Connections with Nature book praised by Chris Packham

I’m delighted to share that, the Eastern Daily Press was kind enough to dedicate an entire double page spread to sharing the story of our ‘Connections With Nature‘ book!

Excitingly, in recent weeks the project has had support from Sir David Attenborough, Gordon Buchanan, and Chris Packham who called it a “fantastic, collaborative, beautiful book” on social media.

The below extract is taken from the Eastern Daily Press interview feature with Emma Lee:

[Connections With Nature] includes pieces by Joe Harkness, author of the book Bird Therapy. The foreword is written by Jonathan Scott, famed for The Big Cat Diaries and the epilogue is from Virginia McKenna, co-founder of the Born Free Foundation, of which Kate is a trustee. Virginia’s son, Will Travers, who is president of the Born Free Foundation, is another contributor.

“Joe Harkness writes about using birdwatching to help with mental wellbeing, which is especially relevant to when we were in lockdown,” says Kate.

“Then we’ve got a piece from Charlotte Ditchburn, who writes about the importance of access to nature and public rights of way and how she works to campaign for access to public land.

“Shark scientist Hannah Rudd writes about the first time that she came face to face with a Great White Shark. And young conservationist Bella Lack writes about the first time she saw an orangutan.”

As Kate explains, when she sent out the brief, she didn’t know what contributions she would get – but when it came to compiling the book they formed a very obvious narrative.

“It took the form of going through a lifetime, so some people were writing about pregnancy and having babies and how being a parent changed the way they saw nature,” says Kate.

“Then a lot of people were looking back at their childhood and where their love of nature started, then there were pieces where people talked about their careers and then there were some older contributors who looked back.”

They included Kate’s 99-year-old grandma, who reflected on joining the war effort when she was 17. “She writes about how her view of nature changed, from growing up in Norfolk and her childhood and then leaving the countryside for Welwyn Garden City,” she says.

Kate’s own love of nature began in childhood. The 31-year-old grew up in Thetford so would often go for walks in Thetford Forest and was encouraged to care for garden wildlife.

[…] Connections With Nature: 50 Moments of Meeting the Wild is published by the Journey Books imprint of travel specialist Bradt Guides.

Purchase a copy of our Connections With Nature book: here

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