The Wainwrights
Since swapping the Swiss Alps for the Lake District Fells I have been on a mission to complete ‘The Wainwrights’. Mention this to everyone around here and they will know what this means, will nod accordingly, and we will fall into a discussion about our respective progress, favourites and interesting routes. For many readers I need to explain a bit ...
Business and Nature: Time for a Reset
PART I: The Great Game The current approach to nature by businesses and their supporting actors has all the characteristics of a modern Great Game. Before this term came to describe the antics of the British and Russians in Central Asia, its original form and use (le grand jeu) was associated with meanings of risk and deception. Harsh words perhaps ...
Team Santiago or Team Montevideo?
Thirty something years ago we lived in both Santiago and Montevideo. In those days the difference between the cities was notable. The Chilean economy was booming based upon investments into mining and forest products. Santiago was vibrant, growing in front of our eyes – new cars, retail outlets, apartment blocks springing up everywhere. Uruguay, meanwhile had a sleepy steady feel, ...
The Altiplano
‘I don’t know where to start.’ Is my diary entry after my first day in the Bolivian Altiplano. It went on: ‘Laguna Blanca, Laguna Verde, Laguna Colorado, The Dali Desert, The Stone Tree, fumaroles. Driving across desert on non-existent roads, plumes of dust behind us. Wildlife everywhere, when you know where to look’. The Atacama Desert was the other major ...
Chile’s Forests
It is good to get back out into forests. And not just speaking as a forester! I spend a fair amount of time working on nature and biodiversity, and when viewed from a screen it is too easy to fall into a sort of siege mentality. It is understandable really; global analyses show declining levels of biodiversity, planetary boundaries being ...
