All is now falling apart. Up to the 1960s, most people lived in towns and hardly ever left them. They have since colonised the countryside in a big way, acquiring cars and other attributes of affluence, and, naturally enough, they want country leisure activities. They have no tradition or experience of rural affairs or sustainability. The rural folk, almost a different nation, knew sustainable farming, but many emigrated, and the minority remaining have become too affluent to bother about keeping soil stable, repairing terrace walls, etc., activities once necessary for their survival.
The result poses huge problems. There are still gems of natural and historic heritage in the river valleys and elsewhere, but more of the river valleys is dry, disturbed or both.
Is anyone interested in studying the effect of excessive human impact, as a warning for other places? Including the effects of habitat fragmentation and loss on community, species and gene pools?
There is no money available, so researchers would have to bring their own grants. If coming for long enough, the University Departments of Agriculture and Biology and the (Government) Department of Afforestation and Horticulture welcome visitors. (Afforestation is mostly planting trees in towns.)
There is more here than I can do, and it is a worthwhile cause. Would anyone like to investigate - while there is still something left to investigate? If so, please contact, for further information: Dr. Sylvia Haslam, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, England. Dr. S. Haslam