Charles Rothschild, a London banker, was an avid naturalist. He met his wife while hunting butterflies, but, though an amateur, he was an expert on fleas. But I’d say his most important contribution was a list.
In 1912, he founded the Society for the Promotion of Nature Preserves. He then led an effort to conduct a survey of local natural history groups in Britain and Ireland with the view of compiling a list of areas worth preserving. Newspaper readers, informed of the effort, contributed their own ideas.
The Rothschild List identified 289 places that should be preserved for the benefit of wildlife. The idea was to buy the land, fence it and leave it to nature and the National Trust.
I admire the effort. The results have been a mixed bag. One bog that naturalists loved was turned into a landfill. Other important habitats were bulldozed for development.
But many of those wonderful places were preserved.
Good things rarely happen by accident. Good things happen because someone or some group makes them happen.
I wish I’d learned this story as a boy, and I wish similar stories were part of the lore in this country.
Source: The Wildlife Trusts, a descendent of the preservation society Rothschild founded, has information on the list here: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/about-us/rothschilds-list.
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