iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Five different keystone species. Five different trajectories. Why this insistence that it is a single path?

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Once you start thinking of humans as a keystone species, rewilding becomes a different concept. Top-down initiatives don’t necessarily work in the real world. A university thesis demonstrates that livestock protection is a local issue.

Chart showing results of mitigation over 20 years to 2023 on three mountain pastures in the Pyrenees. Different combinations of livestock guardian dogs, shepherds, sheepfolds and rangers have been used, with different results. On the other side of the equation is a growing bear population.

010

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Pyrenees rewilding update. From 5 bears to 350 in fifty years. First wolf pack. Wild boar massacre. What happens when a new conservation idea encounters an old way of living with the land? I explore this in my latest post on “living rewilding”. @markavery.bsky.social @georgemonbiot.bsky.social

wildingthepyrenees.com

Living rewilding

A lot has happened in the last five years. There are now 130 bears in the Pyrenees. But the news is not all quite so rosy.

293

Reposted by Steve Cracknell

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Officially, the water industry in England is regulated. Practically, it's unregulated. There's no difference between what it does under the eye of the Environment Agency and what it would do if the EA did not exist. The EA is completely useless, by design. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

theguardian.com

Dry weather sewage discharges soar as water companies face scrutiny

Exclusive: 7,280 suspected illegal spills in rivers and sea recorded in first five months of 2026

9824421018

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I've just seen the *fantastic* M C Escher exhibition at Somerset House in London. It takes the artist into another dimension with video. I particularly liked the reproduction of the stairs painting "Relativity" placed, appropriately, at the bottom of the stairwell! Go!

Surreal point of view combining Escher's painting and a real stairwell.

051

Reposted by Steve Cracknell

Nick Lloyd @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

In the autumn, I'll be organizing a 4night wolf watching trip for English speakers. Barcelona to Zamora with my good friend+ Iberian wolf expert Sergi Garcia. We'll also cover the Spanish Civil War, the anti-Francoist resistance, culture, food, etc. Let me know if interested 📷 FriasMarques, Wiki

7337

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

That’s what the Ariège Chamber of Agriculture says after a meeting involving its president Philippe Lacube, department president Christine Téqui, Emmanuel Macron, and members of ASPAP and PAM11, two anti-predator groups. If actions follow words, the whole bear debate could be shaken up.

220

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Could Ariège become a test territory for a different approach to bear management — including deterrence, bear population management, transparency, and governance? Photo: Chambre d'Agriculture

Meeting between French president Emmanuel Macron and anti-bear activists in a restaurant in Ariège. ©Chambre d'Agriculture.

120

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

LOCAL MANAGEMENT OF BEARS? Big news for bear-shepherd coexistence in the Pyrenees. A discreet meeting took place on 27 April between representatives from Ariège and President Macron — I’ve found almost nothing in the press, only on Facebook.

The bear Cachou standing upright smelling the trunk of a tree at night, caught on a camera trap. A few months later he was poisoned.

141

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Wolves are being illegally killed in an area where coexistence with farming seemed possible. I talked to a sheep farmer in Abruzzo who was quite happy with wolves as neighbours. What now? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/…

020

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Shepherding has a big influence on nature, not always negative. Transhumance routes are ecological corridors. I am going to Lleida, Spain for a workshop on Pastoral Routes in 21st century Europe. Is transhumance merely a relic of the past? What is its significance today?

Flock of sheep on thr transhumance with shepherd behind them on a clear sunny day.

020

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Rather than being similar, I think of them as complementary. Brain/body. Still/moving. Running and walking empty the head and enable new thoughts to emerge.

010

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I would particularly like to hear what Adam Weymouth has to say about wolves, but can’t be there. A pity.

000

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Portuguese seems to be a real outlier. All the others I have found are either related to Mary, Our Lord, Red or Cows. Some Hens. All affectionate, as with the use of 'little' in Portuguese.

020

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I knew that many European names for ladybird derive from “our Lady = Mary”. But I was surprised to learn how many languages have a name which means little cow: Polish, Russian, Spanish (vaquita de San Anton)… French and Italian in contrast are rather dull: coccinelle = from Latin for scarlet.

3133

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

And there is little mention of the ecological impact. I want vegetables to be seasonal.

010

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Anyone else think that @theguardian.com article on the greenhouses in Almeria sounds like advertorial? www.theguardian.com/environment/202…

120

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Thanks for the follow. Nice pics.

110

Reposted by Steve Cracknell

Sean Coleman @colemandesign.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Mackenzie Crook’s magical suburban folk tale, #SmallProphets published by #PenguinBooks and #PuffinBooks down the years. A 🧵 1/

27770297

Reposted by Steve Cracknell

Patrick Marques @pmarques35.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

[1/8] Barthélémy Courmont (Institut catholique de Lille) propose un éclairage sur la notion de "guerre asymétrique". Il montre que ce concept, popularisé depuis 2001, désigne en réalité une logique ancienne de conflits inégaux. #HGGSP #geography #asymmetricwarfare

doi.org

« Guerre asymétrique » : une formule récente pour un phénomène plurimillénaire

Si la notion de guerre asymétrique a été conceptualisée de fraîche date, la réalité à laquelle elle renvoie n’est certainement pas une nouveauté.

