Overview

What can one Welsh hill farm tell us about how we can help nature to thrive? In recent times, farming has often been viewed as harmful to nature and the environment, causing friction between those wanting to protect wildlife and the farmers whose livelihoods depend on upon the land. Conservationists and governments frequently propose well-meaning ideas and policies to enable farming and conservation to work together, but all-too-often these do not have the intended results. At the heart of this is a lack of understanding about the realities of farming life and managing the land for nature. In this captivating debut, conservationist David Elias explores a farm in the Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park and unpacks what it shows us about the gritty reality of trying to reconcile hill farming and caring for nature. Visiting through the seasons, he forms a deep relationship with the land and the people who work it, coming to understand their particular way of life, history and concerns about the future. It is also a farm rich in nature and he brings his experienced eye to how its habitats and wildlife have been shaped by changing farming practices over the generations. Through lyrical prose and first-hand conversations with farmers, Elias also shows what current government policies have achieved or not achieved and why it is so important for us to understand what it really takes ensure farming families remain on the land while simultaneously allowing nature to flourish.

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9781915279347

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Reviews

"""There is an honesty to this writing which demands respect, as the author constantly looks beyond his own thinking, his own experience. This is possible because Mr Elias has built up a lifetime's empathetic understanding of conservation, farming, the people who live those lives and of the fabric of nature with which they work. This is where mutual understanding between worlds is embodied, and therein lies the potential of the book to support change. In the public domain, how often conversations are cut short by the lack of a shared language, either side unwilling or too willing to express how the fates of farming and nature impact each other."" -- ""The Snowdonia Society"" ""A must-read for anyone interested in how governments, businesses and individuals can alter the landscape, Shaping The Wild is a realistic reflection of the difficult problem of ecological protection. At its core, it asks a fundamental question: how do you do the right thing, when you don't know what the right thing is?"" -- ""Buzz Magazine"" ""Shaping the Wild will quickly become a classic of Welsh nature writing, a loving yet challenging evocation of a unique environment.""-- ""Nation.Cymru"""

"""Shaping the Wild will quickly become a classic of Welsh nature writing, a loving yet challenging evocation of a unique environment.""-- ""Nation.Cymru"""

""There is an honesty to this writing which demands respect, as the author constantly looks beyond his own thinking, his own experience. This is possible because Mr Elias has built up a lifetime's empathetic understanding of conservation, farming, the people who live those lives and of the fabric of nature with which they work. This is where mutual understanding between worlds is embodied, and therein lies the potential of the book to support change. In the public domain, how often conversations are cut short by the lack of a shared language, either side unwilling or too willing to express how the fates of farming and nature impact each other."" -- ""The Snowdonia Society"" ""A must-read for anyone interested in how governments, businesses and individuals can alter the landscape, Shaping The Wild is a realistic reflection of the difficult problem of ecological protection. At its core, it asks a fundamental question: how do you do the right thing, when you don't know what the right thing is?"" -- ""Buzz Magazine"" ""Shaping the Wild will quickly become a classic of Welsh nature writing, a loving yet challenging evocation of a unique environment.""-- ""Nation.Cymru""

Author Information

David Elias is a retired warden and lifelong conservation enthusiast, whose roles took him from Malawi to the Berwyn Mountains. This is his first book.

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