Hugh Warwick

Step into the delightful, hidden world of hedgehogs with this beautifully crafted gift book. This charming book combines engaging, accessible writing with delightful line illustrations, inviting you to learn how hedgehogs live in the wild, consider how we capture their character in our own stories, and understand how we can help them thrive – in our gardens and beyond. The RSPB Pocket Book series celebrates iconic British wildlife and is produced in collaboration with the RSPB. Hugh Warwick, an expert on hedgehog biology and conservation, instils this beautiful book with his insight and enthusiasm for one of the British Isles’ most beloved wild animals, making it an ideal gift or personal keepsake. With Hugh's help, you'll enjoy quirky and lesser-known hedgehog facts, uncover the vital role hedgehogs play in garden ecosystems, and explore their place in folklore, mythology and cultural history. Hugh also highlights how making small changes in our gardens and communities can make a big difference for hedgehog survival. With beautiful artworks and an inspiring message, this is ideal for nature lovers, gift buyers, and anyone with a soft spot for our prickly friends.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON CONSERVATION'Honest and intelligent.' Chris Packham 'Expertly researched, engaging and even-handed.' BBC Wildlife Investigating the ethical and practical challenges of one of the greatest threats to biodiversity: invasive species. Globally, the threat to biodiversity of invasive species lies on a par with habitat loss, climate change and pollution. Tackling this isn’t easy – and nobody knows that better than Hugh Warwick. As a conservationist, he loathes the idea of killing, harming or even eating animals. As an ecologist, he is acutely aware of the need, at times, to kill invasive species whose presence harms the wider environment. How do we protect endangered native species? Which species do we prioritise? And how do we reckon with the ethics of killing anything in the name of conservation? Taking a balanced approach to this emotive subject, Hugh talks to experts on all sides of the debate as he explores the complex history of species control and the impact of the global movement of species. In his signature humorous style, he explains the scientific theory and outlines the issues conservationists face in controlling non-native animals and protecting native species, including grey and red squirrels on Anglesey, ravens and tortoises in the Mojave Desert, and cane toads in Australia as well as unique case studies like Pablo Escobar’s cocaine hippos and the Burmese python pet trade.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON CONSERVATIONInvestigating the ethical and practical challenges of one of the greatest threats to biodiversity: invasive species. Across the world, invasive species pose a danger to ecosystems. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity ranks them as a major threat to biodiversity on par with habitat loss, climate change and pollution. Tackling this isn’t easy, and no one knows this better than Hugh Warwick, a conservationist who loathes the idea of killing, harming or even eating animals. Yet as an ecologist, he is acutely aware of the need, at times, to kill invasive species whose presence harms the wider environment. Hugh explores the complex history of species control, revealing the global movement of species and the impacts of their presence. Combining scientific theory with gentle humour in his signature style, he explains the issues conservationists face to control non-native animals and protect native species – including grey and red squirrels on Anglesey, ravens and tortoises in the Mojave Desert, cane toads in Australia and the smooth-billed ani on the Galapagos – and describes cases like Pablo Escobar’s cocaine hippos and the Burmese python pet trade. Taking a balanced and open approach to this emotive subject, Hugh speaks to experts on all sides of the debate. How do we protect endangered native species? Which species do we prioritise? And how do we reckon with the ethics of killing anything in the name of conservation?

With their building prowess and distinctive physiology beavers are a rare but wonderful sight in the UK. Once hunted to extinction these legendary engineers now lay claim to some extremely strong environmental credentials, as well as some significant appearances in our art, literature, myths and legends. Find outmore as author Hugh Warwick explores the life of the beaver in this perfect introduction to an important native species.

