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The countryside in 2021
Some good news and some bad news from the countryside. PETER FROST weighs up the last 12 months
Beavers are one of the animals that had a good 2021

FOR ALL of us the virus that the World Health Organisation officially names in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) as “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)” has dominated the way we live.

Meanwhile the natural world around us has carried on with its own complicated life patterns, with a mix of good news stories and some disasters. I’ve mentioned many of them in my weekly Ramblings.

There is no doubt that our climate catastrophe has delivered challenges just as serious for the natural world as Covid is for us humans. 

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(L to R) Elm trees in Old Hall Park, East Bergholt drawn in pencil by John Constable, 1817; The English elm in Preston Park, Brighton is the oldest elm in the country / pics (L to R): Public domain, author supplied
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