UK’S MIGRANT WILD CAMPING: WHAT BANNED IN EUROPE,

GEOGRAPHICAL
FISHERS YOU NEED, WHERE TO GO ON SALE IN BORNEO

www.geographical.co.uk Magazine of The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) July 2024 • £5.99

THE GOOD NEWS

CONSERVATION
WORKS!
 W E LC O M E
Finding out more GEOGRAPHICAL
Geographical
July 2020
Volume 92 Issue 07

T
his month we are launching a new occasional feature –
Geographical Country Profiles and the first place we are taking a Publisher/Editor Graeme Gourlay
deep dive into is Rwanda. The idea is to focus on a country we hear [email protected]
Design Gordon Beckett
much about but don’t know as much about as we should. Rwanda Staff Writer Bryony Cottam
is one of the smallest countries in Africa and is also one of the most Operations Director Simon Simmons
Circulation Director Patrick Napier
densely populated with 13 million people (see Page 19). Combined, these Commercial Director Chloe Smith
factors are crucial in shaping a rapidly changing, dynamic and troubled Advertising Director Elaine Saunders

nation. If you have any suggestions for other countries you would like us
ADDRESS
to profile, please email me. Geographical, Mill Lane House, Mill Lane,
Our cover story focuses on a matter which should cheer us all up Margate, Kent CT9 1LB
Email: [email protected]
– no mean feat in theses gloomy times. A meta study of research into
conservation efforts over the past 100 years conclusively establishes that ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
such efforts have a beneficial impact of biodiversity. As Mark Rowe reports Telephone: 020 3900 0147
on Page 37 there is much to learn from our successes as well as many Email: [email protected]

things to avoid from our failures.

SUBSCRIPTIONS
One of the two major investigations we publish this month looks at the Web: gsub.me/magazine
disturbing impact the use of pesticides, long banned in Europe, are having Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 020 3576 1699
on the people in Borneo living next to palm oil plantations (Page 46). The
other looks at how in recent years the UK fishing industry has become NEWSSTAND
dependent on migrant workers (Page 29) and the absurd and probably self- Intermedia
Telephone: 01293 312 001
defeating new rules the government is imposing on such employment. We Email: [email protected]
would like to thank the Journalism Fund Europe for helping support these
NEWSSTAND DISTRIBUTION
long and costly investigations. Fastmag, Circulation Department
Telephone: 01582 475 333
Graeme Gourlay, Editor Email: [email protected]

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Yurts & yaks The opinions expressed in this magazine are not
Daniela Sala is an award- Christine Ro was stunned necessarily those of the publishers or the Society. The
Chris Aslam on the publishers cannot be held responsible for loss of, or
winning Italian journalist to find that UK seafood damage to, or the return of unsolicited manuscripts or
etiquette of living in a yurt photographs.
and photographer focusing owes so much of its
in the far east of Tajikistan Published monthly.
on the climate crisis, production to low-wage
and his attempt to help
migration, trafficking, foreign workers. In a joint The paper in this magazine originates from timber
his nomad hosts turn the grown in sustainable forests, responsibly managed to
human rights and mental investigation with British strict environmental, social and economic standards.
fine down of yaks into
health. She is part of and Indian colleagues
a sustainable business,
the team that carried (Page 29), she met Indian
thwarted by suspicious
out our investigation fishermen, years in the Cover image: Shuttertock
government spies.
into pesticides banned job, but without stable
in Europe but on sale in status. ‘Fishing showcases
Borneo (Page 46). She is how immigration
a regular contributor for measures aren’t always
national and international in the best interests of
media and a member either migrants or the The next issue of
of the Environmental communities that depend Geographical is out on
Investigative Forum. on them,’ she says. Friday 19 July

4 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 CONTENTS
July 2024 • Volume 96 • Issue 7

COVER STORY

36
CONSERVATION
WORKS
The good news on how
conservations measures
are successful in
improving biodiversity

19 29
CAUGHT DEPARTMENTS
The UK fishing industry is dependent on WORLDWATCH
migrant labour currently entangled in 6 Mapping desert aquifers
complex and controversial new rules 8 Nature postive agenda
10 Research round-up
RWANDA 12 Geo-graphic: Sinking cities
Profile of one of the 14 Phenomena: St Elmo’s fire
smallest and most
densely-populated WORLDVIEW
countries in Africa 15 History on a plate
17 Geopolitics: Tim Marshall
on the Baltic Sea
18 Climatewatch: What AI tells

46
us about climate change

54
REGULARS
60 Book Reviews
65 Wild Camping
68 The Outer Hebrides
PARAQUAT 75 Discovering Britain
The health impacts of 76 In Society. RGS-IBG events
the dangerous pesticide,
BEES
79 RGS-IBG Archive
A major new exhibition
banned in Europe but 80 Where in the world?
in Liverpool focuses 81 Crossword
on sale in Borneo,
on the fascinating and 82 Passport: Volcanologist
widely used in palm oil
fragile world of bees Dave McGarvie
plantations

Find out moreFind

about
out more about
the benefits of joining
the benefits ofatjoining
RGS panel www.rgs.org/joinus
at www.rgs.org/joinus

JUNE 2024 . 5
 WOR LDWATCH EDITED BY BRYONY COTTAM

The search
for desert
water
Radar technology
used to detect
water on Mars
is helping to fill
the gaps in our
knowledge of
our own planet’s
water resources

O
ver the last few years, Egypt was much greener and wetter, feeds into unexplored.’ All together, he estimates
has become the world’s shallow desert aquifers that are close to the combined surface area of shallow
largest exporter of oranges, the surface and easy to access. aquifers throughout the Saharan-
shipping some two million In arid regions worldwide, shallow Arabian desert to cover an area as large
tonnes of citrus fruits to aquifers are often a primary source of as the United States.
countries around the world drinking and irrigation water. They Currently, there are very few
– including the UK, one of its largest support intensive agriculture in the San regulations for how that groundwater
export destinations. ‘How can it be,’ Joaquin Valley, California, agricultural is used. ‘A big part of the problem,’ says
asks Essam Heggy, a space scientist at and industrial needs in the North China Heggy, ‘is that we don’t understand
the University of Southern California Plain, and a growing population in the how much groundwater we have.’
in the US, ‘that a desert nation is now Indus Valley, Pakistan. Despite their Although satellite radars can be used
one of the UK’s top suppliers of a crop importance, however, our understanding to detect and map groundwater, the
that needs so much water to grow?’ of how these water sources are changing image resolution is too low to give us a
The answer, he explains, can be found due to our ever-increasing demands, and clear picture of how the water is moving
underground. the impacts of climate change, remains through the ground. ‘It’s like having
Beneath the reclaimed desert limited – as yet, there have been no a map of the city of London with a
sands lies the largest-known fossil large-scale efforts to map them. 10-kilometre resolution, the whole city
groundwater system, the Nubian Heggy explains that, even today, would be 10 pixels by 10 pixels at best,’
Sandstone Aquifer System, which we mainly rely on information from says Heggy. ‘What can you hope to learn
spans 2.6 million square kilometres historical well logs (records of the about London at such a low resolution?’
of northwest Sudan, northeast Chad, types and thicknesses of geological As such, Heggy and his colleagues at
southeast Libya and most of Egypt. This formations that are encountered during the universities of Southern California,
ancient water source, which cannot be the well’s construction). ‘But wells Qatar and Munich have developed
replenished and which formed tens of only exist in urban areas with high a new prototype for an airborne
thousands of years ago when the Sahara human populations, leaving other areas radar that can be used to probe the

6 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 Sinking cities St Elmo’s fire Baltic Sea
The urban centres A strange phenomenon Tim Marshall on Russia’s
fast subsiding revered by sailors strategic ambitions
Page 12the Page 14he Page 17the

JOERG STEBER/SHUTTERSTOCK

An irrigation system in the Arabian

Desert using aquifer water

ESSAM HEGGY
appears flat, Heggy says, it means within the next 90 years. ‘This will put
that the aquifer is at an equilibrium; the food security of countries such as
the amount of water seeping in from Saudi Arabia, which relies 100 per cent
rainwater or deeper aquifers is equal on groundwater for its agricultural
to the amount being discharged or production, at great risk,’ says Heggy,
extracted. ‘Our primary objective is to ‘and we will have no resources to help
understand the dynamics of how all mitigate the impact of droughts.’
these aquifers connect,’ he says. Heggy, who specialises in using
Closer to the coast, where radar imaging to map water in desert
precipitation patterns are more environments, both on Earth and on
consistent, rain helps to replenish the other planets, has worked on the Mars
water stored in shallow aquifers. But Exploration programme for 20 years.
in the extremely arid areas across most He says that he has noticed a clear
of the Saharan–Arabian Desert, the discrepancy between our search for
sole source of recharge comes from water in Earth’s deserts – which is seen
the upward leakage of the deeper fossil as a charity project – and our search
Radar scanning of the aquifers, where the stored water is a for water on another planet. ‘We need
desert to find groundwater
finite resource. to reframe our mission to improve our
Currently, the team’s research shows understanding of water on Earth as a
subsurface of the desert, up to depths that within 150 years, shallow aquifers scientific and technological endeavour,’
of 50 metres, to look for aquifers. The in North Africa could be gone for good. he says. ‘It’s the only way we are going to
radar sends out pulsed waves that are In the Arabian peninsula, home to four resolve the problem of water scarcity. If
reflected back when they come into of the most water-stressed countries we don’t, our increased vulnerability to
contact with the top of an aquifer – in the world (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman natural and environmental disasters will
the water table. When the water table and Qatar), they could disappear be the price we have to pay.’ l

JULY 2024 . 7
 WORLDWATCH
Nature positive
DAVID CROSBIE/SHUTTERSTOCK

Rhododendrons, protected
in the Eastern Himalaya,
invasive in the UK

Biodiversity
on the agenda
The rise of the ‘nature-positive’ economy

T
he race is on to reverse global Researchers at the University of
biodiversity loss. Global Oxford’s Oxford Martin School have
wildlife populations have also highlighted the challenges faced
declined by almost 70 per by organisations when it comes to
cent over the last 50 years, delivering ambitious nature-positive
natural ecosystems have targets, particularly in the absence of how much they vary in every possible
declined by 47 per cent on average, and wider systems change. ‘Biodiversity way in terms of their supply chain,
we’re overusing our planet’s resources conservation is fundamentally really their culture, their approach to decision
by at least 75 per cent. Last year, 27 of difficult, much more so than other making, the whole lot.’ In some cases,
the world’s largest nature conservation sustainability targets such as carbon he says, the changes organisations need
organisations (from The Nature emissions reduction,’ says Sam Sinclair, to make can have quite a dramatic effect
Conservancy to WWF International) co-founder and director of Biodiversify. on their business model.
came together to launch the new The problem, he explains, is that This means that companies are
Nature Positive Initiative with the goal biodiversity lacks an overarching going to need help to figure out what
of halting and reversing nature loss metric. ‘The value of biodiversity is actions to take. Sinclair, a researcher in
by 2030. The World Economic Forum so context-dependent.’ He gives the conservation biology with more than a
has called for a shift towards a ‘nature- example of an invasive, non-native UK decade of experience working in wildlife
positive economy’ and, from next year, species, such as the rhododendron, conservation, says that he founded
new EU legislation means that nearly which should be eradicated from British Biodiversify in 2018 after recognising
50,000 companies will have to report woodlands but is protected in its natural that he had an opportunity to help
their climate and environmental impact. East Himalayan habitat. When it comes people make better conservation choices.
However, a recent review of 400 to improving a company’s impact on Today, the biodiversity consultancy
global businesses by the World biodiversity, there’s no one-size-fits-all develops corporate biodiversity strategies
Benchmarking Alliance found that just approach. ‘The amount of variation for companies in the fashion, food and
five per cent have an understanding between companies is absolutely drink, and mining industries.
of their true impact on nature. enormous,’ says Sinclair. ‘It’s astonishing There are a range of different reasons

8 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 WIRESTOCK CREATORS/SHUTTERSTOCK

NEWS OF NOTE
Updates from
around the world
ITALY
Italy has banned NGO planes
from using airports close to
migrant routes, a decision
that has been condemned
as ‘cowardice’ by German
search and rescue organisation
Sea-Watch. The NGO planes
have regularly reported boats
in distress, helping to direct
rescuers to their location.

EUROPE
The EU has approved a law to cut
carbon dioxide emissions from
trucks, most of which currently
run on diesel. The law will enforce
a 90 per cent cut in carbon
emissions from new heavy-duty
vehicles by 2040. Heavy-duty
vehicles produce a quarter of
Europe’s road transport emissions.

INDONESIA
The Indonesian government
is working with social media
influencers to promote a
positive image of its new capital,
Nusantara, in the hope it will
encourage younger generations
to relocate.
Nearly a quarter of the world’s USA
cotton comes from an extremely
climate-vulnerable part of India The Center for Biological Diversity
has filed a lawsuit against the
Maryland Department of Natural
Resources, claiming that the
why a company would want to improve especially when you consider it took us department is hiding data on
its relationship with biodiversity. ‘From 15 years to get to where we are today the number of horseshoe crabs
a cynical perspective,’ says Sinclair, with carbon emissions. We were the that are killed by pharmaceutical
‘companies are now waking up to the first organisation to publish a detailed companies, after thousands of
fact that if they don’t stop impacting corporate biodiversity strategy in 2020. dead horseshoe crabs washed
the systems on which they depend, Now, four years on, companies left, right up on the state’s shorelines.
their businesses will cease to operate.’ and centre are doing it and there’s a new Horseshoe crabs are harvested
He points to the world’s cotton market, biodiversity startup every week.’ for their blue blood, which is
24 per cent of which comes from an Next year, as EU companies begin to commonly used to test vaccines.
extremely climate-vulnerable region of report on their environmental impacts,
India, as an example. ‘From a business the sudden influx of new data on the CANADA
perspective, the loss of that market private sector’s impacts on biodiversity Canadian politician Sol Mamakwa
would be a major problem.’ However that will be readily available will be gave the first ever Indigenous-
Sinclair says that, from his experience, revolutionary in helping companies to language speech in the Ontario
a lot of businesses have taken the issue make improvements. ‘If there are parts legislature, after a rule that
very seriously and genuinely want to do of the economy that are fundamentally required MPs to use either English
the right thing. unsustainable,’ Sinclair adds, ‘it’s going or French was changed. He spoke
It’s inevitable, says Sinclair, that to become really obvious very soon.’ l in Anishininiimowin, also known
mistakes will be made over the next few as Oji-Cree, a language he was
years. ‘The speed at which this area of • See Page 37 for our Dossier on the punished for using at school.
suitability has progressed is breathtaking, successes of conservation

JULY 2024 .9
 WORLDWATCH
Research round-up

Much of the Ethiopian highlands have

been converted to agricultural land

Mountain air SHUTTERSTOCK

n The air and soil of most mountain ranges worldwide Mountains and Ethiopian Highlands have been identified
have dried significantly since the 1970s due to warming as the most vulnerable. According to their results, these
temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns driven by mountain ranges have experienced ‘the most critical drying’,
climate change, according to a new study from researchers at with both atmospheric and soil aridity increasing by 13 per
Sichuan University, China. However, from soil samples taken cent across all elevation gradients. Importantly, their research
from six mountainous regions – including the Andes, the Alps, suggests that human activities are exerting an increasingly
the Iranian Plateau and the High Asian regions – the Rocky severe impact on aridification in mountainous areas.

On the scent
SHUTTERSTOCK

n Scientists are unlocking space and competing odours,

the secrets of what makes the researchers found that
mosquitoes target certain mosquitoes still preferred the
people over others. In a unique smell of some people more than
experiment, led by scientists others. In particular, mosquitoes
at Johns Hopkins University, seem to be drawn to a blend of
researchers built a giant netted carboxylic acids that are found
arena and filled it with hundreds in skin secretions – some people
of Anopheles gambiae – a species seem to produce more of these
more commonly known as ‘mosquito-magnets’ than others.
the African malaria mosquito. Mosquitoes are the deadliest
Around the perimeter were six animal on Earth, causing
connecting tents, each with a bug millions of deaths annually
screen, where study participants through diseases such as malaria.
could sleep. Throughout the Ultimately, by understanding
night, air from these tents, which mosquito preferences,
contains the unique scents researchers hope to develop
of each participant’s breath better tools to combat mosquito-
and body odour, was pumped borne diseases and protect
into the arena full of waiting people from these persistent A. gambiae is responsible for the most
deaths from malaria
mosquitoes. Despite the large predators.

10 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 SHUTTERSTOCK

Groundbreaking
A spark of life research
n Lightning strikes during ancient n A new study by Virginia Tech
volcanic eruptions could have researchers reveals a surprising
provided the nutrients needed to spark factor contributing to tsunamis: splay
life on Earth, according to geochemists faults. Previously, giant tsunamis
at the Sorbonne University in Paris. were thought to be solely caused by
Nitrogen is essential for all living subduction zone earthquakes, where
organisms, but while nitrogen gas is tectonic plates collide. However, this
abundant in the atmosphere, plants research shows splay faults, smaller
are unable to convert it into a usable faults branching off from subduction
form. Today, bacteria can ‘fix’ nitrogen zones, can also play a significant role in
into nitrogen compounds, such as triggering destructive local tsunamis.
nitrate – but before these bacteria Splay faults exist at subduction zones
evolved, some form of non-biological bordering Ecuador, Cascadia, Chile,
process must have been responsible. and Japan, where it’s thought they may
Lightning, say the researchers, is an contribute to tsunami hazards in local
obvious candidate. Volcanic lightning regions. When tectonic plates shift at a
occurs when ash and other particles subduction zone, it occurs miles under
from an erupting volcano collide and the ocean and, because splay faults are
form an electrical charge with enough connected to these zones, their location
energy to split nitrogen atoms. makes researching them a challenge.
Until now, there has been little However, Montague Island in Alaska
evidence for this process. But while offers scientists a unique opportunity.
analysing volcanic rocks collected As the only landmass situated on a
from Peru, Turkey and Italy, the splay fault that exhibits surface effects,
researchers found large quantities the island acts as a natural record
of nitrates in some of the samples keeper of splay fault activity.
– evidence that enormous, historic ‘It has this exaggerated uplift that’s
eruptions could have been responsible just not common in subduction zone-
for an abundance of nitrogen Lightning continues to only earthquakes,’ says lead author
compounds needed for early life. have an impact on Earth’s Jessica DePaolis. The researchers
atmosphere today
found that during a 1964 earthquake,
Montague Island experienced 11
metres of uplift due to splay fault
movement, compared to the typical 1-3
A pervasive pest metres from subduction zones.
n The German cockroach (Blattella germanica) is one of the most common The dramatic shift even transformed
species of cockroach, and can be found thriving in buildings all over the the island’s ecosystem from a saltwater
world. But exactly how this urban pest evolved and came to populate our lagoon to a freshwater bog.
homes was unknown – until now. An international team of researchers has DePaolis explains that since splay
finally cracked the 250-year-old mystery of its origin. Their genetic analysis faults are much closer to the coast,
of over 281 specimens from 17 countries reveals the roach actually evolved their ruptures can generate tsunamis
in Southeast Asia 2,100 years ago, and not in Germany. DNA sequencing that reach land much faster, potentially
shows a near-perfect match with Blattella asahinai, a species found in the within 30 minutes, compared to those
Bay of Bengal, and suggests the two species diverged from one another solely from subduction zones. ‘Splay
around 2,100 years ago. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy faults can cause massive local tsunamis
of Sciences, the study confirms this unwelcome house guest has no wild that hit very quickly. These powerful
habitat and likely spread globally by hitching rides with humans. This waves could arrive one after another,
resilience, coupled with its ability to develop resistance to insecticides, creating a devastating situation.’
makes it a major public health concern, linked to allergies, asthma, and She adds that the study has major
disease transmission. implications for hazard assessment in
vulnerable areas worldwide.

Food for thought

n About a third of the food produced globally each year worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast
goes to waste, while approximately 800 million people suffer Asia have the greatest potential for reductions in food losses,
from hunger, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture up to 47 per cent and 45 per cent respectively. At the same
Organization. In a new study from the University of time, the study shows that fully refrigerated supply chains
Michigan, USA, researches found that nearly half of all could cut food waste-related emissions of greenhouse gases
food waste, estimated to be about 620 million tonnes, could (representing an estimated eight per cent of human-caused
be eliminated by fully refrigerating food supply chains greenhouse gas emissions) by 41 per cent globally.

JULY 2024 . 11
 GEO-GRAPHIC

Sinking cities
From August, Indonesia will have a new capital city:
Nusantara. Since at least the 1970s, the nation’s current
capital – Jakarta, a sprawling metropolis home to more than
ten million people – has been sinking. In the past ten years
alone, it’s estimated that parts of the city have sunk by
more than 20 centimetres, due in large part to the excessive
groundwater extraction that supplies between 65 and 90 per
cent of the population’s household water, as well as factories
and businesses. Faced with a combination of dramatic
subsidence and rising sea levels, which threaten to submerge
parts of the city entirely, the Indonesian government has MEDIAN AND PEAK
opted to relocate more than 1,000 kilometres northeast, to VELOCITIES OF
higher ground on the island of Borneo. Jakarta’s plight is not SINKING CITIES CHITTAGONG,
unique; many coastal cities around the world face a similar
threat. In 2022, a study of 48 coastal megacities revealed
(MM PER YEAR) BANGLADESH
that the land beneath 44 of them is subsiding at a faster rate
than the local sea level is rising.

