There are a million species under threat of extinction throughout the world, with as many as two hundred disappearing every day. But amongst these there is one species whose passing we need not mourn: the Danish mink farmer. Even before Covid jumped the species barrier from humans to mink and back again, mutating into […]
Jimmy Piaguaje is a young indigenous Siekopai defender from Siekoya Remolino, a community of 53 families living on the banks of the Aguarico River in the northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon region. The Siekopai (which means multicoloured people) are renowned for their shamanic acumen and knowledge of medicinal plants, with uses for over 1,000 different plants. According […]
The following reading is from Ken Saro-Wiwa’s speech, which he was prevented from reading in court towards the end of his trial by the Military Tribunal, that sentenced him to death by hanging on October 31, 1995. It gives historical context to the justice-focused activism of communities of resistance in Nigeria, like the Movement for […]
Jimmy Piaguaje es un joven activista indígena Siekopai de Siekoya Remolino, una comunidad de 53 familias que viven a orillas del río Aguarico en la región amazónica nororiental ecuatoriana. Los Siekopai (que significa personas multicolores) son conocidos por su perspicacia chamánica y su conocimiento sobre plantas medicinales, con usos para más de 1,000 plantas diferentes. […]
When the news finally came that the democratic candidate Joe Biden had won the state of Pennsylvania, putting him over the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the United States presidential election, our household cheered! I ran outside – not to the streets because where we live there are none – but because […]
It was the Prussian polymath, scientist and writer Alexander von Humboldt (1767-1835) who paved the way for biogeography – the study of species and ecosystems across space and time – becoming established as an empirical science. The publications that emerged from his many expeditions are recognised as foundational to our present understanding of nature as a single great […]
This year we went on holiday to the north west coast of Scotland. We were looking for some respite from overcrowded parks, bad news and the frenzy of disconsolation, and had heard good things. The drive was long and twisting but it didn’t disappoint. With every dark loch and crag from Fort William, and […]
Migration seasonal migration has lost its language. birds commence reverse flight. head for land that does not exist. island holds breath, throws up sick. human limbs made tides rogue whip. birds circle, cry. swansong is choking sob. our talk is famous. when lunged with death you were brick. a witness […]
Look at that tree, said Mimi, look at that tree and write about it. But Mimi, I don’t know the name of that tree. I can describe it but can’t distinguish it, tall, brown, bursting with leaves like a loaded wallet, autumn’s green and yellow receipts. Mimi, is it against my nature to notice the […]