05/31/2022
David Attenborough: "I WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN A NATURALIST UNDER TODAY's FOSSIL LAWS!"
Sir David Attenborough said laws which stop the collecting of fossils are a disaster waiting to happen' for the future of British naturalists. Britain is losing generations of young naturalists because of laws banning children from collecting fossils, according to Sir David Attenborough.
The broadcaster said he would never have been able to pursue his interest in wildlife if current legislation had been in place when he was a boy.
Fossil–collecting is banned at Sites of Special Scientific Interest and is covered by numerous other guidelines. Speaking to Radio Times, Sir David, 86, said few children now ventured out to explore the natural world. He agreed that the situation was "a disaster in waiting".
He said: "Part of the reason for that is easy to identify, and that is because it's no longer allowed – no longer legal – to be a collector.
"I openly admit that I collected fossils!"
"And I learnt a lot from that. Now, I think it's in the ledger of law, if you were to pick up an ordinary pebble and put it in your pocket it would probably not be legal.”
"And not to be allowed to collect fossils...it's absurd. It's allowed to cut fossils in building blocks or grind to cement, it's allowed to sell fossils when quarry crushers grind fossiliferous rocks to dust... It's not allowed to collect fossils or trade, although nature itself destroys many fossils in "sites of special scientific interest" by erosion. Scientific research was stoped by law!"
His comments were supported by Chris Packham, a fellow BBC nature presenter, who said: "I can't believe that future generations will learn their trade on television, on the internet and in libraries, because the passion has to come from the heart.
"You've got to want to set your alarm clock to go out and sit in a hide. Young people in particular are so disconnected from the natural world.
"I wouldn't reprimand a young boy that I found climbing to a nest these days. I'd give him a bunk up into the tree."
Speaking on the BBC Radio 5's today prgramme Mr Packham added:
"There are absolutly no young people enjoying our coutryisde. I feared we have turned out ocuntryisde into a dark and dangerous place for children. They don't engage with nature. They aren't picking up fossils, watching fox cubs in the early morning..."
"I would rather spend 10 minutes with a woodlouse in my hand than watching a tiger on TV."
"You've struggled through the brambles and waitied for hours and it ignites a lifetime of interest."...
With the courtesy of: www.telegraph.co.uk