{"id":159429,"date":"2025-03-27T09:25:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T09:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/adventure\/our-oaken-bones\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T09:25:12","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T09:25:12","slug":"our-oaken-bones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=159429","title":{"rendered":"Our Oaken Bones"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\u201cNature never did betray the heart that loved her.\u201d \u2013 William Wordsworth<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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3-2-1: Our Oaken Bones<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Today I\u00a0bring you a chat with Merlin Hanbury-Tenison. He’s got an explorer for a Dad, which is a cool job beaten only by my own father, who was a chocolatier!<\/p>\n

Anyway, we chatted on the phone while Merlin was driving a long way to give a talk about his new book at an independent bookshop. We both agreed that events like this are rewarding but probably don’t sell many books relative to the time they require.<\/p>\n

So, I set myself a challenge: to see if I could persuade my readers to buy more books than he would sell at his talk. I hope you find our conversation interesting\u2014and perhaps you’ll be tempted to buy a copy\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our Oaken Bones<\/a><\/em>\u00a0is about Merlin returning to his family\u2019s land in Cornwall to bring a damaged rainforest back to life, to heal, and to raise a family. It\u2019s part personal journey, part nature story, as he works to revive both the landscape and his own sense of purpose. The book is full of hope, rewilding, and finding a better way to live with nature. Oh, and he’s brought back\u00a0beavers<\/a>\u00a0too! \"\ud83e\uddab\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Me: One statistic that really struck me in your book\u00a0was that we’ve gone from 20% forest down to 1%, which is profoundly depressing. But you said we might be at the bottom of the bell curve, meaning we could be the first generation in human history to actually increase forest cover. Do you find that depressing or optimistic?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merlin:<\/strong>\u00a0No, I find it hugely exciting. I want everything to do with how we think about the natural world to be hopeful and optimistic. I don\u2019t want it to be about doom and gloom and eco-anxiety. That\u2019s so easy, and I think actually quite lazy. It’s very easy to fall into that narrative and say, “Ah, the world is terrible and everything’s going wrong.” Actually, it’s about trying to find the optimism and hope, even in the darkest moments, and channelling that.<\/p>\n

We could be the first generation in 3,000 years to bring the rainforest back rather than destroy it further. That\u2019s extremely good news and a wonderful story. We\u2019re also the first generation to truly understand how much of an impact we\u2019re having on the environment, and that\u2019s brilliant as well. There\u2019s lots of good news we can draw from all this depressing negativity.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think humans are very well geared to responding to negativity. We turn our faces away from it. If we can be positive, then more people will get engaged, and then we\u2019ll succeed.<\/p>\n

Me:\u00a0The approximate format of my newsletter (when I\u00a0remember) is to outline three problems that irk you \u2013 and their solutions, then give two recommendations and one action we can all get stuck into. What would you pick?<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Three Thoughts From Merlin<\/h2>\n

I.<\/h2>\n

The first is\u00a0nature blindness<\/strong>. In the UK especially, we are a very nature-blind society. We\u2019re bad at walking through the natural world and identifying what is in a healthy state, what is in decline, what\u2019s native, what\u2019s non-native.<\/p>\n

I did a talk recently with someone from the Australian Wildlife Service, and I was blown away by how proactive they are at identifying and removing non-native species, and promoting and reintroducing natives. Here, we\u2019re still arguing over bringing back beavers, wildcats and pine martens\u2014all vital native species. Meanwhile, we tolerate muntjac, grey squirrels, rabbits and rhododendron. Non-natives need to be taken out.<\/p>\n

We need education to reduce this nature blindness. That\u2019s why we\u2019re building a research station in our temperate rainforest. It\u2019s the most under-researched habitat in the UK, and also one of the most beautiful and important. We need to understand it in order to fall in love with it and protect it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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II.<\/p>\n

Nature blindness is a big problem, and that leads into my second issue:\u00a0reclaiming positive masculinity<\/strong>. It\u2019s a big theme in my book. Suicide is still the leading cause of death in men under 50. Men are uncomfortable talking about mental health, and they often don\u2019t receive the help they need.<\/p>\n