12mm

33.3% HO CHI MINH CITY,

VIETNAM

37mm
of China’s urban population
lives on sinking land

16mm
TIANJIN, CHINA
5mm AHMEDABAD,

6mm
Median
INDIA

43mm
velocity
per year

23mm
43mm
Peak velocity per year
Across each city, there are areas that are sinking much
faster (peak velocity) than others. There are several reasons
for this, from the different densities of the underlying soil
and rock to different population densities, which influence the
scale of groundwater extraction and the weight of urban
infrastructure. While natural processes such as tectonic
activity and glacial rebound can cause subsidence, most
Design: Geoff Dahl cases of severe subsidence are caused by human activities.
Source: Tay, Lindsey, Chin, et al. (2022)

12 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 JAKARTA,
INDONESIA

5mm

YANGON,
MYANMAR

4mm 26mm
3mm
HOUSTON,
USA

31mm

30
6mm ISTANBUL,

17mm
TURKEY

of the 44 sinking cities

are in Asia

2mm
19mm
LAGOS,
NIGERIA

Stopping
subsidence
2mm MANILA,
PHILIPPINES If subsidence continues at present rates,

17mm
these cities will be challenged by flooding
much sooner than projected by models of
sea level rise. While subsidence can’t be
reversed, reducing extraction can at least
slow it down. In Japan, the introduction of
strict regulations on groundwater pumping
in the 1950s, as well as the provision of
alternative surface water supplies, has
dramatically slowed subsidence beneath
the cities of Tokyo and Osaka. However,
some cities, such as Jakarta, have no

17mm
alternative water supply.

JULY 2024 . 13
 PHENOMENA
The remarkable explained

Saint Elmo’s fire: where

science meets mythology
l Saint Elmo’s proton clusters and
fire, also known as electrons that fluoresce
corona discharge, is a with light. The glow’s
luminous phenomenon colour depends on the
characterised by gas involved; in our
brushlike discharges of nitrogen- and oxygen-
atmospheric electricity. rich atmosphere, it
It typically appears manifests as a blue or
during stormy weather violet light.
as a faint light on the Saint Elmo’s fire has
extremities of pointed historically been a
objects such as church source of fascination
towers, the masts of and superstition. The
ships, the extremities phenomenon is named
of aeroplanes and after St Erasmus, or
electrical power lines. St Elmo, the patron
It’s accompanied saint of Mediterranean
SHUTTERSTOCK
by a crackling or sailors. Sailors regarded
hissing noise. The scientific explanation for Saint Elmo’s this eerie light as a sign of the saint’s guardianship, especially
fire lies in electrical voltage and plasma principles. During during bad storms, when it was most pronounced. Ancient
thunderstorms, the ground below the storm becomes Greeks and Romans interpreted the blue lights flickering
electrically charged, and a high voltage accumulates in the from ship rigs as visitations from the demigod twins Castor
air between the cloud and the ground. This voltage, about and Pollux, considered saviours of those in peril at sea. The
30,000 volts per centimetre, tears apart air molecules, causing sight of Saint Elmo’s fire was thus seen as a hopeful omen for
the gas to glow. The phenomenon is often observed on sailors braving treacherous waters.
aircraft propellers, wing tips, windshields (see above) and Literature is replete with references to Saint Elmo’s fire.
the plane’s nose when flying in dry snow, ice crystals, or near Charles Darwin, in 1832, vividly described the phenomenon:
thunderstorms. Here, mechanical and electrical devices are ‘Everything is in flames, the sky with lightning, the water
employed to mitigate the accumulation of electrical charge, with luminous particles, and even the very masts are pointed
preventing or controlling these discharges. with a blue flame.’
Saint Elmo’s fire is a continuous electrical spark, similar Saint Elmo’s fire is an interplay of science and mythology.
to the glow in fluorescent tubes, mercury vapour streetlights Its glow during electrical storms is a powerful reminder of
and neon signs. When high electrical voltage affects a gas, it the natural forces at work and a historical symbol of hope and
transforms into plasma – a conductive mixture of separate protection for those facing the elements. l

DO YOU KNOW…
Which countries are most exposed to tropical cyclones

8.5
8.1 South Korea
10
Japan
China

8.8
The Bahamas
8 7.9
Cuba 8.4 Vietnam
Antigua &
Barbuda
9.5
Philippines
Based on the number of
people exposed to tropical
cyclones per year, the Global
Risk Index sets a value
between 0 and 10; the higher
the score, the higher the risk

14 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 WORLDVIEW: PERSPECTIVE

The full English - a breakfast

of exploration

C
an there be anything more things get a bit more complicated.
quintessentially English than The grilled tomato, almost as likely to
a full English breakfast? be scraped off the plate as savoured,
It is England on a plate. isn’t very English; it’s a real exotic.
The English make a claim Despite being the essential ingredient
to the greatest morning of Italian cooking, tomatoes aren’t even
meal on Earth, but the recipe is hardly indigenously European. They are one
unique. There are all the closely related of several key breakfast items that hail
neighbours – the full-Irish, -Scottish, Andrew Brooks from the colonisation of the New World.
-Ulster and -Welsh – each of which In the wake of Columbus’s voyage to the
has a subtle variation on the common explains why the Americas in 1492, Europeans gained
breakfast formula. Barely a slice of traditional fry-up access to an amazing variety of new
bread separates an Ulster fry from the embodies our rich agricultural goods, including chillies,
English full Monty. Food cultures across cocoa, tobacco and turkeys, along with
Great Britain and Ireland are very similar colonial past another breakfast stalwart: the potato.
but different, just as English identity is Potatoes feature in many variations of
distinct from that of the nations next the fry-up. Cornish potato cakes give
door, yet all have much more in common regional character to a West Country
than separates them. So, where do all To chart the forgotten heritage of breakfast. In my Lincolnshire childhood,
the parts really come from? How English the full English, let’s cross off the breakfast profited from golden coins of
are bacon, eggs, beans and the rest ingredients one by one, starting with new potato fried in bacon fat. In London,
of the plate? While you might think of the familiar local products and then the thrifty reuse of last night’s boiled veg
them as being as naturally English as showcasing the surprising colonial and potatoes, as bubble and squeak,
rainy days and the White Cliffs of Dover, imports. In any full-fat carnivorous piles more comforting carbs on the
there’s a hidden history to the fry-up. version, there is always lots of pork. plate. All of these traditions have taken
The cooked breakfast is partly Bacon, sausages and, love it or loathe root locally, but the humble potatoes’
English, but it’s also African, Asian, it, black pudding. All come from native American ancestry has been all but
Canadian and Caribbean. It’s a rich pigs, which are very much part of a deep forgotten – although the hash brown is
smorgasbord of a meal founded on a English history. Another mainstay of any a relatively recent immigrant from New
heritage of English exploration. To get (non-vegan) English cooked breakfast York City diners. Whichever way you
the full story, we have to acknowledge is eggs – mostly fried, sometimes slice it, the potato is a colonial import.
the ways in which our history has scrambled, occasionally poached. Eggs Baked beans are one of the most
impacted our breakfasting habits. are eggs. Chickens have been part of divisive elements of an English
English adventurers travelled the the domestic food-scape since the Iron breakfast. A must-have source of
globe and returned to their green and Age and for longer than there has been moisture and sweetness amid the
pleasant land with fabulous new foods. an English nation. Another countryside meats and salts, or an unwelcome lurid
Exotic plants and animals became ingredient that’s a timeless part of rural sickly orange pool of pulses? Either way,
familiar. Some species were adopted life is mushrooms. Next is bread. Every baked beans have become a curious
and domesticated. Others needed good breakfast needs some toast for national obsession and a ubiquitous part
tropical warmth rather than the mild, mopping up sauces, oozing fats and of modern British life. As a cheap, mass-
damp, temperate climate of the British runny egg yolks. Whether small batch produced and convenient food, beans-
Isles. New networks of trade were sourdough or supermarket-sliced white, on-toast is an almost perfect abstraction
established that carried the full flavours it’s a local ingredient. So far, so English. of domestic culinary traditions. Although
of sun-kissed plants home. The East As we move further around the plate, a thrifty food, they’re also classless and
India Company, the Virginia Company rumoured to be a firm favourite among
and the Royal African Company the royal family. Yet, these are very North
conveyed goods back from the colonies The cooked breakfast is American products. The origins are most
as trade provided the foundation for partly English, but it’s also likely in the native American cuisine of
British imperialism. Colonialism remade Canada and the USA. Beans were baked
the world, spreading settlers, language,
African, Asian, Canadian in earthenware pots with maple syrup
technologies and commerce, and what and Caribbean. It’s a rich for sweetness and venison or other
came home also reshaped the heart of smorgasbord of a meal meat fats for richness. Another theory is
the empire. The breakfast plate provides that English colonists copied the French
a taste of the deep-rooted impacts of founded on a rich heritage traditions of cassoulet, a slow-cooked
colonialism at home. of English exploration bean stew, and remade that dish with

JULY 2024 . 15
 WORLDVIEW: PERSPECTIVE
NATALIA LISOVSKAYA/SHUTTERSTOCK

A traditional full English

is our history on a plate

the haricot beans native to North brown sauce. The history of molasses the coffee cherries while being paid a
America. Whatever the truth, these is inherently linked to the trans-Atlantic pittance. Imported tea has penetrated
‘navy beans’ as they used to be known, slave trade in which Britain played so far into British life that it seems
were another plant product carried back a pivotal role. Across 400 years of inseparable from our national identity.
aboard colonial ships to Europe. colonialism, European merchants The colonial past is present on the
With the bulk of the food accounted transported 12 million souls across the plate of today’s humble fry-up. The point
for, the breakfast features a mix of Atlantic in 45,000 voyages to work in here is not to deny the Englishness of
indigenous and imported ingredients, sugar and other exploitative sectors. a cooked breakfast but to highlight
but as we step off the main plate into Two million died in transit – a crime of a that this is a cosmopolitan dish with
the stormy waters of sauces, teas barely comprehensible scale. a distinctive character shaped by a
and coffees, the colonial footprint The breakfast tea or coffee that colonial history of uneven development
of an English breakfast becomes accompanies all the rich food and the shared with people in Africa, Asia
stronger. Tomato ketchup is the first tang of the sauces also hails from and the Americas – a history that
accoutrement that comes to mind and plantation agriculture. These two changed life overseas but also remade
glass bottles of Heinz tomato sauce caffeinated drinks, one or other of which the British Isles. Without centuries of
later followed baked beans over the many of us couldn’t imagine starting the empire, there would never have been an
Atlantic. Brown is the alternative to red day without, are grown throughout the English breakfast as we know it.
sauce and has a very different back tropics of Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, At the height of empire, aspirational
story. It’s a British concoction made of a and the global trade in them wouldn’t Edwardians saw breakfast as an
cocktail of local and colonial ingredients. be what it is without half a millennium opportunity to demonstrate their
It’s a condiment that’s difficult to define. of colonialism. These hot beverages wealth and status. They strove to
Its key characteristics are sharp vinegar have quenched the thirst of English incorporate exotic imported ingredients
and fruity local apples, married to the ladies and gentlemen for centuries, – canned baked beans, bottled tomato
bite of tamarind, the added flavour while the oppressive conditions of their ketchup, spicy brown sauce, Assam or
notes of mixed spices, and rounded off production consigned generations Ceylon tea, perhaps some Canadian
by the richness of molasses. of colonised people to sweaty, back- bacon – carefully positioned alongside
Tamarind is indigenous to tropical breaking work tending the fields, the traditional fare, to curate a lavish
Africa but has been grown on the Indian picking the green-tipped tea leaves and morning feast to impress visitors. This
subcontinent for thousands of years, menu then became the blueprint for
and alongside many of the spices – today’s full English. Immediately after
chilli, cloves, star anise – that flavour At the height of empire, the lifting of rationing following the end
brown sauce, was traded back to Britain of the Second World War, the full fried
by the East India Company. Molasses aspirational Edwardians breakfast was widely embraced as a
came to Britain from the sugar cane saw breakfast as an welcome indulgence by the working
plantations of the Caribbean. It’s a opportunity to demonstrate classes, just as the empire was fading
secondary product made from refining from view. While it seems naturally
the juice extracted by cutting, crushing,
their wealth and status. English, the fry-up is an invented
or mashing the green canes of sugar They strove to incorporate tradition that owes its distinctiveness
and gives colour and deep flavour to exotic imported ingredients to colonialism.

16 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 WORLDVIEW: GEOPOLITICS

Is the Baltic Sea a

‘NATO lake’? Only if
Gotland is a NATO island

S
weden has brought a lot Crimea in 2014 to really focus minds
to NATO since becoming in Stockholm. Swedish troops were
its 32nd member in reintroduced in 2016, and by 2018,
March: a well-trained there was a new permanent regiment
high-tech army, a first- on Gotland equipped with tanks. In
class air force, several 2021, the air defence system was
modern submarines suited to the taken out of storage and in 2023, the
Baltic Sea’s shallow waters and an first military exercises on the island
island – Gotland. this century took place, involving
It’s located in the middle of the Tim Marshall considers troops from Sweden, Poland and
Baltic, about 100 kilometres from the UK. This year, the government
the Swedish mainland and 300
the strategic importance has approved the construction of
kilometres from the Russian exclave of a holiday island off the a new port that will have defence
of Kaliningrad, home to most of Swedish coast capabilities, and the island’s large
Russia’s Baltic Sea Fleet. For the artillery firing range will be upgraded.
modern military, those are short As well as the island, Sweden
distances. The island has an area of also has Gotland, the submarine.
3,160 square kilometres, a population Stockholm has three of these
of 58,000, and a coastline almost advanced diesel-electric vessels,
urg

FINLAND
b

800 kilometres long. It straddles the sea built to operate in the Baltic, with
Peters

NORWAY
lanes leading out of St Petersburg and another two due to come into service
l St

Aland Islands
Kaliningrad, through to the Skagerrak SWEDEN within five years. The Baltic Sea
RUSSIA

Strait and out into the North Sea. Control ESTONIA has an average depth of about 60
of Gotland is vital for control of the Gotland metres, which is considered shallow
LATVIA
Baltic in the event of conflict. DENMARK enough for some submariners to
NATO can use it to create an anti- LITHUANIA refer to it as a ‘flooded meadow’. The
RUSSIA
access/area-denial ‘bubble’ across USA’s large nuclear-powered subs
the Baltic, hampering the Russian BELARUS can’t operate there, nor can most of
fleet’s ability to leave harbour and GERMANY POLAND their Russian equivalents, but the
its air force from operating freely. UKRAINE Swedish Gotland submarine can.
Conversely, Russian control would Watching all of this with interest
make NATO’s defence of the Baltic is Finland. Helsinki oversees the
states much more difficult. They is a spent force and launches an 6,700-island archipelago known
could only be safely resupplied via attack on the Baltic states, it could as the Aland Islands, which are
the narrow Sulwalki Gap between be preceded by an operation to populated by 30,000 people, most
Poland and Lithuania, and if that seize Gotland and install air defence of whom speak Swedish. It sits
was breached by Russian forces, the systems there. The Kremlin’s directly between the Baltic coasts of
Baltic states would be cut off. ambition in the area was shown Sweden and Finland. Down the ages,
Moscow has long been aware of recently when Russia published it has been part of both the Swedish
Gotland’s strategic importance. In a document suggesting that the and Russian empires, but it’s now
1808, Russian forces briefly occupied maritime borders in the Gulf of an autonomous region of Finland.
the island before being chased off in an Finland needed to be discussed. The events of the last two years, and
event that led to Sweden introducing Back in 2005, with the Cold War Finland’s accession to NATO, have
conscription. Following the Napoleonic in the rear-view mirror, Gotland had sparked discussion in Helsinki over
Wars, Sweden was a much-reduced been demilitarised as a gesture of whether to militarise the islands.
power and militarily retreated from the goodwill towards Moscow. The island Most islanders are against the idea,
European stage and became a neutral has always attracted holidaymakers, and the consensus in Finland is not
country. After 200 years of watching but after 2005, there was an influx to make such a move, but what was
from the sidelines, it took the shock of of men who didn’t always fit the previously unthinkable is now being
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to change usual profile of tourists. Vessels from thought about.
that position. Russia’s vast fleet of unofficial ships Until 2014. remilitarising Gotland
Now, NATO membership puts began loitering off the coast. wasn’t on the cards. The geography
it on Russia’s target list. If, in the The Swedes were suspicious, is still the same; it’s just the times
future, Moscow gambles that NATO but it took Russia’s annexation of that have changed.

JULY 2024 . 17
 W O R L D V I E W : CLIMATEWATCH

A matter of intelligence

M
ore than a century ago, can further confuse the public
novelist H G Wells and undermine trust in scientific
envisioned a better, consensus.
more rational behaviour • Psychological barriers: People often
from the human race exhibit cognitive biases and defence
thanks to the World mechanisms that make it difficult
Brain, a Wikipedia-like repository of to accept and act on information
knowledge. Can artificial intelligence about climate change. These can
solve our biggest problems today? Marco Magrini asks a include denial, optimism bias, and
We asked Gemini 1.5, Google’s most the tendency to prioritise immediate
advanced artificial intelligence model, sophisticated AI model concerns over long-term threats.
why we are struggling to cope with why we are failing to tackle • Political polarisation: Climate change
climate change. has become a highly politicised issue,
climate change with partisan divisions hindering
Which is the single most important public understanding. This can lead
issue with climate change that most to a situation where people’s views
people have not yet grasped? SHUTTERSTOCK on climate change are shaped more
It is the interconnectedness of its by their political identity than by
effects and the potential for cascading scientific evidence.
consequences. Climate change is
not just about rising temperatures. How do you know these things?
It’s a complex web of interconnected My knowledge about these issues
systems that can trigger a domino comes from being trained on a
effect, leading to far-reaching and massive dataset of text and code.
unpredictable consequences. For This includes a significant amount of
instance: information about climate change,
• Rising sea levels can lead to coastal its impacts, and the challenges of
erosion, saltwater intrusion into communicating its complexities
freshwater sources, and displacement to the public. I’ve processed
of populations. This can further trigger general public may not be fully information from various sources,
social unrest, economic instability, and aware of the interconnectedness and including scientific reports, academic
conflicts over resources. cascading effects of climate change, papers, news articles, and public
• Extreme weather events such as despite decades of warnings. opinion surveys. This allows me to
droughts and floods can disrupt • Complexity: Climate change synthesise information from diverse
agricultural systems, leading to food is a complex issue with many perspectives and identify common
shortages and price hikes. This can interconnected factors and feedback themes and patterns.
disproportionately affect vulnerable loops. It can be difficult for non-
populations and exacerbate existing experts to grasp the full extent of its How did you avoid disinformation?
inequalities. potential impacts and the ways in To avoid perpetuating misinformation,
• Disruptions in ecosystems can lead which different aspects of the problem my training data undergoes a rigorous
to the loss of biodiversity, impacting can exacerbate each other. filtering process to remove low-quality
the delicate balance of nature. This can • Communication challenges: or unreliable sources. My responses are
have knock-on effects on pollination, Scientists and communicators have regularly reviewed and evaluated by
water purification, and other essential struggled to effectively convey the human experts. Finally, I am constantly
ecosystem services. urgency and complexity of climate being updated and refined as new
Many people still perceive climate change to the public. Messages information becomes available.
change as a distant threat or a series are often too technical, abstract, or
of isolated events. They may not focused on distant future scenarios, Do you think it could be too late?
fully comprehend the potential for making it difficult for people to connect While some irreversible changes
these events to interact and amplify the issue to their daily lives and have already occurred, the most
each other, leading to a cascade immediate concerns. catastrophic consequences such as
of interconnected crises that could • Information overload and runaway warming and widespread
overwhelm our ability to adapt. misinformation: In today’s ecological collapse can still be avoided
information-saturated world, people if we act quickly and decisively.
Why is the public not fully aware of are bombarded with conflicting
all of this? After all, scientists have messages about climate change. Please note that ‘we’ does not refer to
been warning us for decades… Misinformation and disinformation artificial intelligences, but to us, self-
There are several reasons why the campaigns by vested interests described intelligent human beings.

