We are in a time of unprecedented pollution and degradation of our rivers. Sewage  outflows, agricultural pollution from industrial animal farming, as well as fertilisers and pesticides being washed off arable fields into our river systems means that there is barely an inch of river in the UK that isn’t awash with chemicals.

We are suffering a massive health crisis, both mental and physical. The facts are undeniable - the majority of people in this country are unhealthy and unhappy. To me, this seems obviously connected to the fact that we suffer from chronic nature disconnectedness. 

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the 1965 Commons Registration Act - a piece of legislation which has unwittingly created devastating consequences for both humans and nature.

We talk a lot about common rights. But what actually are common rights?

Before I went down the rabbit hole of common land, if you had asked me who owned common land, I might have answered the king (or queen back then), maybe the council, or possibly no one? I had never really given it much thought. Despite living in Cambridge and crossing Midsummer Common most days, who actually owned the land was never something I really thought about.

The term ‘common land’ is used, but what actually is common land? 

Many of us experience metropolitan commons as open green spaces in urban areas, a place to walk our dogs, or have picnics in the summer. A communal space, available for anyone to come and enjoy. Many of us experience the wilds of upland commons in our National Parks, like Dartmoor and the Lake District, and in these places, commons are usually synonymous with sheep. And then there are the lowland commons, sometimes vast heathland or wooded areas, places like the New Forest.

Commons and upland farming have been under the lens a lot recently