332

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

The #bear population in the Pyrenees is growing fast. Figures announced today say there were *at least* 108 in 2025 (probably 109-143)! Up 11% annually since 2006. In 1996, there were only 5 bears, and 11 have been imported since. It is a #rewilding success but not everybody is happy.

ofb.gouv.fr

Ours infos 2025 - Rapport annuel

En 2025, 3 287 indices indirects ont été collectés dans le cadre du suivi transfrontalier de l'Ours brun. Les résultats présentés dans le rapport

020

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Spain, like many other countries, is revising its attitudes to animals. New laws give them more protection. But the concept of rewilding is little known. I talked to a biologist who had brought a bear from Slovenia. It wasn't until later on a visit to the USA he realised he had been rewilding!

010

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

A Spanish hunter has been fined 100,800€ (£87,000) for killing a lynx. He didn't have a licence and it was outside the hunting season. They don't muck about with #rewilding in Spain!

diariovasco.com

Condenado un cazador a pagar más de 100.000 euros por haber abatido a una hembra de lince en Toledo | El Diario Vasco

El hombre alegó que confundió al felino con un zorro

171

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Thanks @joanlopezphoto.bsky.social for reminding me about the Hospital de La Santa Creu, Barcelona. Quite something !

020

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Just reminded by @joanlopezphoto’s photo that I visited the Hospital de la Santa Creu iSant Pau in Barcelona almost exactly a year ago. Extraordinary architecture for such a building. And off the tourist trail.

Modernist staircase, full of light and intricate shapes, in a hospital!

020

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

I’ve seen this and know the challenges of living with bears in the Pyrenees well. Here you have a fly-on-the-wall film putting the shepherd’s point of view. Recommend.

010

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

I had been trying to convince my wife that the drink would help her climb mountains. After seeing this, she finally believed me!

010

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

What interests me in this tale is the equivalence it makes between humans and bears. I have been told that a skinned bear looks human if you discount the head.

010

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

I've just looked, they are very iconic. Not the kind of thing that would be allowed in Britain.

100

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

000

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Copilot is sooo annoying. But as a writer I find AI useful. Not for writing, though I use it to tell me what crap I can cut. It's good for research, because it gives links to the original articles so I can assess their validity. It will also translate articles in languages I don't understand...

100

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

My story has a different ending. I was on a pass in the Pyrenees at 2200m and came across an exhausted bee on a hot day. I had an energy drink, so I poured a few drops onto a rock in front of the bee. It drank and then flew away happily!

100

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

In the Pyrenean bear festivals, the ritual ends by shaving the bear to reveal the man beneath the animal. But in Prats-de-Mollo, women have started becoming the bears themselves — and the meaning of the ritual is quietly changing. I’ve been interviewing the glitter bears.

wildingthepyrenees.com

Sex, gender and glitter bears

Each February, in villages like Prats-de-Mollo near the border between France and Spain, men disguised as bears will rampage through the streets. Later they will be captured and shaved.

130

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Tony Juniper's suggestion of using animals that have been reintroduced to Britain, like the white-tailed eagle, is excellent, aspirational!

020

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Be it £5, £10 or £20, putting animals on bank notes signals the increase in their value to society.

141

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

The only way to really control energy needs, is to produce the energy yourself. Everyone can have wind, water and solar power.

010

Reposted by Steve Cracknell

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

The additional cost of ONE fossil fuel price spike on the scale of 2022 = the ENTIRE COST of Net Zero by 2050. We get precisely nothing in return for the first cost, and a whole new, more secure and cheaper energy system from the second one. #NoBrainer www.theccc.org.uk/2026/03/11/c...

theccc.org.uk

Cost of Net Zero by 2050 less than a single fossil fuel price shock – CCC - Climate Change Committee

The independent, statutory body tested its cost and energy security conclusions against different scenarios. It found that the total additional cost of a single fossil fuel price spike of 2022 magnitu...

191152559

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

If you are interested in what shepherds think about bears, do go and see Max Keegan's magnificent film, The Shepherd and the Bear. #naturewriting. www.conic.film/films/bear

conic.film

Conic — The Shepherd and the Bear

030

Steve Cracknell @enmarchant.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Yes, as Blake says, there is a tension around the roles of women. But what the Cournonterral event emphasises, with its exclusion of tourists is that the festival is primarily about local identity. The Prats-de-Mollo women say the same thing. Let's leave them to it.

Céline Perrard (centre) with the ourses à paillettes [female bears with glitter] in Prats-de-Mollo before the 2026 bear festival.

020