We hear a lot about toxic masculinity, and I worry those two words are being irreparably combined. We need to reshape what positive masculinity looks like in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m grateful I\u2019m not a 12- or 13-year-old boy right now.\u00a0I think there are very few role models for young boys who aren\u2019t into sport.\u00a0The solution is for male role models to step forward.<\/p>\n

We need positive male role models and frameworks for healthy masculinity.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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III.<\/p>\n

Inequality of access to nature<\/strong>. It\u2019s slightly connected to the first point, but it’s a separate issue. We need to restore nature in the UK, but to do that, people need to love it. And to love it, they need to experience it.<\/p>\n

84% of people in the UK live in urban environments. Many have no real experience of wild nature. I take people on retreats to\u00a0Cabilla<\/a>\u00a0who\u2019ve never walked on unmown grass. Some find it strange that we don\u2019t pick up after the cattle. Others are afraid of silence and darkness when there are no streetlights or traffic noise.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve separated ourselves from nature and created a two-tier system. Through better public transport, more urban wild spaces, better town planning, or the right to roam movement, we need to reduce this inequality and enable more people to be in the natural world. That\u2019s how we get people to love it and want to heal it.<\/p>\n

Me: I\u2019m completely on board with that. It\u2019s probably the theme of my next book. I wanted to ask more about the right to roam, because you clearly know the positive aspects of nature, but you also own your own bit of rainforest. I looked on Ordnance Survey and there aren\u2019t many public footpaths through your woods. So what\u2019s your take on balancing access, protection, and ownership?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merlin:<\/strong>\u00a0That\u2019s a great question. I think of it as a spectrum. On the one hand, you have private land that no one ever gets to go into and benefit from. I\u2019ve felt so lucky to benefit from the rainforest I steward, but also aware that others can\u2019t access it, which is unfair.<\/p>\n

On the other end, you have places like\u00a0Wistman\u2019s Wood<\/a>\u00a0on Dartmoor, which has been damaged by over-trampling and unmanaged access. Too many people, not enough education or control.<\/p>\n

We try to strike a balance at Cabilla. Over the last three years, we\u2019ve brought more than 3,000 people into the rainforest. That\u2019s helped people heal and connect\u2014but the forest has also improved each year. Nature is always our number one client. People come second.<\/p>\n

I support the right to roam movement and admire people like\u00a0Guy Shrubsole<\/a>\u00a0[author of the excellent\u00a0The Lost Rainforests of Britain<\/a><\/em>], but we have to do it with care. Sweden and Scotland have more open access, but they also have 10% of our population density and strong cultural education around how to behave in nature.<\/p>\n

If we had that here\u2014education, infrastructure, cultural understanding\u2014then absolutely, let\u2019s open up more land. I want Cabilla to be far more accessible, especially to those who otherwise wouldn\u2019t get the chance. But it must be done in a way that doesn\u2019t harm the rainforest.<\/p>\n

Me: Yes, I always say “the right to roam\u00a0responsibly<\/u>.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merlin:<\/strong>\u00a0Exactly. We should all have a right to roam, but we don\u2019t have a right to damage. The two too often go hand in hand. I\u2019d love to see a system where access could be dialled up or down depending on how the natural world is coping. Like a volume knob.<\/p>\n

We live in an Instagram age, and we\u2019ve seen this play out all over the world\u2014in the Norwegian fjords, or famous beaches. Certain fragile spots get trashed because everyone flocks there. We need to avoid that here.<\/p>\n

Q: I try to encourage people to find their own local patch of wildness, rather than following books like recipes. Go find your own wood.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Merlin:<\/strong>\u00a0Yes, that\u2019s the challenge for the right to roam movement\u2014to avoid concentrating pressure on a few beautiful, accessible places. We need to open access, but in a way that spreads people across the landscape and protects all of it.<\/p>\n

Q: I agree. I\u2019m a supporter of the movement, but I think my personal mission is more about encouraging people to explore the nature that\u2019s 15 minutes from their front door\u2014on foot or by bike.<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK, on to your recommendations…<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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2 Films Worth Watching (With Your Kids, Too)<\/h3>\n

Merlin recommends two animated films that are entertaining for children but carry powerful environmental messages:<\/p>\n