Mark Everard

CHOICE 'Highly Recommended for all readers' June 2021 Vol. 58 No. 10This stunningly illustrated book goes far beyond a run-of-the-mill nature guide. It explores the fascinating life histories of Britain’s freshwater fishes, a group of animals which, despite their importance and ubiquity in our diverse still and flowing fresh waters, has before now been rarely regarded and respected as 'wildlife'. Our native fishes tend generally to be considered as simply something for anglers to catch or for people to eat, yet they work enormously hard for us. Author Mark Everard, avid nature-watcher, angler and scientist, shows how freshwater fish provide food, ornamentation, sport and cultural identity, and highlights their huge importance for conservation as part of the living ecosystems upon which we all depend. He dives into the mysteries moving below the surface of our rivers and lakes, bringing the wonderful and fascinating world of the diversity of British freshwater fish species into plain sight and into mind. This unique book features over 100 full-colour photographs by pioneering photographer and filmmaker Jack Perks, whose work has featured on BBC Springwatch, The One Show and Countryfile. The book is filled with technical detail useful to conservationists and biology students. Most importantly, it is also presented in an accessible, visually attractive and engaging manner that will appeal to anybody with an interest in the natural world: the conservation-minded public, the angling community, and our nation of wildlife enthusiasts.Whatever your background, this book will open your eyes to our freshwater fishy wealth, and the many ways in which it enriches our lives.

Rebuilding the Earth highlights humanity’s interdependence with the planet’s ecosystems. Today, these ecosystems are seriously degraded, compromising future security and opportunity. It is essential that we set about rebuilding the metaphorical ‘ark’ of nature upon which our future prospects depend. Central to this book are several case studies of regenerative approaches drawn from every continent on the planet. These approaches are founded on restoration and protection of ecosystems – water and soil, forests, marine and coastal resources, urban infrastructure, farming practices and in corporate supply chains. Rebuilding the Earth is above all optimistic about the daunting challenges facing global society. It is about culture change, addressing the necessity of and the means for putting nature and people back into the heart of societal thinking, policy and action. It advocates for sustainable development in its deepest green sense, but also pragmatically framed in social, technological, governance and economic contexts. The concluding message is “Yes, we can!”

Riverwatch is a celebration and insight into the wonders of Britain's diverse river life as it changes with the turn of the seasons. It comprises a collection of vignettes about nature revealing itself month by month to the patient river-watcher, touching upon the many values that rivers confer upon us and pausing for some deeper musings en route. These observations and insights are gleaned from a lifetime in thrall to rivers, enriched by many hours spent beside them as a scientist, naturalist and angler. Author is associate professor of ecosystem services at University of the West of England (UWE Bristol)

This book explores humanity’s relationship with the natural world throughout evolutionary history, and the need to reorient this onto a symbiotic basis. It integrates the themes of natural and artificial selection, the characteristics of historic ‘revolutions’, and directed versus random change. Inspiring community-based projects, mainly from the developing world, show how ecosystem regeneration uplifts human livelihoods in a positively reinforcing cycle, embodying lessons germane to co-creating a Symbiocene era wherein humanity’s substantial influence (the Anthropocene) achieves increasing symbiosis with the natural processes shaping the former Holocene epoch. The Ecosystems Revolution provides practical, positive examples, highlighting the attainability of an ‘ecosystems revolution’.

This book explores humanity’s relationship with the natural world throughout evolutionary history, and the need to reorient this onto a symbiotic basis. It integrates the themes of natural and artificial selection, the characteristics of historic ‘revolutions’, and directed versus random change. Inspiring community-based projects, mainly from the developing world, show how ecosystem regeneration uplifts human livelihoods in a positively reinforcing cycle, embodying lessons germane to co-creating a Symbiocene era wherein humanity’s substantial influence (the Anthropocene) achieves increasing symbiosis with the natural processes shaping the former Holocene epoch. The Ecosystems Revolution provides practical, positive examples, highlighting the attainability of an ‘ecosystems revolution’.

The fresh waters of the British Isles are diverse, ranging from torrential hill streams to powerful rivers and wide, meandering lowland channels. Canals and drainage channels, ranging in size from ditches to the large Fenland drains of eastern England also hold fish, as do reservoirs, lakes, ponds and other still water bodies. The fish themselves are correspondingly varied. This pocket-sized book provides information about the 54 native, invasive and naturalised species found in the UK today, and includes a photograph of each to allow easy identification

This illustrated guide describes the many ways that coarse fish species depend upon the diversity of habitats in river systems and considers how this dependence changes throughout the stages of their lives - from spawning and eggs, through to the juvenile and adult stages- and with changing seasons and river conditions. This knowledge is important if we are to understand the many population bottlenecks and the variety of coarse fish species that have resulted from historic changes to our rivers. It is also important if we are to manage rivers positively to protect and improve the vitality of coarse fisheries - a process that will also benefit the wider wildlife community with which coarse fish are interdependent.

Game fishes, particularly those of the salmon family, are critical indicators of the health of those ecosystems upon which we now know we are dependent. As the authors of this important environmental book argue, “Our game fishes [then] serve as more than merely an indicator of healthy waters. Instead, they can be regarded as iconic of the ecosystems in which they occur.” Moreover, “the quality requirements of different types of fish population have formed the backbone of a great deal of water management in the UK, Europe and the USA over several decades.” With sections on how and why Britain’s game fishes are under pressure from changes in land use, agriculture, housing needs, etc. – and their concomitant pollution effects – this book assesses how our knowledge of these game fishes reflect the changing values we place on our surrounding wildlife.

Common Ground explores the shifting relationship between human society and the landscapes that bear it. Examining the changing understandings of the natural world and its management and exploitation, environmental activist Mark Everard presents solutions in the nature of ecosystem services.Notwithstanding our total dependence on the Earth's natural resources, the relationship between humanity and the land has shifted significantly and frequently throughout our tenure, brief as it is relative to the evolution of planetary life. Appropriating increasing proportions of nature's resources to meet our shifting and growing demands, we have been degrading the quality and extent of ecosystems, nearly destroying their capacities to meet the needs of a burgeoning population.The book offers a fresh and vital whole-system approach to the key under-pinning the issue of sustainability. Everard looks ahead to what is required to live sustainably, respecting the central role of landscapes in supporting human wellbeing into the long-term future.