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Steve Cracknell

@enmarchant.bsky.social

3K followers 340 following 2.2K posts

Writer. ‘The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees’, Nature Book of the Year 2021, selected by Dr Mark Avery, writer and Wild Justice activist. www.WildingthePyrenees.com, www.PyreneanWay.com, www.laSenda.net. En català X: @ovella_salvatge.

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Nov 25

Why am I here? For #naturewriting and the Pyrenees, principally. I’m fascinated by the challenges of #rewilding. I write about that, about mountain people, and about walking. Books in English, French and Catalan.

Six book covers. 1. Footprints on the Mountains, with a walker on a path and an isard. 2. The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees, with a man in a bear costume, the face of the man showing under the bear's head. 3. If You Only Walk Long Enough, with a walker striding across mountains and a red-and-white waymark. 4. Les Pyrénées, Tout en Marchant sur le GR10, with a walker striding across mountains and a red-and-white waymark. 5. Mountain People, Tales from the Pyrenees, with eight vignette photos (of people interviewed) on a washing line, mountains silhouetted in the background. (With Gordon Wilson.) 6. Els Pirineus Indòmits, una Renaturalització Sorprenent, with a split cover showing sheep grazing in pasture and a brown bear in a forest facing the camera. All books by Steve Cracknell.

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 11d

I wrote about this in my book The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees.

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 11d

Associations hope for a new trial reintroduction of boreal lynx into the #Pyrenees in PallarsSobirà. When last proposed in the Vall d'Aran, farmers objected, and the project was cancelled. #rewilding

Steve Cracknell @pyrenees-sauvages.bsky.social · 11d

Certaines associations espèrent un nouvel essai de #réintroduction du #lynx boréal dans les Pyrénées, dans le Pallars Sobirà. Lorsqu’il avait été proposé pour la dernière fois dans la Vall d’Aran, les éleveurs s’y étaient opposés et le projet est tombé à l'eau.

Así es el superdepreador extinto que los ecologistas quieren soltar en el Pirineo catalán

Un proyecto impulsado por las entidades locales Amics del Parc Natural de l’Alt Pirineu y ADLO Pirineo plantea liberar machos castrados.

www.20minutos.es

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 11d

Bear cub found again by its mother, Sorita. Sorita was brought to the Pyrenees in 2018 to increase genetic diversity and has been living up to her role.

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 14d

It can be difficult living with bears. At Arreau, in the Pyrenees, the shepherds have been working hard for many years, but still have problems. #rewilding #bears

Steve Cracknell @pyrenees-sauvages.bsky.social · 14d

Témoignage d’Ariège : la difficile cohabitation avec l’ours dans les Pyrénées.

TÉMOIGNAGES. "On ne sait plus quoi faire" : la difficile cohabitation des ours et des bergers dans les Pyrénées, après un été marqué par les attaques de brebis

Cet été 2025, 122 brebis ont été prédatées sur l'estive d'Arreau, en Ariège. Un chiffre qui a triplé par rapport à 2024. Les éleveurs et bergers dénoncent le danger que représente la présence de l'our...

france3-regions.franceinfo.fr

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 16d

Although there are now over 100 bears in the #Pyrenees, following a #reintroduction programme, genetic diversity is limited. Claverina was brought in to help fix that, and here she is with a cub! #rewilding #bear

Steve Cracknell @pyrenees-sauvages.bsky.social · 16d

Claverina, une des ourses arrivées dans les Pyrénées en 2018, repéré en Aragon ! Avec son ourson de l'année. #ours #nature

Claverina et son ourson de nouveau détectés en Aragon en septembre !😊

YouTube video by Pays de l'Ours - Adet

youtu.be

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 25d

Mind-boggling!

Jonathan C Slaght @jonathanslaght.com · 25d

super cool study found human artifacts in Bearded vulture nests, incl. "weaponry like a crossbow bolt and wooden lance, decorated sheep leather, and parts of a slingshot....a shoe made from twigs and grass is ~675-years-old." link to paper: doi.org/10.1002/ecy..... www.popsci.com/environment/... 🧪🌍🦉

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

Crossbow bolts, sandals, slingshots, and more.

www.popsci.com

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 26d

I have always wondered what that was supposed to mean...

Reposted by Steve Cracknell

Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 26d

Tory party’s long journey away from science, reason, responsibility, common sense and truth is complete

Kemi Badenoch vows to repeal Climate Change Act

Tory leader says she would replace it with ‘cheap energy’ strategy, ending decades-long consensus on climate

www.theguardian.com

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 28d

I had the chance to interview him in the summer pastures for my book "The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees", which has just been released in French.

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 28d

Don’t miss Maxim Cain’s graphic novel about the real life of a shepherd in the Pyrenees, published by Actes Sud. Maxim spent four years herding sheep on Mont Rouch, and he knows better than anyone that the job is far from the romantic image held by many.

Congratulations, Maxim!

