The grand old man of nature writing continues his noble crusade

Richard Mabey is the grand old man of nature writing. He has produced 40 books in his noble crusade against the enemies of natural life, so a certain amount of repetition can be forgiven in Turning the Boat for Home, since in the opinion of many (not only Prince Charles) the dangers in some places are still increasing.

What Mabey doesn’t explain about his subject is how the scourge of pesticides and excessive fertilisers originally began. During the second world war the danger of starvation was second only to that posed by the Germans, as food imports were threatened by the U-boats. Fortunately for Britain, farmers became increasingly efficient, buying up land for which there had been no demand in the 1930s. And they continued to prosper after the war, though they would have been the last to admit it. Slowly but surely, much damage was done to wildlife through this efficiency drive, and attempts to reduce the harm were for a long time unsuccessful.