18 . GEOGRAPHICAL
PROFILE

RWANDA
Mount Karisimbi l
4,507 m
ge
Rid

l Kigali
Nile
go
Con

SHUTTERSTOCK

Rwanda, the ‘Land of a Thousand Hills,’ has a controversial figure in Western media,
undergone a remarkable transformation since has undoubtedly played a central role in this
the brutal genocide that swept the country in journey. However, Rwanda’s path forward
1994, leaving the nation in ruins. In a relatively is not without its challenges. Critics of the
short amount of time, the country’s poverty government have been silenced and the country
rates have nearly halved, healthcare has seen ranks poorly on the Global Freedom Score
dramatic improvements and Rwanda boasts Index. At the same time, a young, burgeoning
one of the highest primary school enrollment population faces increasingly limited land
rates in Africa. Thanks to investment in its resources, leading to a scarcity of affordable
cities’ infrastructure, its economy has also housing and access to essential services. This,
grown at an impressive eight per cent annually coupled with rapid urbanisation that threatens
for over a decade. The current Rwandan the country’s biodiversity, presents a complex
government, led by President Paul Kagame, problem for the nation’s sustainable future.
JULY 2024 . 19
PROFILE
Rwanda

R wanda’s urban cemeteries are

running out of space. Many of the country’s 1,500
cemeteries, having reached capacity, have already been
expanded several times to accommodate more graves. In
the capital of Kigali, Rusororo, the city’s largest cemetery,
is now encroaching on the Nyandungu Urban Wetland,
an ecotourism project intended to restore degraded
habitat and create green jobs for local communities.
Faced with an ever-decreasing availability of suitable land,
concerned city officials have called for a new ‘vertical
burial system’ – multi-storied tombs – to save space.
It’s not the first time city officials have sought solutions
to the shortage of burial plots. In 2013, parliament
passed an amendment to the law permitting the practice The rapidly changing
of cremation, a culturally foreign concept in Rwanda. capital city of Kigali
If Rwanda aspires to have smart and sustainable urban
centres, a number of things will have to change, Mugisha
Fred, Kigali’s head of urban planning and construction,
told Rwanda Today. ‘As we try to free up land for
settlement, infrastructure and industry, we need to
run smart landfills and cemeteries.’ To date, however,
Rwanda has built just one crematorium, the Hindu
Mandal Crematorium in Bugesera, a district in south-
central Rwanda. Only a handful of cremations have
taken place since its construction, and residents appear
reluctant to adopt the new practice.
Overcrowded cemeteries are just the tip of the
iceberg when it comes to the growing problem of
Rwanda’s land scarcity. Slightly smaller than Belgium,
with a total land area of approximately 26,000 square
kilometres, Rwanda is one of the smallest countries
in mainland Africa. It’s also one of the most densely
populated. Since the 1990s, the country’s population
has increased sixfold and currently exceeds 13 million
people. This rapid increase has led to a strain on the
country’s limited food resources, the demand for much-
needed housing and infrastructure, and increasingly
threatens the country’s unique biodiversity.
Nowhere is growing faster than Kigali, home to more
than half of Rwanda’s urban population. By 2050, it’s
thought that 3.8 million people will call the city their
home, and finding a housing solution for everyone is
proving to be a challenge. In 2013, Singaporean firm
Surbana Jurong secured a contract to produce a master
plan for Kigali, proposing to replace the existing city
FCG/SHUTTERSTOCK

with an entirely new vision of a ‘smart’ city filled with

high-rise buildings and green infrastructure (the
Singaporean developer has become the go-to city
planner on the continent, with contracts for seven other

20 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 The Volcanoes
National Park

TETYANA DOTSENKO/SHUTTERSTOCK
USAID/RWANDA

A health worker in Rwanda

administers a vaccine

Rwanda has a
vaccination rate
of 94 per cent
and more than
90 per cent of
the population
has access to a
universal health
system

major African cities: Kinshasa, Brazzaville, Libreville, the country spotlessly clean but, for many, the term is
Bujumbura, Conakry, Luanda and Lagos). synonymous with forced labour.
Kagame, 66, has been in power since 1994. In that
A POLARISING PRESIDENT time, his government’s influence on the country has
On the last Saturday of every month, Rwandans across been transformational. According to the UN, Rwan-
the country come together to participate in Umuganda. da’s score on the Human Development Index more
From 8am, all able-bodied citizens spend three hours than doubled between 1990 and 2017 – the world’s
sweeping the streets, planting trees, tending to terraces highest average annual growth rate. The economy has
and picking up litter. It’s a practice that stems from the grown exponentially, poverty has fallen and primary
country’s pre-colonial history, when many hands made school enrollment is almost universal. The country’s
light work of digging the fields ahead of the rains. In breakneck progress has earned it the nickname ‘Africa’s
2009, as part of Rwanda’s post-genocide reconstruction Singapore’. Yet critics of Kagame, including political
efforts, it was reintroduced by President Paul Kagame as opposition and journalists, face surveillance, intimida-
‘umunsi w’umuganda’ (‘community contribution day’ in tion, arbitrary detention and worse. As Rwandans cast
the Kinyarwanda language). It’s credited with keeping their votes in the national elections this 15 July, Kagali

JULY 2024 . 21
PROFILE
Rwanda

FACT FILE

DEMOCRATIC UGANDA
REPUBLIC
OF THE
CONGO
Volcanoes
National Park

s l Musanze
Akagera
Mount
AREA: National
Karisimbi
Park
Total: 26,338 sq km; Land: 24,668 sq km; Rubavu l
Water: 1,670 sq km Gishwati/Mukura
National Park
POPULATION:
13,623,302 Lake n Kigali
POPULATION GROWTH RATE: Kivu
1.62% (global rate: 0.91%) l Kibuye l Muhanga

POPULATION DENSITY:
546 per sq km of land (global average: 62)

Ny
ab
CAPITAL: KIGALI;
aro
l Nyanza
Population: 1,248,000
ng
LANGUAGES (OFFICIAL):
Nyungwe Forest o
National Park TANZANIA
Kinyarwanda 93.2%, French, English, l Huye
Swahili
RELIGIONS:
Christian 95.9%, Muslim 2.1%, other 1%
BURUNDI
Source: CIA World Factbook, World Bank (population density)

Land use in Rwanda

9% Protected areas

50+20+11829
Year Population Life UN Human 1% Other
(Millions) Expectancy Development
(Years) Index* 8% Wetlands 50% Agriculture
1996 6.7 40.7 0.30 Only 32% of which
12% Urban and is very suitable for
rural infrastructure agriculture
1998 7.9 41.9 0.31

2000 8.1 47.1 0.34 20% Forests

2002 8.4 51.0 0.37 53% are plantations,
18% natural mountain rainforests,
2004 8.8 55.5 0.41 22% wooded savannah,
6% shrublands Source: REMA
2006 9.3 58.7 0.44

2008 9.8 61.1 0.47 GDP per capita ($)

2010 10.3 62.5 0.49 $1000 $966.23

2012 10.8 64.0 0.51

$800 $773.77
2014 11.4 64.9 0.51
$600 $594.16
2016 11.9 65.7 0.52

2018 12.5 66.3 0.53 $400

$255.11
2020 13.1 66.8 0.53
$200
2022 13.8 - -
*A country’s average achievements in health, education, and standard of
living on a scale of 0 to 1.. Anything under 0.55 is considered low
2000 2010 2020 2022

22 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 The highlands of Rwanda are
ideal for tea plantations -
one of the country’s fastest
growing agricultural sectors

A’MELODY LEE/WORLD BANK

is almost certain to win a fourth time – he’s never

received less than 93 per cent of the vote – potentially
The economy has grown exponentially,
keeping him in power until 2034. poverty has fallen and primary school
GROWING PAINS enrollment is almost universal
Dimitri Stoelinga, co-founder of Rwanda-based re-
search-consulting firm Laterite, first visited Kigali in of the city have grown. Today, an estimated 83 per
2009. In the time since, he says that the city centre is cent of Kigali’s population still lives in these informal
almost unrecognisable as the same place he moved to settlements, which occupy 62 per cent of the city’s land.
some 15 years ago. New roads, hospitals and shopping Anirudh Rajashekar, director of urban-planning
centres, a new 10,000 seat indoor sports arena and a research consultancy Jerry-can, explains that Kigali’s
re-vamped 45,000 seat stadium, and the US$300 mil- informal settlements are characterised by low-quality,
lion Kigali Convention Centre – as well as whole new overcrowded housing with living conditions that pose a
neighbourhoods and commercial developments – have long-term risk to residents’ quality of life. While these
popped up on the city’s skyline. ‘I have never seen any- informal settlements share some similarities, such as
thing like it,’ says Stoelinga. ‘It is like day and night.’ the building materials, some face greater environmental
Importantly, he adds, all this construction is part of hazards due to their location on steep hillsides or in
a clear development strategy for the city. Rwanda has valleys with limited access. The largest is Bannyahe, an
set its sights on becoming a middle-income country by informally built, densely settled neighbourhood located
2035, a goal it aims to achieve by transforming the nation in the low-lying areas close to the city’s marshland,
from an agriculture-based economy to a knowledge where residents face the threat of deadly floods and
and service-based one. In recent decades, government landslides caused by heavy rains.
policies have focused on rebuilding and investing in
major infrastructure such as energy, transportation, and LAND OF A THOUSAND HILLS
information and communication technologies. Land-locked Rwanda sits at a high altitude at the centre
So far, it’s a plan that seems to be working, albeit of Africa’s Great lakes region. Its terrain can be pictured
perhaps a little too well. Economic migration to Kigali as a series of descending steps. The western border is
is on the rise and, as rural workers move to the city dominated by the Congo Nile Ridge, part of an extensive
in search of work, informal settlements on the fringes mountain range bordering the Albertine Rift Valley,

JULY 2024 . 23
PROFILE
Rwanda

which skirts the edge of Lake Kivu. At its northernmost Kigali earmarked US$80 million for the restoration of
point, the ridge connects with a chain of two active and five surrounding wetlands, part of the governments’
six extinct volcanoes, five of which form the Virunga focus on building a climate resilient capital. ‘Urban
Mountains, home of the endangered mountain gorilla wetlands play a critical role in preventing flooding,
and Rwanda’s 160-square-kilometre Volcanoes National addressing pollution and are home to unique
Park. At 4,507 metres, the extinct stratovolcano Mount biodiversity,’ says Juliet Kabera, director general of the
Karisimbi is the country’s highest point. Rwanda Environment Management Authority. ‘As we
The elevation drops towards a central plateau that face the impacts of climate change, wetlands will be a
is characterised by rolling hills, aptly giving Rwanda key ally to protect lives and livelihoods.’
the nickname ‘the land of a thousand hills.’ The capital, However, in interviews with residents, Shakirah
Kigali, sits among these gently sloping valleys. Esmail and Jason Corburn (researchers in urban
Finally, to the east, the country consists of a mix of low planning at UC Berkeley) found that life in informal
plateaus, swamps and wetlands, including the sprawling settlements such as Bannyahe has been made all the
Akagera National Park, Central Africa’s largest protected more precarious by the competing spatial needs of the
wetland and a refuge for savannah-adapted species such residents and the preservation of nature.
as rhino, hippos and lions.
Rwanda’s national parks are the pride its burgeoning COMMUNITY MATTERS
tourism industry, and mountain gorilla trekking In the wake of the 1994 genocide, Rwanda experienced
in Volcanoes National Park is the undisputed star a resurgence of preventable illnesses such as malaria,
attraction. In 2021, more than 500,000 visitors to the cholera, tuberculosis and HIV. At the time, less than
park brought in US$164 million, an increase of 25 per five per cent of the population had access to clean water
cent from 2020. and few clinicians remained in the country to provide
But Rwanda’s protected natural areas offer benefits much-needed primary care. Today, however, Rwanda
far beyond tourism revenue; they are central to the has a vaccination rate of 94 per cent and more than
country’s sustainable development strategy. Recently, 90 per cent of the population has access to a universal

TIME
TIME LINELINE FOR THE LAND OF A 1,000 HILLS
1300-1800s 1987
Arrival of Tutsi cattle herders in The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a
Rwanda, which was already inhabited rebel group formed of Tutsi exiles, is
by the Hutu and Twa peoples, and the founded in Kampala, Uganda.
establishment of a hierarchical social 1990
system with a Tutsi monarchy. Land The Rwandan Armed Forced (FAR)
ownership is concentrated among the begin to train and arm civilian militias
Tutsi elite (14% of population), while known as Interahamwe (‘Those who
the Hutu majority (85%) become stand together’).
agriculturalists on the land they Local soldiers in the
German colonial army October 1990
managed, and the marginalised Twa
(1%) are hunter-gatherers. The RPF army launches a major attack
1933 on Rwanda.
1885 Belgium introduces mandatory ethnic
European powers partition Africa, identity cards distinguishing Tutsi, Hutu August 1993
assigning Rwanda to German control. and Twa. Peacemaking efforts appear to bring an
end to the conflict between the RPF and
1900s 1959 Hutu government.
Arrival of Catholic missionaries who After decades of colonial oppression,
introduce Christianity. the Hutu majority rebels against Belgian
1910s powers and the Tutsi monarchy, leading
Belgium occupies Rwanda during to thousands of Tutsi deaths and mass
World War One. exile to neighbouring countries.
1922-24 1961-62
The kingdoms of Rwanda and Burundi Rwanda gains independence from
are merged into a single colonial Belgium. The Tutsi monarchy is
territory known as Ruanda-Urundi. abolished and a Hutu president is
Belgium is granted League of Nations installed amid growing ethnic conflict.
mandate to govern the region, which it 1980s President Paul
rules indirectly through Tutsi kings. Genocide memorial
480,000 Rwandans become refugees.

24 . GEOGRAPHICAL
PROFILE
Rwanda

health system that allows the country’s poorest to receive

services for free, resulting in drastic improvements in life
expectancy and living standards. To achieve this, the gov-
ernment prioritised the training of a network of commu-
nity health workers to support the country’s overwhelm-
ingly rural population. By 2018, each of Rwanda’s 15,000
villages had four elected community health workers, who
have promoted the uptake of vaccinations and ensure that
all pregnant women attend antenatal clinics.
One of the most significant outcomes has been a dra-
matic reduction in child mortality. This, coupled with in-
creased access to family planning services and a growing
awareness of birth control methods, has led to a decline in
the country’s fertility rates (the average number of births
per woman dropped from 5.6 in 2005 to 3.3 in 2022).
However, Rwanda’s population remains young, with a
median age of 20.8, and the sheer number of people enter-
ing childbearing years means a high birth rate will likely
continue for some time.

RURAL LIFE
In 2013, in an attempt to address some of the challenges
in overpopulated Kigali, the government commissioned
Surbana Jurong to work on a new initiative: the Secondary
Cities Master Plan. This plan focuses on six strategically
chosen cities around the country – Muhanga, Huye,
Rusizi, Rubavu, Nyagatare, and Musanze – aiming to
transform them into regional economic hubs that will
shoulder some of the burden of urbanisation, attracting
businesses and residents away from the congested
capital. According to Claver Gatete, Rwanda’s minister of
infrastructure until 2022, urbanisation is both irreversible
and inevitable, and therefore needs to be guided.
‘Rwanda has an ambitious objective of accelerating the
urbanisation to a portion of 35 per cent urban population Ti. Fuli fue public turnunc
macierehemus hilne
by 2024,’ he adds. nonsulostus re im noner
For now, most of the country’s population is rural.
The vast majority of Rwandans rely on agriculture
for their livelihoods and, despite the country’s
economic growth in recent years, most are smallholder women the right to legally own land. In 2016, 63.7 per
subsistence farmers growing beans, sorghum, banana cent of land titles were registered as owned or co-owned
and cassava crops. Nestled amid towering mountains by women. Since then, Rwandan women have continued
and crisscrossed by valleys Rwanda’s agricultural to take on roles traditionally held by men, and Rwanda is
productivity is also constrained by its geography, the first country in the world with a female majority (61
limiting the availability of flat, arable land. According per cent) in parliament.
to the World Food Programme, a fifth of the
population is food insecure. Some farmers cultivate A COMMON IDENTITY
cash crops such as tea, often as contract farmers for Since Covid-19, Jonathan Beloff has noticed an
commercial enterprises, or have formed cooperatives increasing sense of unity among younger Rwandans.
to collect, wash and sell coffee, Rwanda’s third most ‘I think that, after social distancing, people were just
exported product (after gold and tin ore). exciting to come together again.’ Beloff, an expert in the
Historically, land ownership in Rwanda has sidelined
women, limiting their control over agricultural resources
and decision-making powers. Today, however, a
significant shift is underway. In recognition of the vital
Kigali’s informal settlements are
role women play in the country’s food production and characterised by low-quality,
rural development (82 per cent of women are employed
in agriculture compared to 63 per cent of men) – and overcrowded housing with living
to help prevent conflict caused by land shortages – the
Rwandan government set out to formalise and expand
conditions that pose a long-term risk to
land ownership across the country. This included giving residents’ quality of life
26 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 Mother and baby golden
monkeys in Volcanoes
National Park
TONY CAMPBELL/SHUTTERSOCK

1996 2017
The start of national genocide trials. President Kagame is re-elected for a
Trials and efforts to track key genocide third term with 98.8% of the vote after
suspects continue today. winning a referendum on constitutional
changes that allows him to stand again.
2001
Critics say that opposition have been
A new flag and national anthem, which
threatened or arrested and independent
refers to the Rwandans as one people,
media silenced.
are announced.
2023
2003 The UK paid £240m to Rwanda ahead of
Refugees fleeing the Paul Kagame wins the presidential plans to forcibly deport people seeking
violence in 1994 election. The RPF later wins an absolute asylum in the UK.
majority in the parliamentary elections,
6 April, 1994 amid accusations of fraud. 7 April 2024
The plane carrying the Rwandan and 30th anniversary of the genocide.
2004-Present
Burundian presidents, both Hutu, was
The government implements land 15 July 2024
shot down with missiles above Kigali,
reforms, including land consolidation Presidential elections.
Rwanda. Both were killed.
programmes and titling initiatives, to
7 April, 1994 resolve disputes and to improve land
Start of genocide management, decrease degradation and
July 1994 increase agricultural productivity.
Over 100 days, 800,000 to 1,000,000
Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by 2013
the FAR and Interahamwe. An estimated Israel signed secret agreements with
100,000 to 250,000 women were raped. Rwanda, implementing a ‘Voluntary
Departure’ scheme for asylum seekers.
IMAGES: SHUTTERSOCK

April-July 1994 Plans to forcibly deport asylum seekers

The RPF, led by Paul Kagame, takes were scrapped in 2018, following President
control of Kigali, ending the genocide. international criticism. Paul Kagame

JULY 2024 . 25
 Women digging terraces as part of
the national compulsory monthly
community work scheme
A’MELODY LEE/WORLD BANK

BLACK SHEEP MEDIA/SHUTTERSTOCK

politics and security in the African Great Lakes region,

was already aware that the fears of older generations
– that ethnic conflict could reemerge – wasn’t shared
by the country’s youth. This is largely down to the
government’s social engineering, a deliberate attempt
to erase ethnic divisions under the banner of Ndi
Umunyarwanda (‘I am Rwandan’).
Today, Rwanda has a reputation for being the safest
and most stable among its neighbouring countries in
the Great Lakes region. Beloff accuses the global media
of a tendency to look at Rwanda through Western
eyes. ‘They look at Kagame and see a dictator, but most
Rwandans want the stability he brings to the country,
they like what he is doing. They are more concerned
about other issues – jobs and housing.
Despite progress, there is still work to be done.
Stoelinga admits that not everyone is happy with the
way the country is changing, but he’s never seen a city
space transform to a plan at such speed. ‘At the current
pace of change, it’s really hard to predict where things
Dense housimg in the
Nyamirambo area of Kigali will go,’ he adds. ‘Who knows what Kigali is going to
look like in ten years time.’ l

JULY 2024 . 27
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AT EDGE HILL
CAUGHT
UK FISHING
Migrant workers

The UK’s fishing fleet depends on migrant fishers. Geographical

ANDREA LEHMKUHL/SHUTTERSTOCK

investigates the impact of updated visa requirements, which

some fear pose a threat to the future of the industry
Report by Christine Ro, Laura Cole, Aliya Bashir & Imran Muzaffar

JULY 2024 . 29
 UK FISHING
Migrant workers

R uban speaks in a low voice. Worried

about being overheard, he asks to move farther from
the small, Scottish harbourside. The Indian fisherman
doesn’t want to be seen talking to an outsider. Settling
in an out-of-the-way cafe, he explains his caution. The
captain of his fishing boat, who had, for several years,
‘been okay to work with’ has been verbally abusing the
crew and increasing physical work to ‘unbearable’ limits.
‘It’s like he had a mental breakdown,’ says Ruban, ‘but
out there’ – he gestures in the direction of the coast –
‘there’s no-one to see it, or believe us’.
Ruban (names have been changed and locations
disguised as the migrant fishers we interviewed fear being Around 10,000 people
blacklisted) describes his hope to be sponsored for a work on the UK’s fishing
fleet; at least 28 per cent
skilled worker visa, the UK government’s recent fix for are non-UK nationals
the problems of exploitation and inconsistent visa rules
in the fishing industry. Experts warn, however, that it
could wind up a partial solution, and in some cases, may
increase inequalities and danger in what’s already the aren’t equipped for long-term accommodation. Of all
UK’s most dangerous industry. the non-UK nationals in the nation’s fishing fleet, the
majority are in this position.
TEN MONTHS IN TRANSIT Intended initially for merchant seafarers on vessels
The boat Ruban works on is a traditional scallop trawler docking at international ports, transit visas give
manned by four crewmen and a skipper. He has done the non-UK nationals a small window of time to enter or
job for four years, as one of around 10,000 fishers in the travel via the UK. The way they’ve been used in the
UK (2022 figures) who work the nation’s fleet. Although, fishing industry, however, has long been criticised
technically, he has never worked in the UK. According by campaign rights groups as a ‘loophole’ for UK
to the most recent data from Seafish, the UK public companies to hire workers on lax visa terms, outside
agency supporting the seafood sector, 28 per cent of the of the nation’s labour protections. ‘They have abused
crew of UK fishing vessels are non-UK nationals. Others it,’ says Chris Williams, a fisheries expert at the
have estimated that the figure is much higher. Whatever International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
the exact number, foreign-born fishers ‘have been the
backbone of the UK fishing industry,’ in the words of
David McCandless, the chief officer of the North Eastern Every week, Ruban helps bring around
Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.
For ten months a year, Ruban lives on the boat. ‘It’s 35,000 kilograms of scallops into
dangerous work,’ he says. With everything important
‘happening above your head’, life at sea revolves around
port but never officially enters the UK
the central trawl winch that pulls up scallops by the
thousands and spills them onto the open deck. ‘We sail In 2022, the government clarified these murky
for six days and land the full catch on the seventh.’ waters. The National Borders Act made explicit that
Every week, Ruban helps bring around 35,000 such a use of transit visas was illegal – but only within
kilograms of scallops into port – the equivalent weight the UK’s waters – which extend 12 nautical miles
of a herd of 45 Highland cattle – but never officially (about 22 kilometres) out to sea. In April 2023, it
enters the UK himself. The restrictions of his visa mean stipulated that non-UK fishers must have a skilled
that he has a constant ‘in transit’ status. Immigration- worker visa to work within this 12-nautical-mile halo.
wise, he’s tied to his vessel, legally required to sleep Without one, even if his employing company has
on the boat and unable to physically enter the UK multiple fishing boats, Ruban is tied to the boat with
apart from brief port visits. Even if the fishing boats an abusive skipper. ‘I’m done with it now,’ he says.

