 | | |  | | Author Q&A with Robert Wolton: Hedges | In Hedges, the 13th volume from the British Wildlife Collection, Robert Wolton brings together decades of research exploring the ecology, biology, conservation and wider environmental values of the hedges of Britain and Ireland. This engaging and authoritative book contains over 300 photographs and figures, and offers a highly comprehensive commentary on hedges and our relationship with them. | Robert is an ecological consultant and writer specialising in the management of farmland and associated habitats for wildlife. He is a former hedgerow specialist for Natural England, and the founder, chair, editor and lead author of the Devon Hedge Group. He has also been highly involved in the organisation Hedgelink, and has written a wide range of reports and articles highlighting the rich hedgerow heritage of the UK. |
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| We recently chatted with Robert about how he came to be an author for the British Wildlife Collection, which hedges are best for wildlife, and more. | | | Author Q&A with Chantal Lyons: Groundbreakers | | Big, messy and mysterious – crossing paths with a Wild Boar can conjure fear and joy in equal measures. In Groundbreakers, Chantal Lyons gets up close and personal with this complex and intelligent species in the Forest of Dean, and investigates the people across Britain and beyond who celebrate the presence of these animals – or want them gone. From Toulouse and Barcelona, to the woods of Kent, Sussex and Inverness-shire, join her on a journey of discovery as she reveals what it might take for us to coexist with the magnificent Wild Boar. |
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| Chantal Lyons is a naturalist, writer and science communicator. Having grown up in the tidy countryside of Kent, her encounters with the growing rewilding movement opened her eyes to the potential for restoring nature in Britain, and inspired her to study the relations between people and Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean. She currently lives in Cheltenham, never too far away from the boar. |
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| Chantal recently took time out of her busy schedule to tell us about her first experience with a Wild Boar, her hopes and fears for the future of this species in Britain, and more. |
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Browse our new and forthcoming books, featuring the recently published The Eurasian Hoopoe and the forthcoming Cull of the Wild. Plus, explore our essential seasonal equipment, which his month includes nest boxes, nest tubes, and bat detectors. | | Flora corner |
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| Elephant Trees, Copales, and Cuajiotes Predominantly native to the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean, the various species of Bursera trees have been valued for their distinctive aromas, medicinal properties, workable wood, and attractive appearance. Showcasing their importance, this is the first book to describe the ecology, evolution, ethnobotany, and peculiar chemistry of the many different Bursera species, making this an essential reference to these special North American plants. |
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| The Black Flies of Subtropical and Tropical Asia This book highlights the black fly (Simuliidae) fauna of subtropical and tropical Asia, providing an introduction to basic biology and effects of black flies on human and animal health, as well as the unique characteristics and welfare of black flies in this region. The author begins by proposing a classification scheme for all 671 named and 45 unnamed species, followed by accounts for distribution, bionomics and taxonomy, concluding with full details of the faunas in 15 countries or regions. |
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Otherlands: book review and author interview | | Otherlands is a narrative, non-fiction book grounded in facts that takes you on a captivating journey back in time through millions, or even tens of millions, of years to visit the ecosystems and organisms of a time gone by.
Including in-depth reflections on phylogenetics, evolutionary processes and much more, Otherlands is an exceptional debut from Thomas Halliday. Beyond a fascinating tour of extinct lifeforms, his carefully crafted yet poetic descriptions of scientific concepts are a masterclass in spellbinding science communication. |
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| Read NHBS catalogue editor Leon Vlieger’s review of Otherlands on our Conservation Hub. | | | | We were also lucky enough to have the opportunity to talk to the author about his book. Thomas Halliday is a paleobiologist specialising in mammal evolution and phylogenetics. He is an Early Career Fellow at the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Birmingham, and a Scientific Associate of the School of Life Sciences at the Natural History Museum in London. His PhD won the Linnaean Society Medal for the best thesis in the biological sciences in the UK. |
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| You can read our interview with Thomas, including what drew him to write about these ‘other lands’ and how he approached such an immense task in writing about such a large part of history, through the link below. | |  | |
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