Managed, Maintained, Manufactured

On the train travelling south through Lincolnshire’s fields of wheat and barley, small areas of thicket flash by. Looking—really looking—at the landscape, I think about the rolling hills and countryside we’ve become accustomed to seeing as natural environments here. As Robin Wall Kimmerer says, plants mirror changes in culture and ownership of land—and this has long been true for the UK, where pushing out nature has been seen as a means to an end.

It was a pleasure to edit Manon Carpenter’s words for Patagonia, where she examines the UK’s ´natural’ landscapes and explores how the knowledge of managed landscapes has changed her riding and experiences outdoors. Now we wonder: can we advocate for better management and restoration of the landscapes we ride in?