30 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 ADOBE STOCK

SAQIB BHAT

Where the tonnes of catch are usually hauled by crane

onto the harbour, ‘the skipper recently made us haul by
hand’. Ruban asked to return to India for his contracted
two-months leave. In response, his captain allegedly
threatened to dock a month’s pay. Ruban has two choices
– remain trapped on the vessel or leave out of pocket.
For access to better working rights and higher pay, he
needs someone to sponsor him for a skilled work visa.
And for that, he needs to pass the UK government’s
English test requirement.

MAKING THE GRADE

Across the Irish Sea, Abhishek is also hoping for a
sponsored visa. He has been fishing in Northern Ireland
for a decade, due to the better pay and lower competition
for fish compared to back home in Tamil Nadu. ‘In my
village, there are too many fishermen,’ he explains.
The biggest hardships are the winters, when the
crews bundle up in coats and wear thick blue gloves
because it’s hard to feel their fingers otherwise; missing
their families (Abhishek chokes up when showing a
photo of his son digging in the garden); and struggling
to obtain skilled worker visas. His current pay is also
paltry, although it’s much higher than what he would
be able to earn back home. Abhishek is contracted
on just £1,100 a month, with bonuses based on the
amount of prawns caught. For British prawn fishers, all
wages would be on a share catch basis, which typically
Fishers in South Asia earn
leads to substantially higher earnings.
a fraction of what migrants Migrant fishers on transit visas frequently report not
can make in the UK being paid for overtime, and their hours not being logged

JULY 2024 . 31
 UK FISHING
Migrant workers

ADOBE STOCK

There are 5,541 UK-registered

fishing vessels – down 14 per
cent over the past ten years

accurately. In practice, their pay often amounts to less

than the minimum wage. A report by the University of
Nottingham’s Human Rights Lab found that the average
salary of a transit visa fisher in 2021 was £3.51 an hour.
As a deckhand, Abhishek can’t control where the boat
fishes, but he could still face detention and deportation if
his captain decides to stray within UK territorial waters.
The skilled worker visa became the only legal option
for foreign nationals to fish within 12 nautical miles
– as well as a ticket to higher pay and a more secure
immigration status. But the high English-language
requirement might stand in his way. Most of the migrant
fishers he knows have failed the English exam and have Fishing is one of the most
dangerous occupations
to wait a while for the next one in India; they’re not undertaken in the UK
allowed to apply for the skilled worker visa from the UK.
‘The UK government is looking only for English
knowledge,’ Abhishek says. ‘You can speak good
English, you can fish here.’ But the kinds of English
skills required under the skilled worker visa have While Conservative politicians have
nothing to do with fishing skills, he emphasises, while
flipping through a sample test he’s been going through called for more UK nationals to go into
on weekends. During the week, when he might only get
four to six hours of sleep a night, time for study would
fishing to reduce the reliance on foreign
be tough. His contract doesn’t specify hours of work, workers, this just isn’t happening
rest or overtime.
Under the skilled worker visa, fishers need to have at
least the same English level as CEOs, clinical psychologists
and barristers. Remarkably, the level of English required communication at sea. ‘Fishers have raised concerns
for a foreign-born English teacher is the same as for a that setting such a high bar is a barrier to many capable
foreign-born fisher. ‘That is a big challenge for most of workers joining Scotland-based crews,’ says Ariane
the migrant fishers in the sector,’ says Jessica Sparks, an Burgess, a member of the Scottish Parliament for the
assistant professor at Tufts University who has researched Highlands and Islands. ‘We’d prefer more practical,
working conditions on UK fishing vessels. ‘Even guys who tailored assessments of language capability relevant
have been in the UK for 15, 16 years, they’re struggling to to the sector, as well as more proactive monitoring of
pass the B1 language exam.’ working conditions and safety.’
Some have been calling for the language requirement Safety is, of course, a prime concern. ‘You can lose
to be relaxed. The Northern Irish MP Jim Shannon a hand if you put it in the wrong place,’ says Ruban.
has argued that the lower, A2 level is sufficient for safe According to the director of operations for Seafish, Aoife

32 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 The number of people
employed aboard UK
boats has dropped by
2,100 in a decade

CONRAD/ADOBE STOCK

that with the B1 English language exam, if the industry

cannot recruit local crew and continues to recruit
migrant crew, are they going to be forced to select for
English language skills versus fishing skills moving
forward?’ Sparks says. This worrying trade-off may
indeed be happening. A skipper has reported that after
he asked for a crew member with maritime experience,
a recruiter sent him a young Indian man who had only
previously worked on a cruise ship.

WHO PAYS?
Passing the English test is necessary for obtaining a
prized skilled worker visa. But it’s not sufficient, and
‘should not be seen as a panacea,’ says Sparks.
Arun has had ups and downs while shuttling back
ADOBE STOCK
and forth between India and the UK to fish on a transit
visa. From May to September, he would rely on quick-
Martin, ‘fishing is the most dangerous occupation in the cooking foods such as frozen pizzas because of the long,
UK, so being able to communicate onboard a fishing exhausting hours netting and then tailing prawns. While
vessel is really important’. he and other migrant fishers are supposed to have rest
But as for the specific B1 level for a skilled worker visa, breaks, ‘on prawns it’s not possible’.
‘I’ve never seen any rationale for that particular level,’ Arun is building a house in Kerala, but he can’t afford
says Peter Walsh, a migration expert at the University of to finish it. In any case, it’s not clear who would occupy
Oxford. ‘It’s perhaps somewhat arbitrary.’ it. He’s hoping to find a wife soon, although ‘with this
An alternative would be to allow an industry-specific social life it’s hard to find someone… and to give time to
language test. Sparks calls the B1 English test ‘an exam someone.’ The main hardship now is uncertainty about
that’s not really suited. It’s not based on maritime English. his return to the UK, as multilingual, soft-spoken Arun
There are actually English language exams set out at the is one of the lucky few to have passed the English test.
international level that are specific to maritime activities, However, he doesn’t have a certificate of sponsorship.
which in this case would probably be most useful.’ The fishing company he worked for urged him to obtain
An example is the Marlins English language test for all the clearances but then asked him to pay all of the
seafarers. The ITF argues that this industry-appropriate visa fees himself, which he can’t afford. The company
test should be used. ‘The skilled worker test is about being also previously ended his contract early, so it has a
able to write an essay, when it should be about safety,’ says history of unfulfilled promises. In the UK’s small and
Chris Williams, a fisheries expert at the ITF. tightly knit fishing communities, Arun has little chance
Advocates for fishers’ rights have warned that an of ending up with a better employer, and is nervous
overly stringent language requirement could actually about alienating the one he has. Arun’s part-finished
increase certain risks for workers. ‘There is concern house and anxious wait for news demonstrate that

JULY 2024 . 33
 UK FISHING In 2022, UK vessels landed

SHUTTERSTOCK
640,000 tonnes of sea fish
Migrant workers

clearing the English-test hurdle isn’t a guarantee of better

working conditions.
It’s best practice for the fishing companies to pay costs,
including those for the visa and health insurance, says
Sparks, who was among those campaigning for a skilled
worker visa so that migrant deckhands would have a
guaranteed minimum salary. However, the law doesn’t
require employers to pay such costs. So fishers like Arun
face high upfront costs for complex visa applications, on
top of debt loads for recruitment fees paid initially.

THE HOSTILE IMMIGRATION ENVIRONMENT

Fishing epitomises some of the unintended
consequences and contradictions embedded in the UK’s
immigration policy. The ITF’s Williams says the hostile
environment and the government’s immigration policy
have ‘left transit visa deckhands in the lurch’.
UK immigration officials have brushed aside suggested
reforms to the English language requirement for migrant
fishers. Such considerations appear secondary to the
overall goal of reducing immigration. ‘I think that any
kind of restriction can reasonably be viewed as’ having the
aim of reducing the number of applicants, Walsh says. ‘In
practical terms, having the language requirement… will
prevent some people from being eligible.’
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information
request reveals that as of December 2023, 34 fishing
companies have received certificates of sponsorship, with
18 granted after the April 2023 legislation change. As for
visas received, as of the end of 2023, only 54 skilled visa
applications, at the most, had been granted in the fishing
sector – a small dent in the 2,000 estimated non-UK
fishers employed in the industry. There are indications of
an uptick, though still modest, in 2024 so far. Of the few
migrant fishers to pass the English test, one has an MBA,
another a degree in physics.
‘So far, it’s hard to tell if the skilled visa could work,
because we have a small sample size,’ says Sparks. A
worst-case scenario would be that the high language
barrier and the costs of the visa encourage fishing
companies to hire migrants on transit visas and move
their fishing grounds outside territorial waters, where
there are fewer protections for fishers.
The transit visa scheme, she says, ‘just puts people
at risk’. The government has been clear that it won’t
Since 2004, the UK’s fleet of
consider anything outside of that boundary as work ten-metre-plus boats has
in the UK. The loophole, born out of vague laws, now declined by 40 per cent
hangs on physical geography, ‘even if fishers are working
SHUTTERSTOCK
for UK-listed companies, on UK-flagged vessels,
constantly in-and-out of UK ports’, says Williams.
Fishing industry stakeholders have actively tried to told Geographical, ‘I don’t think there is a fisherman
lower wages associated with the skilled worker visa. or fisherwoman in the world who doesn’t deserve a
Harry Wick, CEO of the Northern Irish Fish Producers’ minimum salary of £38,700, but the simple truth is,
Organisation, said that the industry’s challenge is in our fishermen aren’t being paid enough for our catch to
‘staving off the new minimum salary’ of £38,700 for support that level of salary.’
skilled visa workers. He said the salary rise would make He blames low salaries, in part, on the difference
overseas crew ‘unemployable’ and warned it makes ‘the between the price fishing companies are paid versus
transit visa the only viable option’. the retail price. ‘If you can answer how the price of a
Now, because of the pay thresholds set by the skilled prawn can increase [six-fold] between leaving the boat
worker visa, foreign-born fishers on skilled worker visas in pristine condition and reaching the supermarket fish
could even out-earn their UK-born counterparts. Wick counter in a shoddy state, then you can answer why

34 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 UK fisheries minister
Mark Spencer

SHUTTERSTOCK
Fishing epitomises
some of the
unintended
consequences
and contradictions
that are embedded
in the UK’s
immigration policy

fishing boats can’t afford to pay 61 per cent more salary the Migration Advisory Committee, an independent
at four months’ notice,’ he said. ‘You could also perhaps advisory body, which feared the lower wage list puts
answer why we are largely reliant on crew recruited from migrant workers at risk of exploitation. The minister for
overseas and struggle to attract locals to our profession.’ farming and fisheries, Mark Spencer, used the rejection
The ITF’s Williams says that as long as the transit visa of the advice as proof of the government’s commitment
continues to be used in the fishing industry, non-UK to the fishing sector and said ‘the government continues
fishers won’t have the rights and protections at work to support the sector to attract the labour it needs’.
that they should have. ‘While that’s not really the fishing When Geographical questioned the government, a
industry’s fault, it does mean employers are enabled to spokesperson for the Department for Environment,
pay less than they should,’ he says. Food and Rural Affairs said: ‘We are [supporting the
As there are likely fewer UK nationals who want to fishing sector] through our existing visa routes to recruit
fish than the industry requires, he says that the ITF from overseas and have offered a generous support
wants a fishing-specific visa for UK flagged vessels, not package to help them adjust to the UK immigration
visas that still depend on where the boat fishes. ‘The way system,’ such as through the £100 million UK Seafood
around a labour shortage is not to incentivise and enable Fund. Of this figure, however, only ten per cent was
a race to the bottom and labour exploitation.’ made available for skills and training, and applications
While Conservative politicians have called for more closed more than a year ago.
UK nationals to go into fishing to reduce the reliance on For now, even as the government’s policy prioritises
foreign workers, this just isn’t happening. Fishing vessels language, migrant fishermen still find themselves in
are sitting empty. Further, Seafish’s Martin says, ‘The a culture of silence. ‘Why would I complain if no-one
immigration changes mean that in some instances, people wants to listen?’ asks Ruban. l
have exited the industry. This is because vessel operators
just can’t get crew, either at home or from abroad.’
This spring, deckhand jobs were added to the
Immigration Salary List, a list of jobs eligible for a 20 per
cent wage cut – cutting skilled worker fishing salaries This investigation was supported by the
to £30,960. This was against the recommendation of Journalismfund Europe

JULY 2024 . 35
 BIODIVERSITY
Conservation

Conservation measures in
Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands
have done much to improve
hyacinth macaw populations

36 . GEOGRAPHICAL
THE GOOD NEWS...
CONSERVATION
WORKS
Gloom about human-induced climate change and our
impacts on flora and fauna can seem unrelenting.
However, a new study offers hope and suggests
that our efforts to protect nature can turn the tide
on biodiversity loss. Mark Rowe reports
ZENOBILLIS/SHUTTERSTOCK

JULY 2024 . 37
 BIODIVERSITY

I
Conservation
Deforestation
rates are 74%
lower in areas of
the Congo Basin
under forest
management
plans

s it working? It’s the question every biologist,

conservationist and environmental campaigner must
surely ask themselves during long nights of the soul
when they wonder if projects intended to halt and
reverse the decline of biodiversity across the planet
actually make things better. The answer, it turns out,
is, generally, yes. But not always. A groundbreaking
review, ten years in the making, has assessed hundreds
of conservation projects across the planet, some dating
back to the 19th century, and found that the overall
impact of conservation is positive and significant. In
two-thirds of cases, conservation either improved
biodiversity or at least halted declines.

A RAY OF LIGHT
Involving scientists from dozens of research institutions,
the study, entitled The positive impact of conservation
action, is the first of its kind to look across the globe
and through time, reviewing 665 trials of conservation
projects going back as far as 1890 and as recent as 2019.
A range of conservation interventions targeted at species
and ecosystems were examined, including invasive
species control, habitat loss reduction and restoration, was taken. Conservation efforts in Guyana reduced
and protected areas. The research was rigorous: deforestation rates by 45 per cent, equivalent to saving
researchers whittled through the trials, selecting only around 13 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.
conservation measures where there were at least five The creation of protected areas and indigenous lands
studies, thereby narrowing the margin for error. were shown to significantly reduce both deforestation
The findings of the meta-study offer a ‘ray of light’ rates and fire density in both Guyana and the Brazilian
for those working to protect threatened animals and Amazon. Satellite-based maps of land cover and fire
plants, according to those involved. ‘The message is that occurrence showed that rates of deforestation were
conservation works,’ says Thomas Brooks, chief scientist 1.7–20 times higher and human-caused fires occurred
at the World Conservation Union, which facilitated the four to nine times more frequently outside indigenous
funding of the study by the Global Environment Facility reserves and protected areas. Many indigenous reserves
(GEF). ‘We were surprised by the findings, especially prevented deforestation completely, despite high rates of
because when you constantly read headlines about deforestation along their boundaries.
biodiversity loss and extinctions. It would be easy to Conservation action has also clearly prevented
think we are losing the battle,’ adds Penny Langhammer, extinctions. The review of projects found that
lead author of the study and executive vice-president intervention had prevented up to 32 bird and 16
of the conservation organisation Re:wild. ‘Not only mammal extinctions since 1993. Without conservation
does conservation improve biodiversity, but when it action, extinction rates would have been 4.2 times
works, it really works.’ greater, the study found. Species saved from the abyss
The most successful approaches include schemes on include Spix’s macaw, the Guam kingfisher, the scimitar-
farmland that increase the number of breeding waders. horned oryx and Przewalski’s horse.
Targeting and eradicating invasive species was also
successful. Breeding rates for loggerhead turtles and DAMAGE LIMITATION
terns increased after successful predator management The impacts of intervention weren’t always so clear and
targeted invasive racoons and wild boar on Florida’s what constitutes success depended on what the aims
Barrier Islands. Turtle nest predation was just 16 per were, according to the report’s authors. In the Congo
cent where predators were targeted, compared with Basin, deforestation rates were 74 per cent lower in
rates up to 74 per cent on islands where no action logging concessions under a forest management plan

38 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 African forest elephants cool off in the
Lekoli River, Odzala-Kokoua National
Park, Republic of the Congo

ROGER DE LA HARPE/SHUTTERSTOCK

DOUBLING UP – A CARIBBEAN SUCCESS STORY

l A key takeaway from the ten-year study into biodiversity

ED MARSHALL/FAUNA & FLORA INTERNATIONAL

methods was that combining different interventions
will typically lead to mutually reinforcing and beneficial
effects. In a project supported by Re:wild, the eradication
of invasive species, combined with a protected area, has
driven the transformation of a Caribbean island once
compared to a moonscape.
When Redonda was first documented by Europeans
in 1493, it was full of life, but colonisers introduced rats
that preyed on native wildlife, while feral goats left behind The Redonda ground
by guano miners overgrazed flora. As the vegetation dragon population has
disappeared, soil and rocks slid into the sea, ultimately increased 13-fold
choking the coral reefs surrounding the island.
Following the removal of the invasive rats and feral the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve – is one of the biggest
goats in 2017, Redonda started to spring back to life. protected areas in the Caribbean and covers almost
Vegetation has increased by more than 2,000 per cent, 30,000 hectares of land and sea, including the entire
15 species of land bird have returned and numbers of island, its seagrass meadows and a 180-square-
endemic lizards found on the island have increased by kilometre coral reef.
more than four-fold. The population of Redonda ground Learning from previous studies, Re:wild, together with
dragons – a critically endangered lizard – has increased other partners, such as Fauna & Flora, is implementing
13-fold in just the past seven years. strict biosecurity measures to guard against any future
The largest marine protected area in the eastern invasions. They are also supporting long-term monitoring
Caribbean was also established in the surrounding and are planning the reintroduction of native species
waters. Guano from the island birds has provided that can’t find their own way back to the island, such as
nutrients for the reefs. The new protected area – named iguanas and burrowing owls.

JULY 2024 . 39
 BIODIVERSITY
The scimitar-horned oryx
Conservation was declared extinct in
the wild in the year 2000

(FMP) compared with concessions without an FMP.

