messy drones by Simon Aulman

Though he died at the end of last year, Douglas Boyes' obituary only appeared in the papery version of the Guardian last Saturday, and that was the first I'd ever heard of him - which is extra sad because he was clearly on the right path, pushing against the consensus about our countryside.

A friend of mine has a son who is up in Scotland right now planting trees in order to aid conservation and/or our carbon footprint, or something equally noble. Okay, there are worse ways of spending your days. But there are better ways too - e.g. doing nothing, leaving things alone, letting nature do it her way, she has been doing it very well all her life. All areas that are "managed" to aid conservation/diversity/etc are usually Nature Deserts - the New Forest is an obvious example.

The trick, as Douglas knew, is not to plant trees or manage anything, but to let alone - let the nettles grow, they'll be usurped by the brambles, the brambles will keep the deer away as the naturally-spread tree seeds turn into saplings and grow tall and eventually the shade of their leaves will kill off the brambles, and then the tree will die and fall and the bright clearing in the wood will start the whole process all over again.

Experience has shown me that the few places that really teem with Nature are usually privately owned areas that are totally "neglected". Where I lived as a child, just across a narrow road, was a huge private estate that wasn't managed by man in any way, and it was a heaven, it's because of those acres boiling with butterflies and newts and beetles and the hot smell of flourishing vegetation that I went the way I did, and I guess realised I love anarchy.

Whereas across the big main road there was the actual New Forest, largely run by the Forestry Commission - and you could walk for an hour and not see anything much of interest, nothing anarchic and wild and free at all. And likewise with people. Schools - more control to kill our spirit. Thank fuck I fell from society's ladder.

recorded today

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/30/douglas-boyes-obituary

http://www.douglasboyes.co.uk/blog/2018/06/09/obsessive-tidiness-disorder-or-how-we-can-learn-to-stop-worrying-and-love-natures-messiness/