Moorland Matters: The Battle for the Uplands against Authoritarian Conservation

"This is a beautiful book, giving the unique moorlands of Britain the credit they deserve as a conservation success story. It is also a devastating book, using deep and careful knowledge of the facts to expose the shocking distortions of the truth being told to the public by many activists.” - Matt Ridley
"This is an extremely honest and informative book. It educates the reader about the much wider beneficial effects of grouse moor management and the unique environment this creates...A must-read by all who genuinely care about our wildlife." - Kate Hoey
"He conveys his fantastic knowledge with a wonderfully easy style. Everyone who reads this book will learn a great deal." - Ian Botham
With Britain’s islands holding more than three-quarters of the Earth’s stock of heather moorland, it is an extraordinary fact that it stands as one of the world’s rarest habitats.
A landscape beloved by millions, it’s renowned for the tranquillity and solace it provides – however, this tranquillity is an illusion. Britain’s moorlands have, in less than a decade, moved from a position of benign consensus to the epicentre of the bitterest conflict within UK conservation. This insightful book sets out to examine and expose the hidden issues surrounding UK moorland conservation, giving a voice to the many people who work and live there and who feel that what they have to say is often ignored, if it’s even heard at all. The fate of our uplands is in our hands, and it is important that an alternative narrative, from the perspective of the practitioners who have cared for these places for generations, are considered.
It may be that those with power chose to ignore these facts and sweep them away, but at least now they cannot say they didn’t know.
Features a foreword from RT Hon Owen Paterson, MP.