The approach clearly made the impacts significantly less
damaging but deforestation was still taking place.
Some measures yielded both negative impacts and
unintended consequences. A marine protection area
(MPA) established off New South Wales, Australia, aimed
to increase biodiversity and protect White’s seahorse.
In practice, the ban on commercial fishing enabled
predators such as octopuses and sharks to flourish,
leading to a decline in a favoured prey item – White’s
seahorse. Such scenarios show the need for caution
and for impacts on secondary species to be taken into
consideration with such conservation projects, says
Brooks. ‘Maybe it’s okay if the seahorses were being
eaten within the protected area, if they were doing fine
elsewhere. You would expect the larger species that are
more sensitive to fisheries to do better within an MPA.’
Unquestionably, biodiversity is under huge
anthropogenic pressure. According to the IUCN,
around 44,000 species, one out of every three species
monitored, is endangered by human activities,
including 41 per cent of amphibians, 37 per cent of
sharks and rays, 36 per cent of reef-building corals,
34 per cent of conifers, 26 per cent of mammals and
12 per cent of birds. Earth’s ‘normal’, or background,
extinction rate is thought to be somewhere between 0.1
and one species per 10,000 species per 100 years. Katie
Collins, curator of benthic molluscs at the Natural
History Museum, has said that the current rate of
extinction is between 100 and 1,000 times higher
than this pre-human background rate of extinction, a
figure she described as ‘jaw-dropping’ and that’s widely
attributed primarily to climate change, habitat loss and
the spread of invasive species.
GOALS AND TARGETS
BOOST FOR FUNDING Efforts to address biodiversity loss take place within an
The report is welcome because if international agencies overarching structure of international frameworks and
– the UN and the World Bank, among others – are going agreements, which mostly focus on deadlines covering
to ask governments, philanthropists, charities and other the next 25 years. The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global
donors to commit the vast sums required, they need to Biodiversity Framework (GBF), signed by nearly 200
provide evidence that it’s worthwhile. Proving that action countries, agreed four goals for 2050 and 23 targets
was better than not intervening was crucial, according to for 2030 that guide action to protect 30 per cent of
Brooks. ‘The fundamental thing about the paper is that it Earth’s lands, oceans, coastal areas and inland waters
shows the importance of measuring impact,’ he says. ‘It’s (see the panel on Page 42). It sets out the need to
the first time there has been a systematic review looking reduce harmful government subsidies by US$500
across the entire conservation literature.’ billion annually and cut food waste in half. Other
The study provided robust assessment of this key related targets are aspirational rather than specific,
point, as the projects selected for assessment were such as enhancing the resilience of all ecosystems,
specifically chosen because they had a counterfactual halting the extinction of threatened species and
– the project was set up with what might be called a maintaining genetic diversity within populations
‘control’ equivalent, that is, doing nothing. ‘If a financial of wild and domesticated species by 2050. Similar
adviser told you you’d get a 66 per cent return on your targets are echoed in the 17 sustainable development
investment you’d grab it,’ says Langhammer. goals presented in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Paul De Ornellas, chief adviser for wildlife at WWF- Development. ‘The GBF provides a direction of travel,’
UK, feels the need for justifying outcomes to donors says De Ornellas. ‘It’s not a legal mechanism, but in a
has become less important as awareness of the threats world without the GBF there would be no overarching
is increasingly better understood at corporate level. ‘It’s framework – we would be pushing against a much more
not the case that such projects are simply nice to have,’ difficult obstacle. Countries need to take the targets
he says. ‘Corporations are recognising that we all need and translate them into national biodiversity action
clean air and water, and healthy soils, that their own plans. That’s when the rubber really hits the road.’
commercial risks are linked to biodiversity. It’s no longer A heartening finding of the study was that we’re
a niche conservation interest.’ getting better at conservation and learning from our

40 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 Why we need to
safeguard biodiversity
According to the IUCN, around 44,000
species, one out of every three that is
being monitored, is endangered by human
activities. This includes...
41%
Amphibians of species are
endangered

Sharks & 37%

of species are
rays endangered

More than 500 Reef-building 36%

scimitar-horned corals of species are
endangered

oryx have been Coniferous 34%

trees of species are
born in the wild endangered

since the species Mammals 26%

of species are
endangered
was reintroduced
Birds 12%
after captive of species are
endangered
breeding
WOLF AVNI/SHUTTERSTOCK

mistakes. While a third of conservation projects had The rapid growth of key species on
no effect or an adverse effect, their success rate is the IUCN Red List since 2007
increasing over time. ‘Studies from long ago had a
higher risk of failure than those done recently,’ says
Brooks. ‘It’s an indication that we should be expecting 16,000
to see – that we are getting better over time. We should 15,403
be, as sophisticated techniques arrive and we learn
from failures.’ 14,234
12,630
One lesson learnt, argues Langhammer, has been the
change in culture of conservationists and international 12,000
11,212
agencies and charities, a shift that has led to less
emphasis on donors calling the shots on projects. ‘We 9,618
have clearly been learning as we go and it’s definitely the
case that over time, conservation efforts have learned 8,000
7,851
to include and be led by local, Indigenous people who
know best how to be effective,’ she says.
Another determining factor in the effectiveness of
projects is ensuring that they’re backed by meaningful 4,000
legislation. ‘We need to make sure protected areas are
properly protected. Otherwise, they are just lines on
a map,’ says Langhammer. ‘These are really effective
conservation measures, but not if human encroachment 0
2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2020
and poaching continue.’ Where projects didn’t work, it’s
essential that scientists ‘learn from failure’, says Brooks.
‘Nobody gets everything right first time,’ he adds. Mammals Reptiles Birds Insects
‘It’s important for the conservation community to Amphibians Molluscs Fish Other
understand why things go wrong.’ One example of this
that caught Brooks’ eye was the removal of invasive

JULY 2024 . 41
 BIODIVERSITY
Conservation

algae species from coral in India’s inshore waters.

Tackling the invasive algae in the marine environment
National leaders have to
backfired as it simply made it more vigorous in its demonstrate that they have
colonisation of reef and coral systems; its removal
actually facilitated its spread, as plants were broken up the appetite to build on
and distributed over a wider area, where they began to
recolonise. ‘The report shines a light on changes from conservation successes
30–40 years ago,’ agrees De Ornellas. ‘There’s a much
greater focus on what the evidence says we do well and
to learn from what doesn’t work.’ the hotspots are, it can make an incredible difference.
We would like to see movement when it comes to
SCALING UP IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH conservation projects in the Global South. The funding
A counterintuitive but positive message from the study for projects there needs to be sufficient – then we can
concerns the under representation of biodiversity reverse the decline.’
projects in the Global South. Just under half the projects The study provides the strongest evidence to date
reviewed were conducted in South America, Southeast that conservation actions are successful but require
Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, despite the fact that, as transformational scaling up to meet global targets.
Brooks notes, ‘so much of the concentration of global Tellingly, if perhaps unsurprisingly, it found that
biodiversity is in the tropics.’ multiple types of conservation actions are usually
In large part, this is because funding for conservation beneficial. Conservation was particularly effective when
in the Global South has been historically under two or more approaches were combined, especially when
represented and disproportionately doled out to support it came to protected areas, payments for environmental
projects in the Global North. The report found that services, invasive alien species eradication, sustainable
in terms of geographic breakdown, the effects were use of species, control of pollution, climate change
positive and significant on all continents, with outcomes adaptation and sustainable management of ecosystems.
achieving similar rates of success across the planet. Targeting invasive species and introducing protected
‘It’s a top-level message of the entire piece of work – areas, if implemented meaningfully, yield good
conservation works but we don’t do enough of it,’ says outcomes, the authors say. Langhammer’s Re:wild has
Brooks. ‘If we do more of it in the Global South, where seen a twin-track approach in its work in relation to the

Global Biodiversity Framework Tools and solutions

• Integrate biodiversity and its values into policies,

Reducing threats to biodiversity regulations, planning and development proccesses
• Integrate legal, administrative or policy measures within
• Reducing land- and sea-use change business and financial institutions
• Restoration of degraded ecosystems • Encourage and enable sustainable consumption choices
• Protecting and conserving areas • Establish, strengthen capacity for and implement
• Halting species extinctions and reducing extinction risk biosafety measures
• Harvesting and trade of wild species • Identify and eliminate, phase out or reform incentives,
• Managing invasive alien species including subsidies
• Reducing negative impact of pollution on biodiversity • Substantially and progressively increase the levels of
• Minimising impact of climate change financial resources
• Strengthen capacity-building and technical and
scientific cooperation
Meeting people’s needs
• Ensure data, information and knowledge are accessible
to decision makers, pracitioners and the public
• Management of wild species • Respect the rights and cultures of Indigenous peoples
• Agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forests are sustainably and local communities
managed • Ensure gender equality
• Restore, maintain and enhance nature’s contributions to people,
including ecosystem functions and services The 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,
• Urban blue and green space signed by nearly 200 countries, agreed 23 targets for 2030
• Fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources and DSI (Digital that guide action to protect 30 per cent of the Earth’s lands,
Sequence Information) oceans, coastal areas and inland waters.

42 . GEOGRAPHICAL
Almost all of the
remaining African
lion ranges are within
countries that rank in
the 25% poorest
countries in the world

A lioness and cub

in the Masai Mara, Kenya
MAGGY MEYER/SHUTTERSTOCK

Caribbean island of Redonda (see box on page 49), a CAPTIVE BREEDING

former moonscape now teeming with biodiversity.
l Captive breeding has generally endured a poor
MORE CASH PLEASE reputation, often criticised as a means for zoos or
Around US$121billion a year is currently being wildlife groups to justify their funding with projects
invested in conservation worldwide, a sum much lower that, outside cages or sanctuaries, are unlikely
than what’s needed and representing barely 0.25 per to scale up in the real world. Commercial captive
cent of global GDP. The GBF calls for US$200billion breeding has come in for even greater criticism,
per year from public and private sources. Often, these with fish farms widely associated with pollution,
projects need to take place in countries where national high mortality and impacts on wild species. The
governments have other funding priorities. Last year, meta-study suggested that, when managed
the University of Oxford’s Conservation Research Unit judiciously, captive breeding has strong merits
reported that almost all of the remaining African lion and cited research into Chinook salmon in the
ranges are within countries that rank in the 25 per cent northwest and northeast Pacific published in 2011.
poorest countries in the world. Two complete generations of Chinook salmon were
Conservation projects can only succeed in the long tracked with molecular markers to investigate
term if accompanied not just by international legislation differences in reproductive success of wild and
but by a shift in the protocols of international trade. hatchery-reared fish spawning in the natural
‘Species risk is closely linked to global trade,’ says environment. Results showed a clear demographic
Brooks. ‘Global trade is responsible for around one-third boost to the wild population when supplemented
of the global extinction rate. Beef moves from Argentina by hatchery-reared salmon. On average, fish taken
to North America, and coconut oil from southeast Asia into the hatchery produced 4.7 times more adult
to Europe. We need to change patterns of consumer offspring and 1.3 times more adult grand-offspring
behaviour, shift the trade to sustainably produced beef than naturally reproducing fish. Researchers also
and coconut oil.’ There’s a need, says Langhammer, to found that fish chosen for hatchery rearing didn’t
eradicate what she describes as ‘perverse subsidies’, have a detectable negative impact on the fitness
which do nothing to discourage bad practices, such as of wild fish by mating with them for a single
deforestation or over-harvesting, in commodities such as generation. One of the keys to success, they found,
soy, fisheries or agriculture. was that the original hatchery-reared fish had to be
‘We need to address the underlying factors, such as sourced from 100 per cent local, wild-origin brood
unsustainable production and fossil fuel subsidies,’ she stock, rather than from fish farms.
says, pointing to the disparity in funding: fuel subsidies

JULY 2024 . 43
 BIODIVERSITY
Conservation
SHUTTERSTOCK

Turtle nest
predation
was 74% on
islands with no
protection and
16% on those
Loggerhead turtle with protection
hatchlings in Florida

SHUTTERSTOCK
in 2023 were US$7 trillion, 13 times the amount needed
to reverse biodiversity loss.

ADDRESS THE UNDERLYING SYMPTOMS

Brooks is confident the report will act as a catalyst and
a game-changer but feels a wider, coordinated approach
will be necessary to truly reverse biodiversity loss. ‘There
are few conservationists who aren’t optimistic and we
have been heartened by the interest in the report. It will
PICTURE CREDIT

really help to strengthen further impacts,’ he says. ‘We

need more conservation investment because we know
that, typically, it works – 16,000 locations have been
identified as key biodiversity sites, but only 40 per cent
of these are protected. That’s an enormous shortfall. We
need to scale up.’
The root causes of the global loss of biodiversity
need to be addressed, warns De Ornellas. ‘In addition The once critically endangered
to classic conservation, we need to look at the drivers Przewalski’s horse is now
protected in Mongolia’s Hustai
of habitat loss – over-exploitation of wildlife, over- National Park
extraction, logging, over-consumption, fisheries
and hunting,’ he says. Brooks agrees. ‘We’ve got to
address them, push sustainable development, alleviate
poverty, stress the importance of peace, security and working on this study; I was really encouraged by it. We
justice. We have powerful agencies, such as the GEF, cannot overstate the finding that conservation works.’
social movements pushing for positive change. We Contrary to the background narrative that we have
have the tools; most of the pieces that we need are left it too late to act, De Ornellas argues that the report
falling into place.’ shows the opposite. ‘It’s easy to feel that the world
Above all, says Langhammer, national leaders have has gone to hell in a handcart but the report and the
to demonstrate that they have the appetite to build on CBD show the ambition to bend the curve and start
conservation successes. ‘It requires much greater political turning things around for the better by 2030. We have
will from countries and leaders, especially in the Global the opportunity and the knowledge to do that. But the
North,’ she says. ‘I’m an optimist, even more so after longer we wait, that window starts to narrow.’ l

44 . GEOGRAPHICAL
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 INDONESIA
Palm oil

BANNED
IN EUROPE
STILL SOLD
IN BORNEO
The dangerous pesticides destroying the
lives of palm oil plantation workers

Report by Daniela Sala, Adi Renaldi & Budi Baskoro. Photos: Daniela Sala
46 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 A local farmer sprays the herbicide
Roundup among the oil palms in the
small plot of land she and her family
owns. She also routinely sprays
Gramoxone, without protection

JULY 2024 . 47
 INDONESIA
Palm oil

‘I used to spray both the yellow and

the green poison,’ Herna says. For nearly six years,
from 2006 to 2011, Herna worked for the so-called
‘maintenance team’ on one of the oil palm plantations
of Musim Mas, a Singapore-based multinational
corporation, in Central Kalimantan, the Indonesian part
of Borneo. The green poison she refers to is Gramoxone,
the brand name for a highly toxic herbicide based on
the organic compound paraquat. Sold by the Swiss, now
Chinese-owned multinational Syngenta, paraquat has
been banned in the European Union since 2007 due to
concerns related to its effect on the health of workers
and the environment.

Backpacks used for

paraquat spraying

‘I often had nausea, vomiting and dizziness after my some 13 kilograms) on their backs, without ever
work. I don’t know exactly why, but most of my colleagues removing their masks.
experienced the same symptoms. I knew these were Herna grew up in a small cluster of houses surrounded
dangerous substances and I was always afraid to handle by rainforest. Her family relied on hunting and farming;
them,’ she says. Herna got an indication of how toxic they had a small area of land where they harvested rice
paraquat is when one morning, while she was diluting and fruit. It was a simple, quiet life. In the late 1990s,
it with water as instructed, a drop of the liquid splashed however, their economic situation rapidly deteriorated
onto her hand, causing a burn that took weeks to heal. with the arrival of oil palm plantations. They lost not only
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of her home in their land, but also access to the forest. Herna, in her
Penyang, Herna looks tired. The humid heat gives no early 20s, had no choice but to accept a job on one of the
respite, the air is heavy and the fan Herna sits next plantations that had so drastically altered the way of life in
to is of little use. It’s difficult to imagine how, in these her village. For five years, from 7am to 3pm, she sprayed
conditions, Herna and her colleagues could work an highly toxic herbicides, which prevented weeds and other
entire eight-hour shift with a heavy container (weighing plants from proliferating and allowed oil palms to grow

48 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 A fisher arrives at Bikal
market with his meagre
catch after a night’s fishing

that it might be a symptom of a lung problem. The cause

Paraquat’s known direct health effects was never clarified because Herna couldn’t take further
include respiratory problems, severe tests as they were too expensive. She decided, however,
that she couldn’t take it anymore and quit her job.
burns and skin and eye irritation Paraquat’s known direct health effects include
respiratory problems, severe burns and skin and
faster and taller. eye irritation. In the USA, it has also been linked to
Herna endured continuous discomfort for years, Parkinson’s disease. In Indonesia, paraquat should only
sometimes so intense that she had to stay in bed for be used by properly trained workers with appropriate
days. The plantation doctor, whom she sometimes protections. However, a report by PANAP (Pesticide
asked for help, always told her not to worry too much, Action Network Asia Pacific) documented how these
prescribing at most paracetamol or an anti-emetic. conditions are rarely met.
Eventually, Herna began to suffer a pain in the pit of Herna, who is now 48 and has six children, did her
her stomach, ‘like a stab wound’. The doctor speculated best to find another job, ‘but since the plantations are

JULY 2024 . 49
 INDONESIA
Palm oil

Villagers in Tanjung Puting National

Park only use river water to wash and
rely on rainwater for cooking and drinking

here, there is no other job,’ she says.

As she goes silent, the background noise becomes
They have lost their land and, in one
more obvious: it’s the constant traffic along the Trans of the wettest areas in the world,
Kalimantan, the highway that cuts through southern
Borneo, just a few dozen metres from Herna’s home. they struggle to access clean water
Trucks follow one another in a constant back-and-forth.
In one direction, they transport oil palm fruits to the
refineries. In the opposite direction, they transport the oil exports from Indonesia end up in Europe.
refined oil to ports for the export market. The oil palm, a plant native to West Africa, was first
introduced to Indonesia during Dutch colonialism. Over
MADE IN EUROPE a few decades, the expansion of monocultures in the
Indonesia is by far the world’s largest exporter of palm archipelago triggered the destruction of large portions
oil, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of global exports in of Borneo’s rainforest. Despite intense environmental
2022, closely followed by Malaysia, with 30 per cent. The campaigns in recent years, the rate of deforestation due
industrial uses are countless, from food and cosmetics to to plantation expansion only slowed; it started to rise
the production of biofuels. About ten per cent of palm again in 2023.

50 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 exporter, with EU companies investing more and more in
countries in the Global South.

ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER
In Kalimantan, the effects of palm oil monocultures and
the extensive use of pesticides are unspooling before the
eyes of the local communities.
A short drive from Herna’s house, just on the other
side of the Trans Kalimantan highway in the village of
Bangkal, most residents still have first-hand memories
of life before the plantations. The village is located on
the shore of the biggest lake in the region, Sembuluh
Lake. Its 4,000 residents, mostly Dayaks, the indigenous
peoples of Borneo, relied on farming and fishing, and
they drank water from the lake. Now, they have lost their
land and, in one of the wettest areas in the world, they
struggle to access clean water.
It all started with huge concessions to palm oil
companies. ‘It happened suddenly, without any
consultation with the community,’ says Sangkai
Rewa, secretary of Bangkal and leader of AMAN, the
association that represents the indigenous people of
Central Kalimantan. Sangkai has been connected to
Bangkal for generations. His wooden house, on stilts,
like all the houses in the surrounding area, sits on the

Palm fruits

In Indonesia, intensive palm oil production and edge of the village. The residents did everything they
the heavy use of paraquat and other herbicides are could to resist the arrival of the plantations. In the late
inextricably linked. In total, Indonesia imported 1990s, they managed to force the Indonesian company
pesticides worth about half a million US dollars in 2020, Agro Indomas to back down. But in 2005, their fight
a market that has steadily grown over the past decade. against another conglomerate, PT Hamparan Masawit
In 2019, Indonesia imported from the UK 2,300 Bangun Persada, failed, due in part to support for the
tons of paraquat, largely manufactured by Syngenta’s company from the then local governor, Darwan Ali, as
Huddersfield plant. Since 2017, with ChemChina’s revealed by a Gecko Project investigation.
acquisition of Syngenta, production and exports from ‘The people of Bangkal were forced to give up their
China have also increased, making the paraquat supply land by threats and deception. Around us it was all
chain increasingly difficult to track. forest. Look around: what is left today?’ says Sangkai.
The countries that are responsible for most of the The establishment of Hamparan plantation paved the
manufacturing and export (China, Switzerland and the way for the arrival of more companies. Bangkal is now
UK) ban paraquat domestically, as has the EU. While surrounded by a dozen plantations and refineries.
the EU’s internal regulations are increasingly protective ‘We saw the colour of the water changing’, says
of the environment, it remains the largest pesticide Sangkai. ‘We can not even use the water for washing: it

JULY 2024 . 51
 INDONESIA
Palm oil
‘When I have to spray it, I
smoke a cigarette first, so
I make sure of the wind
direction’

A worker carries oil palm

fruits to the road, on the
way to the local refinery

52 . GEOGRAPHICAL
feels itchy and you get rashes. The water is polluted, and dominate the region, he was forced to switch. Around the
because of that, our entire ecosystem is under threat.’ same time, in 2015, he was introduced to paraquat, under
At dawn every day, a few narrowboats approach the the label Gramoxone. ‘I needed a stronger herbicide, and
small wooden dock next to the daily market in Bangkal. I went to the shop in Sampit, the nearest city. I asked the
Nouredin, a 60-year-old fisherman from a nearby shopkeeper for advice, and he gave me this,’ Watt says,
village, is busy untangling a few dozen small fish from holding out the five-litre plastic package of the substance.
his net. He spent the whole night fishing, but the catch Paraquat became a familiar household item and can be
was meagre. ‘It did not used to be like that,’ he explains found in most farmers’ houses in Bangkal. ‘When I have
while unloading his catch. ‘Fish were bigger and easier to to spray it, I smoke a cigarette first, so I make sure of the
catch. There are species that are slowly disappearing.’ wind direction,’ Watt says.
Fish have become scarcer, while the fast-growing Watt has no love for palm oil. In addition to being a
weed water hyacinth is invading the shore of Sembuluh, farmer, he’s an activist. At 54, he has spent nearly half
forcing fishermen to travel much further. Residents say his life fighting against the palm oil industry, trying to
that the overgrowth must be associated with fertilisers mediate between residents and companies, and paying
and chemicals dumped from the plantations. the price himself.
In 2018, the Central Kalimantan Environment Agency In 2020, following a demonstration against the
had the water in the lake tested. Nothing is wrong, they plantation, Watt was sentenced to ten months in prison
stated, dismissing the residents’ protests. on a charge of stealing oil palm fruit from the land that
But not everybody agrees. ‘We openly challenged the once belonged to Bangkal residents.
agency’s findings,’ says Muhammad Habibi, director of The last major protest against palm oil companies
the NGO Save Our Borneo. ‘We asked the agency to in Bangkla was in October 2023. Gijik, a 35-year-old
disclose the actual results, and to share all the relevant man, was killed by a gunshot fired by police deployed

Bottles of
parquat and
other pesticides

The village of Bangkal on the shores of the

now heavily polluted Lake Sembuluh

details: where the samples had been taken, how they had to defend the plantation. Such cases, according to the
been treated, what residues they had been analysed for. Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), an Indonesian
But the agency simply refused to comply.’ association fighting against land grabbing, are far from
Save Our Borneo and Ecoton, another environmental isolated. Between 2015 and 2022, at least 69 people died
NGO, conducted some water testing in Sambas, Western as a result of clashes and protests against land grabbing.
Borneo, in an area geographically very similar to Lake The clashes and deaths, again according to KPA, can’t
Sembuluh and similarly affected by palm oil monoculture. be separated from the decision to deploy police forces
The results were worrying, with levels of chloride and always and exclusively in a repressive function, in
phosphates in the region’s river far higher than accepted defence of plantations.
norms. Habibi fears for the fate of Lake Sembuluh. ‘Our ‘I can’t understand what the government means when
suspicion is that the local authorities have no interest in it says palm oil brings development and prosperity,’ says.
going against the palm oil industry. What if it becomes Watt. He never asked his parents why they named him
known that the ongoing ecological disaster in Lake after the Scottish inventor, which is said to have started
Sembuluh is caused by the companies?’ the industrial revolution. While he grasps the subtle irony,
he’s proud of the name he bears.
FARMER TURNED PROTESTER ‘For me, real prosperity was before. We were not
‘Palm oil means Gramoxone, Gramoxone means palm dependent on anyone: we grew our own vegetables, rice.
oil’, says James Watt, a farmer in Bangkal. Watt is among We went fishing and if we wanted meat, all we had to do
the few residents who still have a small piece of land left: was go hunting in the forest. Now all that is gone’. l
he used to grow rubber plants, fruit and vegetables. He
started life as a traditional farmer and had no interest in This investigation was supported
palm oil cultivation. But as the vast plantations came to by the Journalismfund Europe

JULY 2024 . 53
GALLERY

ALL IMAGES: © PETE CARR PHOTOGRAPHY _ NATIONAL MUSEUMS LIVERPOOL

n The ashy
mining bee is found
across England
and Wales

Bees:
A story of survival
Without bees, we are nothing. Almost 90 collection. With more than 30,000 bee
per cent of wild plants and 75 per cent of specimens – including the UK’s rarest bee,
leading global crops depend on animal Osmia xanthomelana, found only at a single
pollination. Manual pollination is unrealistic site in North Wales – the museum’s natural
and would be wildly expensive. Scientists history collections are used to support
estimate that, without bees, it would cost national and international research on the
the UK £1.8 billion a year to pollinate its impact of environmental change on plant
crops. Not to mention the fact that entire and animal populations.
ecosystems would collapse. This collection and its expert curators are
There are around 20,000 known species just one part of a new exhibition at World
of bee worldwide, many of which are Museum called Bees: A Story of Survival.
threatened by factors including pesticides, The exhibition (more details on page 58)
lack of biodiversity and climate change. will take visitors on an immersive journey
The images here show just a tiny fraction within a hive-like space while highlighting
of the specimens held at Liverpool’s World the devastating impact of a world without
Museum within its extensive entomology these most vital insects.
54 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 n The African carpenter
bee is one of the largest
in the collection, with
a wingspan of five
centimetres

n Violet carpenter
bee. Carpenters are so
called for their nesting
behaviour, which involves
digging into hard material
such as dead wood

JULY 2024 . 55
GALLERY

n European honeybee, the most common of the

eight species of honeybee recognised worldwide

ALL IMAGES: © PETE CARR PHOTOGRAPHY _ NATIONAL MUSEUMS LIVERPOOL

n At around 3.5 millimetres

in length, members of the
genus Nomioides are some of
the smallest European bees.
They favour dry grassland on
sandy soil for nesting

n Willughby’s leafcutter bees cut

semi-circles out of leaves and stick
them together to make their nests

56 . GEOGRAPHICAL
n This cliff mason
bee is the largest UK
mason bee and is
now one of the rarest
bees in the country.
The species has
been badly affected
by habitat loss and
coastal erosion, as
well as more frequent
and severe storms.
It now seems to be
mainly restricted
to a small area of
the Llŷn Peninsula
in North Wales

JULY 2024 . 57
GALLERY

The exhibition of Bees: A Story of Survival at the World

Museum, Liverpool, runs until May 2025. It brings to life
the vision of artist Wolfgang Buttress, in collaboration
with specialist in bee communication Martin Bencsik, a
professor at Nottingham Trent University. The exhibition
explores the lives of bees using sounds, smells and a live
stream directly into the heart of a living colony.

n Bees: A Story of
Survival takes visitors
into a hive to learn more
about the life of the bee

n The exhibition tells the emotional

story of the plight of bees through
a mixture of art and science

58 . GEOGRAPHICAL
n English artist
Wolfgang Buttress’s
interpretation of a
wildflower meadow

JULY 2024 . 59
 REVIEWS
BOOK OF have remarkable abilities. They can regrow limbs, eyes,
THE MONTH even portions of their brains should they lose them.
These questions and more are covered in Infinite Life
and are all caught up in the story of the egg and all the
INFINITE LIFE infinitesimal changes that have moulded life on Earth as
A revolutionary story of eggs, a result of unthinking natural selection.
evolution and life on Earth It all begins, of course, in water. It was in water,
By Jules Howard during the Ediacaran Period (635 to 538.8 million
Elliott & Thompson years ago), that structures we could truly call eggs
first began to fall upon sea floors, encasing life. Then,
n The egg (an organic vessel grown during the Cambrian explosion, some of these egg-
by an individual to carry offspring producing creatures began to attach their eggs to sturdy
to term) is an extraordinary thing, structures, or even store them in pouches (‘the first
and has been so for millions of years. protective womb’). Slowly, slowly, eggs became more
In Infinite Life, wildlife expert Jules polished, securing greater defences against the elements,
Howard charts the egg’s story, or rather, perfecting their ‘siren song for sperm’ – chemical signals
all the different permutations of egg drawing sperm near.
that have existed, moving from the very beginnings of During the Devonian Period (419.2 to 358.9 mya),
life on Earth to the present day. for the first time, the eggs of some fish were housed
Because this story is told chronologically, moving within the female body. Meanwhile, other fish began
through the different geological eras chapter by chapter, an epic move (though one played out across minute
I wondered at first if this was just another step-by-step adaptations, step by tiny step) – moving onto land.
retelling of life on Earth, with the egg simply a new way The ancestors of one such lineage would become
to position the story. Quickly, however, I realised I was amphibians, reptiles and mammals. Why did these fish
wrong. Howard centres eggs in his telling, revealing do this? The established theories pay little attention
that across many times and places, adaptations and to eggs, but surely, posits Howard, the presence of
changes to eggs are at least part of the reason for the predator-safe puddles and pools within which to store
very success (or failure) or certain organisms. In doing eggs was a lure? It certainly seems convincing.
so, he raises a number of fascinating questions and adds From here, another vital development: the amniotic
new theories about evolution to more established ones, egg. Involving a series of fluid-filled membranes –
lending credence to his thesis that eggs are all too often including the amnion to protect the embryo, the yolk-
overlooked as vital agents of change. sac to feed it, and the chorion, an overall enclosure – this
Take sex for example. What’s the point of it, asks innovation essentially ‘land-proofed’ eggs. The amniotic
Howard? Why would organisms used to reproducing egg is all important; it changed everything.
asexually bother going to the trouble of finding a mate, There follows all sorts of intriguing developments: the
producing eggs and producing sperm? And, why have very first grubs and larvae begin reaching adulthood
so many organisms, ourselves included, gone down the through metamorphosis (probably the result of a chance
path of separating body cells from egg cells very early early hatching that worked out rather well), and the
on in embryo development, rather than using stem first parasitic insects start laying their eggs within other
cells to create eggs later on? After all, organisms that creatures. And, of course, there are the dinosaurs, whose
do the latter, such as jellyfish, salamanders and newts, eggs, it was discovered in 2015, were many-hued, just

ADVENTURES IN VOLCANOLAND yet to answer. Mather is a volcanologist at the University

What volcanoes tell us about of Oxford, where her research focuses on how volcanic
the world and ourselves eruptions have and continue to affect planetary-scale
By Tamsin Mather change. As such, Adventures in Volcanoland includes
Abacus chapters on how volcanoes form, the different types of
eruptions and what can be learned from volcanic gases.
n In 1987, at the age of 10, Tamsin Mather met Mather takes us to fieldwork sites, where tales of
the death casts of Vesuvius’ victims and they misadventures – the struggle to boil a pan of rice or
left a vivid impression. Today, she wonders whether the the acidic gases that eat a hole through the seat of
agonising deaths of Pompeii could have been avoided a colleague’s trousers – help illuminate the science
with modern knowledge and instrumentation. ‘As behind volcanoes. But the book is as much a story of
volcanologists,’ writes Mather, ‘we like to hope so.’ our own complex relationship with volcanoes as it is a
However, as we learn in Adventures in Volcanoland, scientific study. Despite our achievements, our research
things aren’t quite that simple. The book takes a deep on volcanoes cannot always avert the loss of lives or
dive into the science of volcanology, via historic livelihoods, but it can help us to evaluate our own
accounts of devastating eruptions and centuries of increasingly damaging influence on Earth.
scientific discoveries, mistakes and questions we have BRYONY COTTAM

60 . GEOGRAPHICAL
like so many bird eggs today. Howard sets out the many ‘miasma of blobs, slime and semi-symmetrical splurge’
theories for this oddity, one of the most recent and of the Ediacaran era. It is, for a story about such a
compelling being that eggs are different colours and seemingly small thing, dynamically and beautifully told.
patterns to help parents identify and stay one step ahead Howard concludes with a brief chapter on the ways
of impostor species (such as cuckoos). eggs are still changing today, as a result of rapid climate
And then, finally, it’s on to mammals, which perhaps change. It is a sobering end. In the UK, butterflies and
surprisingly, really began to thrive during the Jurassic, a moths hatch up to six days earlier than they did ten
time when mammals that had placentas, had pouches and years ago. Aphids hatch a month earlier than they did
which laid eggs (the precursors to modern-day platypus half a century ago. The results of these changes can be
and echidna) were all present. It was, writes Howard, detrimental to the animals themselves, but also to us.
‘an era of great mammalian expression and flexibility’, The eggs of blood-sucking ticks for example, are no
driven and demonstrated by changes to eggs. From these longer killed in winter, leading to a three-fold increase
small mammalian creatures, scurrying about the feet of in Lyme disease in 25 years. The structure of eggs is also
the giant reptiles, we move swiftly through the giants changing. Studies have shown a reduction in eggshell
of the Pleistocene and finally to our own ancestors and thickness in blackbirds, song thrushes and mistle
the development of the human placenta, described (to thrushes, all linked to acidification, mostly through
the surprise of no one whose ever harboured one) as the pollutants. ‘The truth is,’ writes Howard, ‘that, for many
most ‘energy-sapping placenta the world has ever seen’. species, there may not be time for the egg to adapt to
It is a fascinating journey, told lyrically and employing environmental changes so sharp and jagged as this.’ And,
all the different ways of saying ‘egg’ the author could if eggs can’t adapt, nothing can.
presumably think of. There’s the resting cyst, which The egg is a beautiful thing, far from simple and far
evolved in cyanobacteria between one and two billion from static. If you’ve never given it much thought before,
years ago, described as an ‘armoured sleepsuit within this book will change that.
which organisms could see out hard times’, or the KATIE BURTON

The ‘tapioca-like blobs’

of amphibian eggs, the
product of millions of years
of evolution

SHUTTERSTOCK

SCATTERED father told her as he recalled the perilous boat journey to

The making and unmaking of a refugee the coast in neighbouring Kenya.
By Aamna Mohdin Mohdin travelled to Somalia in 2022 to reunite with
Bloomsbury Circus distant family members and to interview a series of
people in order to better understand her culture and,
n Journalist Aamna Mohdin is used to reporting perhaps, herself. She meets with her father – whom
extensively on Europe’s refugee crisis, but by her she barely saw for the first seven years of her life – in
admission, she was largely ignorant of her own Mogadishu, where he has periodically returned since
family’s flight from Somalia to London in the 1990s. 2012 to restore an old family hotel. She notes Somalia is
‘I wonder why I survived and so many other refugee no tourist destination, ‘yet he has spent the past decade
children died. And so many continue to die,’ she writes trying to recreate what was lost to the past’.
in her new book, Scattered. As conflict, persecution, or human rights violations
Mohdin began interviewing her parents and facing the continue to drive upwards the forced displacement
reality of her own past as a child refugee, a period during of people, Scattered is a timely read that serves as a
which she was at times separated from her parents. ‘I poignant reminder that, behind the figures, are humans
would rather take my chances in the sea with sharks … searching for better lives.
than risk being dragged out of a vehicle and shot,’ her STEPHEN MCGRATH

JULY 2024 . 61
 REVIEWS

MOUNTAINS BEFORE MOUNTAINEERING mountain safety as climbers of today’. She touches too,
The call of the peaks before the modern age on early modern mountain science.
By Dawn L Hollis It is also a personal story. Hollis charts her own
The History Press relationship with mountains, one that has been
inspired by these tales from the past. As she admits, it
n Twenty-first century humans love mountains. is a relationship that has undergone a transformation,
We have, and still do, view them with moving away from the pursuit of glory and summits, to
appreciation, for their beauty, their majesty and a quieter, slower appreciation for the journey.
for the challenges they offer. ‘This era of modernity – KATIE BURTON
the era we still inhabit – is one in which mountains are
places of heroism, of joyous sporting endeavours, of
beauty and sublimity,’ writes Dawn Hollis, who has been Climbers in a jam on
Manaslu (8,163m) in
studying the history of mountains for most of her adult the Himalaya
life. But what, she asks, came before?
Hollis specialises in the early modern period, between
1450 and 1750, and in this book she sets out to correct
a misapprehension about this time – that the people
who inhabited it didn’t like mountains, were afraid of
them and avoided them (unlike us modern people, who
have a unique appreciation for them, of course). To the
contrary, her research indicates that ‘long before Everest
was “discovered” as the highest mountain in the world,
long before the first (recorded) ascent of Mont Blanc,
mountains in fact inspired curiosity and fascination’.
To tell this story, Hollis draws on the accounts of
the (mostly) European travellers who wrote down
their exploits and views on mountains. She traces the
stories of these travellers, while also focusing on the
actual people who lived within the mountains – ‘the
“real mountaineers” who knew almost as much about
SHUTTERSTOCK

SHUTTERSTOCK
The Wide Wide Sea
The final, fatal adventure of
Captain James Cook
By Hampton Sides
Michael Joseph

n The tale of the final voyage undertaken in July

1776 by Captain James Cook, famed in his day
as Britain’s greatest explorer is a narrative with a large,
diverse cast of characters. From author Hampton Sides,
we learn that no fewer than 180 mariners sailed with
Cook when he embarked on a journey that was to mark
a turning point in history. ‘It’s the story not only of James
Cook, but of the men who accompanied him on his A 1960s Australian stamp depicting Captain James Cook
swansong voyage to the Pacific,’ the author says.
Sides depicts Cook as a modest and self-deprecating been made aware of the massacre of a party of English
person with an aversion to drama. His instinct was sailors but ignoring the perils he restocked and got
to cast attention away from himself and give credit to underway for Tahiti, which he reached in August 1977.
others. The places that bear his name – Cook Strait, the From there he embarked on his long trek north
Cook Islands and so on – were all appellations suggested toward the Arctic. On this journey he came across
by others. The fact remains that in three epic voyages modern-day Hawaii. The crew’s initial cordial relations
Cook discovered more of the Earth’s surface than any with the natives later deteriorated into open hostility.
previous explorer. A prolific seaman, he was also an Cook took a local chief hostage, an act that so enraged
acclaimed cartographer and astronomer, who pioneered the island tribesmen they fell upon him with stones
the new era of scientific navigation. and daggers. Cook’s death elevated him to legendary
The narrative focuses on the final voyage, when Cook status and his voyages brought back a treasure trove of
sailed from England with two ships, Resolution and geographical and medical discoveries, notably the defeat
Discovery. His objective was to search for a practical of scurvy. They were outstanding achievements, for
passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic, along the which he was portrayed as the saint with the sextant and
northern coast of North America. Rounding the Cape of made a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Good Hope, Cook headed east to New Zealand. He had JULES STEWART

62 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 Scotland’s Isle of Skye was
fomed by magma spewing
out of fissures

WRITER’S
READS
Jules Howard is a zoological
consultant, author and science-writer.
His book, Infinite Life, is out now
n The Most Perfect Thing
by Tim Birkhead (2016)
Coherent, entertaining and mind-expanding,
Birkhead’s book shows that even something
so simple as a bird’s egg is, when considered in
the right way, an evolutionary marvel.
n Your Inner Fish
by Neil Shubin (2009)
A thrilling foray into the earliest land-fish, and
how their primitive anatomy shaped modern
bony animals, you and I included.
SHUTTERSTOCK
n The Rise and Reign of the Mammals
THIS VOLCANIC ISLE by Steve Brusatte (2022)
The violent processes that A delicious re-framing of the familiar ‘Age
forged the British landscape of Reptiles’ narrative, telling the story of the
By Robert Muir-Wood prehistoric mammals with whom dinosaurs
Oxford University Press shared their ecosystems. Original, warmly told,
brimming with expertise.
n Situated far from any problematic plate
boundaries, for the most part, Britain exists in a n Life: an Unauthorised Biography
state of tectonic tranquillity, little troubled by earthquakes by Richard Fortey (1998)
and devoid of erupting volcanoes. But it was not always Fortey has an inexhaustible, infectious curiosity
thus, as this entertaining new book makes clear. And the about evolution and he writes with such charm
evidence of this green and pleasant land’s violent past is all and wit. If I could send one book back in time
around us – you just need to know where and how to look. and place it on Darwin’s desk, this would be it.
Sixty-six million-odd years ago, as an asteroid was busy n The Ancestor’s Tale
wiping out the dinosaurs, what are now the British Isles by Richard Dawkins (2017)
were at the bottom of a warm sea. Then, a plume of super- There is so much to enjoy in this time-travelling
hot material, ‘like the molten wax in a lava lamp’, pushed journey down the branches of life’s family
the seabed up to form ‘a vast elongated dome’ made mostly tree, from us to the earliest animals and
of chalk (the exception was the Scottish Highlands, which beyond. Shared ancestors have never been so
were low-lying islands made of harder material and fringed eloquently explored.
with white-sand beaches, resembling today’s Seychelles).
That same plume broke through the chalk crust, spewing n The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being
magma out of fissures that formed the Isle of Skye and then by Alice Roberts (2015)
spawning volcanoes, including one that may have reached Roberts brings the story of evolution together
3,000 metres high – ‘perhaps the tallest mountain in the like no-one else: human anatomy, genetics,
region for the last 100 million years’. archaeology, ecology and more. It’s all there in
It’s not all fire and brimstone; ice gets a look-in as well, this modern-day humanistic masterpiece.
perhaps most notably in the description of the catastrophic n BITCH
creation of the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the by Lucy Cooke (2022)
English Channel, when the breach of a glacial dam led to Cooke is one of my favourite science writers
‘the greatest volume of flood discharge on Earth over the – she’s original, funny, thoughtful and rarely
last million years’, scouring out the strait. holds back. In this guide, a manifesto almost,
As it leads us through Britain’s tumultuous past, the book female animals are finally given the scientific
follows what’s now a pretty well-worn path, weaving plenty treatment they deserve.
of modern history into the narrative to enliven the slightly
drier deep-time history. A rotating cast of geologists and n Eight little piggies
others make fleeting appearances (Charles Darwin pops up by Stephen Jay Gould (1994)
with surprising regularity), but it’s rocks that take centre Gould’s books of essays are like studio albums;
stage, from the geometric pillars of the Giant’s Causeway each one is distinctive, exploring evolution and
to Britain’s very own San Andreas – the Sticklepath, a animal adaptation from all sorts of original,
(thankfully now dormant) fault that runs coast to coast entertaining angles. Twenty years since Gould’s
across Devon, its two sides displaced by several kilometres. passing, for me, no-one else comes close.
GEORDIE TORR

