Wildlife Trust's Annual Lacy Lecture: TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW! To show your support for beaver reintroduction, why not come along to ‘Return of the Beaver’ on Friday 17 November, 7pm at Venue Cymru, Llandudno. (This is NWWT’s annual Lacey Lecture.) Early bird tickets are £10 from your local branch or the NWWT Bangor office or direct from Venue Cymru booking office (01492 872000) at £12.  Talk Synopsis: Beavers! a plan for Wales’s Ecological Renaissance, with the help of David Lloyd George…..? A history of Beaver in Britain, a lecture by Peter Smith, Director of the Wildwood Trust. Peter will talk about the history of beaver extinction, the many efforts of people over the last 100 years who tried to reintroduce beavers and the problems they faced. The many benefits to our water quality, flood risks & and wildlife that beaver could bring. Dispelling some of the myths about the au...