David Elias: Still Shaping the Wild? - Aberystwyth

Conservationist David Elias and the RSPB's Tom Kistruck will be discussing the captivating book 'Shaping the Wild'.In the book, David Elias explores a farm in the Eryri National Park and unpacks what it shows us about the gritty reality of trying to reconcile hill farming and caring for nature. Visiting through the seasons, he forms a deep relationship with the land and the people who work it, coming to understand their particular way of life, history and concerns about the future.

It is a farm rich in nature and he brings his experienced eye to how its habitats and wildlife have been shaped by changing farming practices over the generations.

Through lyrical prose and first-hand conversations with farmers, Elias also shows what current government policies have achieved – or not achieved – and why it is so important for us to understand what it really takes ensure farming families remain on the land while simultaneously allowing nature to flourish.