JULY 2024 . 63
This is your place
for extraordinary
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 EQUIPMENT
MATTERS

GO WILD
I
t was the middle of August, but as I Tristan Kennedy on the Unfortunately, there’s a reason
unzipped the tent, I could see a thin why all of my most memorable wild
layer of frost coating the ground close encounters you can camping experiences have happened
outside. Cursing softly, I made sure enjoy while wild camping outside the UK: the activity is actually
I was firmly zipped into my down illegal throughout England and Wales.
jacket before wriggling out of my SOLARSEVEN/SHUTTERSTOCK Even within the borders of the country’s
sleeping bag to make coffee. This was national parks, you can’t pitch your
not the summer holiday I’d promised tent outside of a recognised campsite
my long-suffering partner. unless you have express permission
We’d come to the far north of Sweden, from the landowner. And the land that
so of course we knew that it might be falls within the boundaries of the UK’s
cold. But nighttime temperatures for national parks is usually owned by a
this time of year were supposed to be patchwork of private individuals.
10°C above zero, not several degrees There is one exception to the blanket
below. When we’d set off hiking, three wild camping ban. On Dartmoor, a
days before, the sun had been out and it convention dating back decades has
was warm enough to swim in the glacial long given campers the legal right to
lakes. Now, it had been raining almost pitch tents wherever they want. But
constantly for 24 hours, and in the brief even this small concession is currently
periods when the rain had stopped, the under threat, thanks to the efforts of a
midges had come out to play. Watching wealthy local landowner and hedge fund
my frozen breath mix with the steam manager named Alexander Darwall, who
rising from the campstove, I looked at has gone to court over the issue.
the surrounding hills and noticed the This is a crying shame, because
previous night’s steady drizzle had fallen wild camping is not just fun, it’s also
as snow. And then, out of the corner of surprisingly accessible. You don’t need
my eye, I saw something that not only any special skills, or a crazy level of
shifted my mood, but sent me scurrying physical fitness. That’s not to say that
back into the tent to wake up my it’s always a walk in the park. I’ve been
partner: a herd of wild reindeer, trotting soaked through more times than I care
across the snow-covered grass above us. to remember, and endured some of the
Such are the joys of wild camping, The best wild camping coldest and least comfortable nights of
an activity that never fails to throw up trips, in my experience, my life. But I’ve also seen constellations
surprises. Technically, wild camping involve getting a long that I thought were invisible to the
is pitching a tent anywhere outside a naked eye, watched countless stunning
recognised campsite. But the best wild
way off the beaten track sunsets and eaten some of the best
camping trips, in my experience, involve to the kind of place you meals of my life – nothing tastes better
getting a long way off the beaten track – can only reach by foot than a plate of pasta when you’ve been
to the kind of place you can only reach hiking, especially if you’re eating it in
on foot, by bike, or on horseback. the middle of nowhere.
There’s a primaeval satisfaction that Often, the thing that makes the
comes with camping in a wilderness strange-smelling items in a bear-proof biggest difference to your wild camping
overnight – making your own campfire, canister, place it a carefully paced-out experience is the kit. Investing in a tent
cooking your own food and bunking distance from our tent, and then fall that has a decent waterproof rating, a
down in a tent miles away from asleep with bear-spray close at hand warm sleeping bag and a good inflatable
civilisation. Being outdoors early in helped me understand these creatures mattress can make the difference
the mornings and late in the evenings in a way that watching one from the car between sleeping comfortably and
also allows you to experience wildlife never could. On another wild camping shivering through the night. A backpack
in a raw, unfiltered way that you can’t trip to the Western Cape in South that’s big enough to carry all your kit
really appreciate until you’ve slept Africa, we spent an hour observing a comfortably and a reliable gas-powered
out among it. My partner and I didn’t family of baboons just a few hundred camping stove are also necessities, as
see a grizzly bear in Yukon’s Kluane metres from where we’d slept. As with is a good waterproof jacket. Extras
National Park, but having to stash the reindeer in Sweden, there wasn’t such as Thermos flasks, lightweight
our snack bars, shampoo and other another human for miles around. camping chairs and portable lights

JULY 2024 . 65
 EQUIPMENT
MATTERS

can make a real difference to comfort The good news is that while England terms of wildlife, you’re unlikely to
levels too. But acquiring the basics and Wales might be largely off-limits, encounter wild reindeer, but the local
for a wild camping trip needn’t cost there’s one place in the UK where these fauna is still pretty exciting, and if you
the Earth. And the things that really things can still be enjoyed freely. The want the true wild camping experience,
make it rewarding – from the surprise long-standing, and staunchly defended, Scotland has it in spades. After all, as I
encounters with wildlife, to the sunsets, ‘right to roam’ means it’s still legal found out in Sweden, midges, rain and
to the opportunities for stargazing – are to pitch a tent anywhere in Scotland surprising cold snaps in the middle of
all completely free. without the landlord’s permission. In August are all part of the fun.

WISHLIST
Three items that will make wild camping better

THE LUXURY
Circular&Co. Stainless Steel
Travel Mug 16oz/454ml - £28
n Strictly speaking, you don’t
need a mug that keeps your coffee
warm while you’re wild camping,
but it’s one of those little luxuries
that makes sleeping outdoors feel
cosier and more fun. This insulated
mug will keep hot drinks warm for
up to six hours and cold drinks cool
for longer. A non-spill cap means
you can put it down on uneven
surfaces (such as rocks or grass)
without worrying about it tipping.
Like all Circular&Co. products, it’s
‘made from waste to end waste’ –
even the steel is 90 per cent post- THE ESSENTIAL
consumer recycled, so this mug’s
The North Face Assault 2 Futurelight Tent - £720
environmental impact is minimal.
n If you want to go camping, you’ll need a tent. If you want to go wild camping, it’s
circularandco.com
best to have one that’s lightweight and packs down small so you can carry it easily.
The North Face Assault 2 Futurelight weighs less than 2.5 kilograms, and packs down
to the size of a couple of two-litre coke bottles – which is seriously impressive for a
two-person tent. The Futurelight in the name refers to the patented material it’s made
from, which is highly waterproof and highly breathable. If you’re looking for something
that will handle the toughest of Scottish weather, look no further. thenorthface.co.uk

THE SURPRISINGLY USEFUL

Galileo Air 1000 Rechargeable Light - £40
n A portable light makes a big difference when you’re
wild camping. Whether you’re cooking, looking for
your stuff, or just reading, being able to see beyond
the narrow beam of a head torch is hugely helpful.
This rechargeable model offers a powerful, 1,000
lumen light source that will illuminate to 20 metres
for an hour at full blast. It can also be dimmed to save
the battery. It folds down flat, so it fits into a backpack
easily, and weighs just 285 grams. The water-
resistant light works fine in the rain and has a
handy hook for hanging inside the tent. It also
doubles as a USB battery charger. nebotools.co.uk

66 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 The World Atlas of Rivers,
Estuaries, and Deltas
Jim Best, Stephen Darby,
Luciana Esteves, and Carol Wilson

A stunningly illustrated atlas of the world’s rivers,

estuaries, and deltas, and their ecosystems

“Page by page there is so much to learn. The

text, well written and inviting, is accompanied
by photographs, maps, charts and diagrams to
enhance your newly acquired knowledge.”
—David Gascoigne, Travels with Birds

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Natura BGA ED Taiga Compact Binoculars Explorer WA ED-R

Wide-field optics, ED objectives and The Japanese designed Taiga series deliver Compact, high quality field monoculars
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Made in Japan. 30 year guarantee. prism design and fully multi-coated optical the latest multi-coatings for extra light
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 TRAVEL
OUTER HEBRIDES

A TASTE OF
THE HEBRIDES
Few places in the UK epitomise living off the land
like the Outer Hebrides, as Mark Rowe discovers on
a food and drink tour of Lewis and Harris

D
o you remember what S that on, so I make a sorbet out of it.’
meals your granny cooked For MacRitchie, cooking means
DE

l Stornoway
you as a child?’ asks Allan embedding the culture and landscape
RI

Lewis
EB

MacRitchie. It’s not a question and Harris Min

ch of his island home, right at the top of
The
RH

I’m expecting, even though Tarbet l Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, into every
h
MacRitchie is a chef and meal he prepares. He throws another
TE

North Uist
nc
Mi
OU

we’re speaking in his pop-up restaurant rhetorical question at me. ‘I can make
le
itt

Benbecula
eL

in a former village school. Before I a damned good chilli if someone wants

Th

Skye
South Uist
ND
can answer, MacRitchie continues: ‘I it – a Michelin-star-quality one – but
remember cycling to my grandmother’s how do you judge whether one dish is
LA
Barra Malaig l
croft, and she’d just pull a clootie better than another? A lot of people here
OT

dumpling [a Scottish pudding made with say the best cup of tea they ever drink
SC

suet and raisins] out of the oven, freshly is while they are out cutting peat. Is it
baked. How can I take that memory and Mull l Oban the tea, or the fact they’re cutting peat,
put it into a clootie? It is the story behind or the heather blossom or the drowned
a specific dish that must be served along Atlantic midge in the tea that makes it great?’
with it. I can’t just throw a dumpling on Ocean Known as the Niseach Chef (a
the plate. I want the golden syrup my Niseach is anyone from the Ness area),
grandmother used, but you can’t just ladle MacRitchie describes his pop-up
BBA PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK

Stornoway, the islands’ only town

68 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 SEACROFT B&B

Dexter cattle, the smallest

native breed in the UK

menus as offering ‘street food’, though chef of Flavour is preparing an eight-

his streets are most definitely roads ‘I tell them where course fine-dining tasting menu, in which
less travelled and more likely to be the dish comes from, everything is drawn from the islands.
peat tracks that fizzle out in moors or Loye, rather like the Niseach Chef,
coastal sea meadows. I try his locally
how I sourced it, how believes every dish tells a story – tales he
caught lobster and Scotch egg, using it fits into the island shares with guests as they scoff courses
local duck eggs, plated, he says, ‘so landscape and culture’ of Lewis squid ceviche with cuckoo
it was as if you were walking on the flower or creel-caught langoustines with
machair [grasslands] with different taste seaweed caramel. ‘I tell them where
sensations and aromas’. boiling them up for soup. A trend for fine the dish comes from, how I sourced it,
Until recently, any self-respecting dining is emerging on the Outer Hebrides how it fits into the island landscape and
gourmand would halt their Highlands that draws upon the coastal waters, wild culture.’ Loye has spent years developing
and Islands foodie tour in Skye, on the moors and crofts of the islands. relationships with fishermen to source
east side of the Minch from the Outer When the Michelin inspectors finally lobsters, crabs and langoustines, and
Hebrides. Now, however, if they wish to waddle off a ferry in Tarbet, the only build up his understanding of the
taste the best food in the region they are sizeable village in Harris, a short uphill landscape. ‘You come to learn where
going to have to hop on a ferry across stroll will sharpen the appetite for their different seaweeds grow, we get venison
the ever-playful waters of the northeast first dining experience. Based in what a from the island estates and you cannot
Atlantic. Long gone are the days when casual glance suggests is a hipster shipping beat the freshness of the fish. I can pick
the islanders of the Outer Hebrides were container, a rectangle of exposed steel something off the boat at 5pm and it’s on
patronised for catching seabirds and with floor-to-ceiling windows, Chris Loye, a plate at 7.30 that night. Even one day

JULY 2024 . 69
 TRAVEL

of that fish being transported or hanging

around will affect the quality.’
In the hours before opening for dinner,
Chris and his partner Nicola collect
seaweed and forage for flowers and
chanterelle mushrooms on the moors.
‘Many flowers from the machair are
edible and they’re a beautiful colour –
they jump off the plate,’ he says. Cuckoo
flower has ‘a wasabi taste’, according to
Loye, flowers from willowherb add a
pink colour to tea while the bitterness of
silverweed adds a contrast to sun-dried
tomatoes to make antipasto.
Small, independent food producers
are sprinkled across the islands,
including Brian and Melinda Whitington
of Hebridean Charcuterie in Stornoway,
the islands’ only town. The innovative
range of flavours includes piquant spice
mixes concocted by Syrian refugees who
have made their home on Lewis, which

The ingenuity of the

islands’ food producers
invites the question
of whether there is
something in the Outer
Hebridean air
are added to meat in a former garage on
their croft, converted during lockdown
into a production and drying unit.
‘This is the epitome of local,
sustainable food production – we are a
crofting community and many crofters
keep a rare-breed pig as standard,’ says
Brian. ‘The pigs are reared on good
food, slaughtered locally, so there is no
traumatic journey for them.’ Another
source for the charcuterie is greylag
geese. Climate change has made winters
mild enough for the birds to remain in
the Outer Hebrides all year round rather
than migrating south and numbers are
thought to be 20 times higher than is
sustainable for the landscape, prompting
the authorities to license their culling. discovery of a 12th-century Norse chess St Clement’s Church
Using venison has helped pay for an set on the island’s west coast. ‘The Norse on the Isle of Harris
apprentice gamekeeper to be taken on in would never have made it across the
the community-run estate Stòras Uibhist North Sea if they hadn’t filled their boats
in South Uist. with dried meats, so we’re echoing that
The chorizo packaging is eye-catching, heritage,’ he says with a wink.
made from corn starch and eucalyptus Some 56 kilometres west of Stornoway,
leaves because, says Whitington, ‘we in the rocky, almost primordial region
get enough plastic blown across our of Uig, I follow a track through a
beaches. At least if this ends up there it ravine before emerging in the small
will break down quickly.’ Emblazoned but scattered township of Àird Uig,
on the packets is the image of a Lewis sitting below Gallan Head, where green
chessman, a respectful nod to the pillar boxes, interspersed with shallow

70 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 HELEN HOTSON/SHUTTERSTOCK

Sheep at Hushinish
on the Isle of Harris

the predominating steep-sided hills) your feet, stimulating creativity, still

produce delicately flavoured beef, the applies,’ Whittington argues.
fillets seared and cooked sous vide. Loye agrees that island life and the
‘Some people come to us for the unique landscapes of Harris and Lewis
food; others come here for the scenery are drivers of ingenuity. ‘The weather
and they are stunned by the food,’ says might be bad, the ferries not running,
Andrew, who describes himself as a but you still have 20 people coming
self-taught cook. (‘I’m not a chef,’ he says for dinner, so you have to make things
self-deprecatingly, ‘I just messed around happen. The very long winters also come
at the cooker until I got something I into it. You don’t have five minutes to
liked.’) ‘Our driving passion is to use the yourself in summer but when it quietens
A statue celebrating the Uig local economy. Our lobsters are from down you can get out, walk and get
chessmen, a 12th-century ivory
Viking chess set found in 1831
local boats that operate along the Uig ideas.’ Although Loye is a trained chef,
coast. Unlike commercial traders, they he reckons another driver is that people
MARCIN KADZIOLKA/SHUTTERSTOCK
check their pots daily and land their who’ve never cooked before give it a go
ADOBE STOCK
catch quickly at Miavaig, six miles away. and turn out to be quite good at it. ‘The
lochans inlaid with black sand, represent No food miles, no cruelty. Our lamb islands are a bit of a blank canvas for
a desolate hangover from an old RAF producers only keep half a dozen sheep.’ all of us. It’s the need to do something.
base. The view is a blur of headlands and The ingenuity of the islands’ food There is nobody else really doing it, so
the bony geodesic silhouettes of the Uig producers invites the question of you just go for it.’
hills. Here, at SEAcroft B&B, Andrew whether there is something in the The only challenge, argues Whitington,
and Sarah Taylor-Gerloch serve up Outer Hebridean air. History and is to make the wider world aware of it.
incredible three-course meals ranging self-sufficiency come into it, thinks ‘The temperament on the island is very
from venison sausages hot smoked in Whitington. ‘In many respects, you’ve understated, modest – there’s no swagger
their croft kitchen using a mixture of had to be tough and resilient on these to anyone. All the innovation you could
local black peat and oak wood sawdust islands. Otherwise you would starve.’ want is here but you’d be forgiven for
to root vegetables from their polycrub. Even though any such risk is mitigated not knowing about it. They need a
The Dexter cows on their croft (stumpy nowadays by two supermarkets in megaphone to tell the world there is more
legged, which is handy for navigating Stornoway, the heritage of ‘thinking on here than black pudding.’ n

JULY 2024 . 71
 TRAVEL
EXPLORE THE OUTER HEBRIDES

DON’T MISS
Callanish
These standing stones on the west
coast of Lewis date back 5,000 years
and provide a haunting spectacle
that arguably surpasses that of
Stonehenge. The central monolith and
surrounding 13 stones were hewn
from gneiss, the ancient rock that
characterises much of the islands.
Their provenance is still unclear, as
they don’t align with any solstice,
although it’s thought they may be
The Callanish standing stones
linked to a periodic path of the full on the west coast of Lewis
moon across the nearby Uig hills.

DRINK on its way to the sea. The mush from

To great fanfare, the Harris distillery the production process is spread far
produced its first malt, the Hearach, in and wide among the island B&Bs to
2023, yet a good 12 years earlier, the feed the hens that lay the breakfast
much smaller Abhainn Dearg, tucked eggs. Other whiskies are being laid
away in a valley at Carnish in Uig on down in Benbecula, South Uist and
Lewis, produced the islands’ first single Barra; in the meantime gin keeps the
The Musthed store
malt since 1929, bringing to an end distillery coffers ticking while they
centuries of illegal stills. Abhainn Dearg wait for the malt. Brewing is enjoying
looks just how you would imagine a revival with two new excellent HONESTY BOXES
a bootleg rig operating under the breweries on Harris, the Loomshed The Outer Hebrides take the concept of
radar should: a handful of secluded and Isle of Harris; in both cases these honesty boxes to a new level. In South
outbuildings overlooking a sprawling family-run breweries make a feature of Harris you will find Croft 36, run by Steve
river that clatters over glacial boulders the soft water of Harris. Olley, where you can grab soup, crab
pasties and French patisserie-standard
pastries (croft36northton.wixsite.
WILDLIFE com/home). A few miles down the road
If you don’t see a white-tailed or is Mustheb, where Heike Winter sells
golden eagle while visiting the Outer homemade organic mustard flavoured
Hebrides you can consider yourself in varied ways, from honey to chilli,
unlucky. Otters are also a decent from what is, literally, a garden shed
bet. Other common wildlife includes (hebrideanmustard.com). Others are
eider duck, great skuas (known as scattered across the island, although they
bonxies), puffins, gannets, harbour do come and go. Look out for machair
porpoises, and common and grey potatoes – eat these floury gems and
seals, while you may even spot you’ll wonder why they don’t have the
Causeway North Uist
minke whales and orcas. same cachet as Jersey Royals.

CYCLING Hebridean Way FIND OUT MORE

Cycling is a fantastic way to explore l The local tourist board website
the quiet lanes off the main spinal (visitouterhebrides.co.uk) is full of useful
roads that cut through the Outer information on activities and places to
Hebrides, find a loch by which to have stay. The website’s section Eat Drink
a picnic, visit an ancient church or take Hebrides is a comprehensive source of
in limitless sea views. The Hebridean food producers, restaurants and cafes.
Way is a dedicated route running from l Calmac Ferries (calmac.co.uk) sails
Vatersay in the south to the Butt of to five ports across the islands. Loganair
Ness in the far north and involves two (loganair.co.uk) flies to Stornoway,
ferries and several causeways. Be Benbecula and Barra from the Scottish
aware that although it’s magnificent, mainland.
the route is more hardcore than its l Mark Rowe is the author of Outer
tourist-friendly marketing suggests. Hebrides, published by Bradt.