Loin des clichés, Maxim Cain raconte la vraie vie des bergers des Pyrénées dans « Démontagner », un roman graphique immersif

Dans "Démontagner", Maxim Cain témoigne de son quotidien de berger dans les Pyrénées. Il veille sur 800 brebis, accompagné de son chien Finet. Ce roman graphique déconstruit les clichés idylliques en ...

france3-regions.franceinfo.fr

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Reposted by Steve Cracknell

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) @ukceh.bsky.social · 29d

🌾 Behind the scenes as the BBC filmed at our experimental rice trials site.

Part of research investigating what we can grow on rewetted peat while protecting livelihoods & cutting emissions under a changing climate.

Exploring land uses for climate resilience, food security & the environment

1/🧪

A video camera operator looks at two people, one of whom is lowering a chamber into a small paddy field plot

Three people in a field, one of whom is operating a video camera while the other two speak to each other

Two people are crouched down in a potato field, with two people standing nearby, one of whom is operating a video camera

A camera operator is crouched among rice plants while two other people have a conversation nearby

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Reposted by Steve Cracknell

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · Sep 25

I honestly don't think everyone talks enough about how amazing it was when the world came together to fix the hole in the ozone layer, so I wrote this:

everythingisamazing.substack.com/p/lets-all-r...

It's a good reminder of what we're capable of.

Let's All Remember When We Saved The World

To remind ourselves we can do it again.

everythingisamazing.substack.com

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Reposted by Steve Cracknell

Guy Shrubsole @guyshrubsole.bsky.social · Sep 25

Very excited to share that I'm writing a new book, THE GHOSTS OF CHALK COUNTRY - about the loss of England's chalk downland: a tale of flowers, fascism & freedom.

To be published by @wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social in April 2027:
www.thebookseller.com/rights/willi...

Website: ghostsofchalkcountry.org

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 24

Visiting the Cascade de Tufs, Jura, France.

Me standing in front of the waterfall. It is like a fountain with jets of water spurting out of ferns.

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 23

As predicted, the tide is turning against wolves, with the French government making it easier to kill them.

Steve Cracknell @pyrenees-sauvages.bsky.social · Sep 23

L’agenda change. Le réensauvagement semble perd du terrain, face au dégâts du loup.

Sud Ouest @sudouest.fr · Sep 23

Attaques de loups : le gouvernement permet aux éleveurs de tirer et de tuer des bêtes, sans autorisation préalable
🔗https://l.sudouest.fr/Y0Hp

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 21

Today, I am with friends walking in the Jura. This is the view from the Dôle, over lake Geneva and the Alps.

Steve Cracknell @pyrenees-sauvages.bsky.social · Sep 21

Cette semaine, je suis dans le Jura. Aujourd'hui à la Dôle, pour voir le lac Léman... et la tempête qui arrive.

Ciel chaotique au-dessus du lac Léman avec un chien et deux randonneurs sur pelouse verte.

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Reposted by Steve Cracknell

Ian Carter @iancarter67.bsky.social · Sep 21

This has received no publicity but is damning. A clear explanation of why this type of reintroduction is not just a distraction and a waste of resources but is ACTIVELY HARMFUL to conservation. Environmental journalists please note and please publicise.

operationturtledove.org/captive-rele...

Operation Turtle Dove’s view on the release of captive-bred Turtle Doves as a conservation measure - Operation Turtle Dove

Operation Turtle Dove is a science-led conservation partnership working to reverse the decline of Turtle Doves in the UK by restoring habitat and addressing key threats. Learn why captive-bred release...

operationturtledove.org

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 17

It really is extraordinary!

Joe Black @joeblack1.bsky.social · Sep 16

Hospital de Sant Pau
Barcelona

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 16

Most farmers would use a truck, but Dani walks with his goats the 600km to the mountains and back. Transhumance in the Catalan #Pyrenees.

Slow goats

Slow travel with goats in the Pyrenees

www.wildingthepyrenees.com

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Reposted by Steve Cracknell

headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · Sep 10

every time there's political violence discourse i think about how jo cox was assassinated in broad daylight by a fascist who shouted "britain first" as he shot her, and now nine years later her party is dedicating every moment in power to placating the ideology of her murderer

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 10

For more on lynx (and many other aspects of rewilding), see my book: The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees.

Book cover: The Implausible Rewilding of the Pyrenees, by Steve Cracknell. The artwork is a painting showing a man's face surmounted by a real brown bear's head. It is based on a photo taken at Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans at the annual bear festival.

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 10

A few months ago, the Catalan government reassured Pyrenean farmers that all plans for reintroduction had been dropped. As I said then, this was a stupid decision. What they needed to do was plan for when the lynx arrived on its own four paws.

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 10

Important #rewilding news. For the first time in over a century, an Iberian lynx has been seen in the Catalan Pyrenees. Filmed by a camera near to the frontier with France, the feline had been released near Seville.

Âgé de 4 ans, né au Portugal, venu de Séville : un lynx s’installe dans les Pyrénées "près de la frontière", une première depuis plus de 100 ans

Une découverte historique. La preuve en images.

www.lindependant.fr

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Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 1

If you read French, I have another Bluesky profile: @pyrenees-sauvages.bsky.social‬

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · Sep 1