The Hedgehog Book is the latest in the compact, accessible Nature Books series, exploring our relationship with some of Britain’s best-loved wild creatures. A welcome visitor heard rustling through our hedges or spotted shuffling across our lawns, hedgehogs are a celebrated addition to every garden and their proper care and conservation valuable to numerous other species. Through informative chapters ranging from the physiological and environmental to the inclusion of the hedgehog in myth, legend, art and literature and the vital work being undertaken to conserve this species, The Hedgehog Book is an ideal guide to its subject for all nature lovers, beautifully illustrated throughout with new photography and other illustrations.

Discover the many wonders of the hedgehog: a funny, charming creature of the countryside. Carrying its secrets beneath patterned spinesand roaming our fields, parks and gardens, why is it that the hedgehog fascinates so many of us? In A Prickly Affair, Hugh Warwick - life member of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society - explores the quirky humour, misunderstanding and affection that characterises our feelings for this marvellous beast, going all out to explain the charm of the hedgehog. Although hedgehog psychics and the International Hedgehog Olympics may be too much even for him...

‘Glorious… Political, passionate, perceptive’ Robert MacfarlaneAn eye-opening exploration of the lines that cut through our countryside, from hedges to railways, and a passionate manifesto for reconnecting wildlife. Our landscape has been transformed by a vast network of lines, from hedges and walls to railways and power cables. In Linescapes, Hugh Warwick unravels the far-reaching ecological consequences of these changes. As our lives and our land were fenced in and threaded together, wildlife habitats were cut into ever smaller – and increasingly unviable – fragments. Yet as Warwick travels across this linescape, he shows that we can help our flora and fauna to flourish once again. With his fresh and bracing perspective on Britain’s countryside, he proposes a challenge and gives ground for hope, for our lines can and do contain a real potential for wildness and for wildlife.

The hedgehog has had a close connection with people since the dawn of civilization, and has been an animal of fascination, endearment and cultural significance since the ancient Egyptians. The Romans regarded it as a weather prophet, and modern gardeners depend on the creature to keep their gardens free of pests. Hedgehog explores how this and other characteristics of the small creature have propelled it to the top of a number of polls of people’s favourite animals. It remains one of the few creatures that people can get close to without the fear of an attack, or it running away at the slightest movement. Hedgehog demonstrates that there is much to admire about this beautiful, and now threatened, icon of wildlife.

The Beauty in the Beastis a delightful portrait of some of the UK's best-loved wild animals and birds and the colourful enthusiasts who champion their causes. Meet the water vole-woman from Shropshire, the owl-man from Somerset, Paul, the beaver-man of Perthshire, and the mid-Wales badger man. These and many others are all fabulously engaging British characters who manage to carry a deep knowledge of their chosen species within a distinctly quirky shell. Other animals making an appearance include otters, bats, dolphins, dragonflies, foxes, adders, and the very special toad. Hugh Warwick, animal enthusiast and hedgehog fanatic, writes a series of affectionate and lively homages to the animals of the British Isles, composed of fieldwork and interviews with the people who love and conserve them.

Over two billion people in developing countries use only traditional biomass wood, dung and crop waste for their basic energy needs. The pollution from the burning of these fuels for cooking and heating is linked to the deaths of over 1.6 million people each year (more than three people a minute). Indoor air pollution is one of the leading causes of mortality and illness in developing countries. The main cause of deaths in children under five years old is acute lower respiratory infection, such as pneumonia and indoor air pollution is responsible for causing about 60% of these deaths. Despite these devastating facts about smoke, very few people are aware of the risks of indoor air pollution. It is quite literally the silent killer. This report details the health impacts of smoke in homes across the developing world. Technical solutions are presented, with strategies for reducing exposure to smoke for millions of households. Recommendations are given on immediate actions to be taken to significantly scale-up the fight against the silent killer of smoke in the homes of the world's most vulnerable people. This report is part of the ITDG Briefings series, designed to inform and stimulate public debate on crucial issues of sustainable development. The series looks at the role of technology and economics in the battle against poverty, inequality and injustice. In an increasingly fragile and divided world the need for well-informed public debate is vital and these reports summarize the issues and offer recommendations for action.