Ecological catastrophe
I have been fortunate enough to have hiked overseas; but, as inspiring as I have found it, it has brought home to me that we have felled, burnt, exterminated and cleared our landscapes in the UK beyond recognition to any of our ancestors.
I was in recently high in one of our national parks, and as I stood on the hill on an otherwise glorious day I heard nothing: not even the flutter of a butterfly wing; no sight or sound of a bird in the skies; no tree in sight for as far as a 360° view for miles could give.
This is an ecological catastrophe – but we call it a national park.
James Keen