72 . GEOGRAPHICAL
SURF LEWIS Enjoying the
Lewis has world- crystal-clear
class surfing and waters
crystal clear waters
to explore. Surf Lewis
offers lessons
for individuals,
families and groups
with local, highly
experienced, qualified
instructors. Also
paddleboarding and
snorkelling classes.
Private, tailored
sessions are available
across Lewis and
Harris. Equipment
hire available for
the experienced.
www.surflewis.com

The village of
GEARRANNAN
Gearrannan BLACKHOUSE
VILLAGE
A stunning place to
stay or visit on a day
trip, it features historic
thatched blackhouse
crofts overlooking a
glorious bay, close to
the Callanish Standing
Stones. The museum
offers vintage weaving
demonstrations and
fresh home-baking is
availabe at the café.
On the Hebribean Way
cycle route.
www.gearrannan.com

HEBRIDEAN The long sandy beach at

HOPSCOTCH Seilebost, Isle of Harris
HOLIDAYS
Personalised island-hopping
holidays organised by local
experts who create bespoke
itineraries. Packages
including return flights
from Glasgow, inter-island
ferries, accommodation and
IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK, CROFT36, SURF LEWES

car rental from £899 per

person. Car-touring holidays,
including return ferry trips from
mainland Scotland, inter-island
ferries and accommodation
from £299 per person. www.
hebrideanhopscotch.com,
@hebrideanhopscotch

JULY 2024 . 73
 GEOGRAPHICAL
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 EXPLORE
DISCOVERING BRITAIN – CHIPPING CAMPDEN

ANDREW ROLAND/SHUTTERSTOCK; THE ARCHIVIST/ADOBE STOCK

THE COTSWOLD
OLYMPICKS
Rory Walsh visits an unusual British sports stadium

The view from Dover’s Hill

F
rom the Gloucestershire a scarp of Jurassic limestone – a steep
market town of Chipping ridge formed around 165 million years
Campden, the Cotswold Way ago. Below the limestone are unstable
winds west for 164 kilometres layers of mudstone and sandy clay. Water
to the Roman city of Bath. percolating the porous limestone into
Its elevated route provides these weaker soils makes the limestone
vast views across the surrounding slip and crack into blocks. At Dover’s
countryside. At Dover’s Hill, 230 metres Hill the soils slumped beneath the
above sea level, the Vale of Evesham limestone slabs, creating a large hollow
unfurls below in a patchwork of fields An 18th-century book illustration of the with springy grass and panoramic views.
and woodland. In the foreground, the Cotswold Olympick Games During their successful bid to host
grassy slopes drop to a rippled lawn the 2012 Olympics, the British Olympic
ringed with trees. This hillside arena games’ founder. Robert Dover was a Association described Robert Dover’s
is usually dotted with grazing sheep. local lawyer who devised ‘the Cotswold games as ‘the first stirrings of Britain’s
In late May, however, something else Olympicks’ in 1612 to promote outdoor Olympic beginnings’. The 2024 Olympics
appears: a wooden castle. activity and as a community event to unite in Paris are due to see 10,500 athletes
‘Dover Castle’ is the centrepiece of the wealthy and working classes. After compete in 36 sports, including surfing
the Cotswold Olympick Games. On the the English Civil Wars, the games were and skateboarding. No shin kicking –
Friday after the Spring Bank Holiday, banned by the Puritans. They resumed but wherever the Olympics are held,
up to 2,000 people gather at Dover’s in 1660 following the Restoration of part of their spirit can be traced to the
Hill to watch various individual and King Charles II and continued until geology of a Gloucestershire hillside. n
team events, including static jumping, 1852, when Dover’s Hill was enclosed
‘spurning the barre’ (like the Scottish for farming. In 1965, volunteers formed
caber toss) and the World Shin Kicking Robert Dover’s Games Society, which
Championships. Trophies are awarded to has run the revived event ever since.
the winners and all competitors receive The games endure through the lie
a medal. The games end at sunset, of the land. Dover’s Hill is a natural VIEW
followed by fireworks. amphitheatre ideal for competitors and Rural • South West England
Dover’s Hill is named after the spectators alike. The Cotswolds span www.discoveringbritain.org

JULY 2024 . 75
 IN SOCIETY
MEDALS AND AWARDS

Be inspired by our 2024

medal and award recipients
T
his year, the Society’s medals and awards have
recognised 26 outstanding people and organisations
for their notable contributions to geographical
research, fieldwork, teaching, professional practice
and public engagement. Renowned geographical advocate
and advisor to governments, Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, and
eminent climber and author, Stephen Venables, were awarded
the Society’s two Royal Medals. The Royal Medals, which are
of equal standing, are approved by His Majesty the King, and
are among the highest honours of their kind in the world. Dr
Vanessa Lawrence CB received the 2024 Founder’s Medal for
her outstanding contributions to the promotion of geography
in the UK and internationally. Nigel Clifford, President of
the Society, said: ‘Vanessa is a tireless advocate for geography
who has done a huge amount to support geographers – at all
levels – and to further the impact of geography globally. She
is also a strong supporter of teachers through the Society and
the Geographical Association, and I am delighted that her
decades of dedication to the field are being recognised with
the Founder’s Medal.’
On hearing the news of her award, Vanessa said: ‘I
dedicate this honour to everyone who has supported me TIM COCHRANE

on my journey of geographical knowledge. “Everything

happens somewhere” is a slogan I began to use in 1993
to help communicate the importance of geography to use maps and spatially enabled applications daily.
government, business and the public. Today, location data Other recipients, covering the breadth of geography in their
provides the evidence base for the vital decisions we make work, include Professor Lily Kong, who is the first Singaporean
for our planet, it underpins the essential emergency, health, woman appointed president of any university in Singapore.
utility and delivery services we all rely on and it is the core Lily was awarded the Victoria Medal for demonstrating
of the satellite navigation systems that guide us safely as we exceptional intellectual leadership through her scholarship
travel.’ Stephen Venables received the 2024 Patron’s Medal and contributions to the internationalisation of geography.
for his lifetime’s contribution to geographical discovery in Lily said: ‘I am honoured to have my work in urban, social
the high mountains of the world. Nigel said: ‘Stephen is not and cultural geographies recognised, and am encouraged to
only a trailblazer in his field, he has also excelled as a writer. use our knowledge and skills to influence social and cultural
Through his research, depth of knowledge and writing style, change in our societies.’
he has shared his understanding of exploration and the This year’s Back Award was presented to Professor
history of mountaineering with a wide readership. Peter Hopkins for his sustained contributions to policy
He gives so much back to the mountaineering community development through his research on social inequality and
through his close links with the British Mountaineering justice. When talking about his current projects, which
Council, the Mount Everest Screening Committee, the include working with children in the upper years of primary
Alpine Club and the Society. The Patron’s Medal is a fitting school to explore their experiences of, and understandings
recognition of his accomplishments.’ about, racism and Islamophobia, Peter said: ‘The main thing
Stephen said: ‘What a wonderful honour and surprise, to be I strive for in my research and teaching is to create a society
rewarded for what is essentially having fun – exploring remote free of discrimination.’
corners of the world’s most spectacular mountains, in the Author and filmmaker Leon McCarron received the Cherry
company of some of the world’s finest mountaineers.’ Kearton Medal and Award for his work creating projects that
This year saw two new awards being presented. The champion geography on a broader stage. Leon commented:
Geographical Engagement Award was given to Professor Ed ‘The essence of this award – unearthing the importance,
Hawkins MBE, for his work developing the iconic ‘Climate beauty and fragility of natural history – is a good mission
Stripes’, the creative and interactive graphics which allow statement for what I’ve focused on, and I’d like to dedicate this
scientific data on climate change to be communicated to all those who I’ve worked with and reported on who protect
around the world. Dr Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist at the great treasures of our world, often against the odds.’ You
Google, received the Professional Geography Award, for his can read our series of interviews with this year’s recipients on
excellence in bringing geography to an audience who now our website www.rgs.org/Awards-showcase. n

76
72 . GEOGRAPHICAL
• Geographical
 EMILY GARTHWAITE

2024 MEDALS
AND AWARDS
Founder’s Medal
Dr Vanessa Lawrence, CB
Patron’s Medal
Stephen Venables
Victoria Medal
Professor Lily Kong
Busk Medal
Professor Chris Clark
Cherry Kearton Medaand
Award
Leon McCarron
Murchison Award
Professor Stefan Doerr

Leon McCarron
Back Award
Professor Peter Hopkins
Dr Ed Parsons Professional
Geography Award
Dr Ed Parsons
Geographica
Engagement Award
Professor
Ed Hawkins, MBE
Professor Ed Cuthbert Peek Award
Hawkins MBE Professor Peter Atkinson
Gill Memorial Award
(two awards)
Dr Iestyn Woolway
Dr Kean Fan Lim
Professor Peter Ordnance Survey Awards
Hopkins (two awards)
RACHEL PAIN
Dr Cyrus Golding
Dr Vanessa Fiona Sheriff
Lawrence CB Taylor and Francis Award
Professor Daniel
Arribas-Bel
Ness Award
Colonel Chris Hadfield
Professor Lily Alfred Steers
Kong Dissertation Prize
Kelsey Monteith
Area Prize
(two prizes)
DR VANESSA LAWRENCE CB
Dr Ana Laura
Stephen Venables Zavala Guillen
Manannan Donoghoe
The Sir Ron Cooke Award
Ella Herbert
Geographical Award
The Ulysses Trust
Honorary Fellowship
Dr Sophie Bowlby
Steve Brace
Professor David Higgitt
Dr Tony Juniper CBE
Carol Lawson

SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY TOBY FOUNTAINE

MarchJULY
2018
2024• .73
77
 IN SOCIETY
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (WITH IBG)

SELECTION OF EVENTS FOR JUNE

Earth Photo: Alice Holt Forest A gap in the landscape: guided Field visit: SS Freshspring Ship,
Exhibition (In-person, Farnham) walk and lecture Bideford
1 July – 29 September Guided walk and lecture Field visit (In-person, Bideford)
See a stunning selection of the (Northumberland) 13 July, 10.30 am-4.30 pm
shortlisted images which stimulate 6 July, 10.30 am-4.00 pm Visit to the historic SS Freshspring
conversations about our world. Reflecting on the loss of the Sycamore berthed in Bideford Harbour, followed
n Venue: Alice Holt Forest, Farnham Gap tree in 2023, Northumberland by The Way of the Wharves walk and a
Tickets: Free, open to all National Park Chair Jean Davidson will chance to hear more about the award of
bit.ly/458Bnr2 explore the challenges of managing Heritage Harbour Status.
iconic landscapes, and the role of focal n Venue: Please meet at The Royal
points as ‘gateways’ for access and Hotel, Bideford EX39 4AE at 10.30 am.
engagement. Tickets: £15
n Venue: The Sill National Landscape bit.ly/45bO7gv
Discovery Centre, Bardon Mill, Hexham,
Northumberland, NE47 7AN
Tickets: £15, RGS-IBG members £5
bit.ly/3yMn9jE

Earth Photo: Sidney Nolan Trust Natural history and Wainwright in Everest: East side story
Exhibition (In-person, Presteigne) the Northern Fells Lecture (In-person, Norfolk)
17 July – 28 September Field visit (In-person, Keswick) 22 July, 8 pm-10 pm
See a stunning selection of the 20 July, 10.30 am-3.30 pm One hundred years after George Mallory
shortlisted images which stimulate A joint walk with the Wainwright Society and Sandy Irvine disappeared near the
conversations about our world. in the Northern Fells to explore the top of Everest, Stephen Venables, the
n Venue: Sidney Nolan Trust, The Rodd natural history and landscape. first British climber to reach the world’s
Presteigne, LD8 2LL n Venue: Cumbria Wildlife Trust Eycott highest summit without supplementary
Tickets: Free, open to all Nature Reserve, CA11 0XD oxygen, will recount his own ascent
bit.ly/3Kpxch8 Tickets: £5, RGS-IBG members free in the light of the first pioneering
bit.ly/4eb4C0H attempts.
n Venue: St. George’s Guildhall, King
Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1EU
Tickets: £14
bit.ly/4eal6Gq

n The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is the home Geographical is the Society’s
of geography. Founded in 1830, we are the UK’s learned magazine, and available with all types
society for geography and professional body for geographers. of membership – but there are so
Our core purpose is to advance geographical science. We many other benefits. Our Fellows and
achieve this in many ways, through our charitable work in members gain access to topical events
education, research and fieldwork, and more widely as a and activities, where you can meet
membership organisation. others who share a passion for geography.
The Society welcomes anyone fascinated by the world’s So whether you’re a geography professional or student, or
people, places and environments. Membership is open to simply have a thirst for geographical knowledge, membership
all and tailored to you. Whether you’re a Fellow, Associate of the Society will satisfy your curiosity.
Fellow, Student Member or Member, we make your n For more on what membership has to offer you,
adventures in geography richer and more meaningful. visit our website at: www.rgs.org/join-us

RGS-IBG CORPORATE SUPPORTERS

78 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 RGS-IBG ARCHIVE
IMAGE

Nomad Mongol on a bactrian camel

Douglas Carruthers 1910-1911

T
his photograph, taken by
explorer and naturalist Douglas
Carruthers, was captured as
part of the Carruthers/Miller
Expedition to Central Asia
1910-11 which Carruthers led at just 28.
His companion, J H Miller was known
best as a big game hunter. The expedition
took the explorers from the headwaters
of the Yenisey river through land long
contested by the empires of Russia and
China and on towards Mongolia and
Dzungaria (northern Xinjiang), ending in
India. The nomad pictured here is noted
as being in ‘China’.
Camels have sustained Mongolian
nomadic herders for centuries through
their meat, milk and fibres. The bactrian
or two-humped camel permitted (and still
permits) nomads to transport heavy loads
through the desert and other inhospitable
terrain. Camels can transport folded
gers (the homes in which nomads live)
when moving to new pastureland, as
well as carrying goods designed for trade.
According to a 1950 research paper, in
the Mongol epoch ‘the camel enjoyed
the highest esteem he was attain in the
Chinese lands’.
Worldwide, Bactrian camels
are unusual with the one-humped
dromedary much more common,
making up 94 per cent of the total
number. Native to the steppes of central
Asia, most two-humped camels (around
35 million individuals) are domesticated,
but there remains a small population
of wild two-humped camels (Camelus
ferus) in Mongolia and China. With less
than 950 known individuals they are
critically endangered. n

The Royal Geographical Society

Picture Library is an unrivalled
resource, containing more than
half a million images of peoples
and landscapes from all over the world. The
collection holds photographs and works of art from
the 1830s onwards and includes images of
exploration, indigenous peoples and remote
locations. For further information on image
licensing and limited-edition prints, or to search
our online collection of more than 7,000 images,
visit www.rgs.org/images. Rolex kindly supports
public access to the Society’s collection of
photographs, books, documents and maps.
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (WITH IBG)

JULY 2024 . 79
 QUIZ

Where in the World?

Identify this country using the following clues:

Find the answer online at
geog.gr/where-world
1
Has a population of three million
or in next month’s issue!

2
Landlocked, it borders three countries and is similar in
size to Belgium

3
Prides itself on being the first state to formally adopt
Christianity (early 4th century)

4
Has its own alphabet

5
Achieved independence from its former ruler in 1991
June answer: Iraq, the Imam ali Shrine
clock, Najaf

80 . GEOGRAPHICAL
 CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 Atlas? Or be converted to this old navigational 9 10

instrument? (9)
10 Australia, they say, has single atmospheric layer (5)
11 One who is under no illusion about Israel, perhaps, 11 12

and Egypt, finally (7)

12 and 13 Pretty centre certainly transformed Rome (7,4)
13 14 15
14 Arranging our claim against the States is amazing! (10)
17 Lots for sale here! (7) 16
18 Affectionate term for an Australian river (7) 17 18 19
20 Winslet not upset by Hollywood nickname (10)
23 Number in support of burying uranium (4)
25 Strangely, PE calls for a sharp knife (7) 20 21 22 23
26 Stretch of land submerged in winter rainfall (7)
24
28 Swedish city produces thermal motor part (5)
29 Towns free to develop English national park (3,6) 25 26 27

DOWN
28 29
1 Piano tune for two (4)
2 Left a Titanic wreck? Not I, in the middle of this! (8)
3 Film has leads from Merchant of Venice, in effect (5)
4 Professor Cox includes performance with camel (8)
5 Swiss city provides info on Perón’s wife (6) JUNE CROSSWORD SOLUTION
6 Made rough version of Dad’s Army? (4,5) ACROSS
7 Belgium, or one different large island (6) 1 Sicily 4 Basset 9 Palm 10 Beach 11 Oven 12 Winter
8 Rievaulx is oddly genuine (4) 13 Benidorm 14 Sea shanty 16 Firm 17 Tour 18 Operators
13 Talk about river in navigational plan (5) 22 Farewell 23 Verona 25 Plan 26 Vicar 27 Moon 28 Resort
15 Sweetener from crushed geraniums? Not mine! (5) 29 Person
16 English city sees PR reversal in ‘Love Oil’ movement (9)
18 Soft feathers won’t change commercial area DOWN
of a US city (8) 1 Seaside 2 Comet 3 Liberia 5 Athens 6 Snowdrift 7 Theorem
19 Remote old site a ruin (8) 8 Lambeth Palace 15 Sauternes 17 Trawler 19 Reverie
21 Almost a nobleman in New York (6) 20 Rangoon 21 Denver 24 Remus
22 Skill is thanks to period of fasting (6)
24 Constellation, or electrically charged particle? (5)
25 Form of wrestling starts off slowly until movement
occurs (4)
27 Nation missing in military alliance (4)
WIN Download your entry at: geog.gr/cross_
word or fill in and cut out the grid above.
Send your entry to the editorial address
on page four, marked ‘July crossword’ or
email a picture of your completed grid
to [email protected]. Entries
close 17 July. The first correct crossword
selected at random wins a copy of The
Royal Geographical Society’s Altas of
the World, worth £75. For details, visit
www.octopusbooks.co.uk

JULY 2024 . 81
 L
ooking up from the slopes of for the better. There are students who
Quetrupillán, Dave McGarvie want the challenge of climbing 4,000
watched the condors circle
overhead. ‘They were there
most days, checking to see
whether we were still alive,’
PASSPORT
TRAVEL INSIGHTS
feet up a mountain, but there are other
interesting problems to work on that
don’t require much physical effort.’
Planning a trip to a volcano involves
he says. From this vantage point, a significant level of care for the
McGarvie had a good view of Villarica, professional volcanologist. A word
one of South America’s most active of advice for independent travellers
volcanoes. Its last major eruption, – volcanologists such as McGarvie
in 2015, occurred during one of his pay very close attention to official
fieldtrips; the volcanologist had woken information and volcano alert levels,
to find a dusting of ash on his tent and as these describe the current level
in his cooking pots. of activity and unrest at a volcano,
But McGarvie wasn’t there for and its eruption history. ‘Even
Villarica. Instead, he and his Chilean experienced volcanologists are wary
colleague were focused on its lesser- of going to volcanoes experiencing
known, dormant neighbour, where Volcanologist unrest. Volcanoes are not just normal
they hoped to study how Quetrupillán’s Dave McGarvie on how mountains you climb any time you
past lava flows had interacted with ice. to travel with purpose. want to – you need to think carefully
It’s a topic that attracted McGarvie back Interview by about going. There are inherent
to researching volcanoes after taking a Bryony Cottam risks and dangers. Some volcanoes
10-year break to focus on his family. ‘I are particularly unpredictable and
l
looked around and thought, nobody’s those are best avoided. People may
really doing a lot of work on volcano– An understanding be thrilled by the idea of being close
ice interactions, there were a lot of of geological and to an erupting volcano, but there are
unknowns.’ geographical factors plenty of fantastic things to see without
McGarvie says that this line of putting yourself in danger.’
research has taken him to many
adds insight to your Although McGarvie has a long list
volcanoes that simply don’t attract appreciation of a of volcanoes such as New Zealand’s
the same level of interest from landscape Ruapehu that, were it not for the cost,
other researchers. In Iceland, where l he would love to visit, he’s just as
McGarvie spends much of his time, the happy travelling around Scotland. ‘I
most well-monitored sites are the ones Don’t take foolhardy was in Ayrshire last week looking at
that have shown recent activity. ‘I’m risks. Think carefully the ancient volcanic rock. I realised
more interested in what happened over before going I was seeing things that no one has
10,000 years ago at volcanoes that aren’t l ever reported before. For anyone who
showing signs of unrest, but which are is interested in the natural world,’
probably going to erupt again at some Find your own he adds, ‘having an understanding
point in the future.’ niche - you don’t have to of the geological and geographical
As such, he says, his work follow the footsteps of aspects of a landscape, such as how
complements that of other geologists others a mountain came to be, can greatly
working on the island. Finding his enhance our appreciation and
own niche has also given him the connection to a place.’ l
opportunity to study and explore
new places, often in remote parts
of Iceland where no one has ever
been before. ‘I don’t really want to
do anything that’s following in other
people’s footsteps,’ he says.
Exploration has been a driving
force for McGarvie’s work, and a lot of
his earlier field trips involved a high
level of self-sufficiency. Getting to
Quetrupillán, for example, had been
‘quite a logistical enterprise’. The only
way up is on foot or – when loaded
up with rock samples, a tent and
enough food for a couple of weeks – on
horseback. Today, things have changed.
‘We now have satellite phones and
thorough risk assessments, which is all
Heading to Quetr
upillan with Villar
rica in the backgro
und

82 . GEOGRAPHICAL
DAVE MCGARVIE
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