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Wild Service
In May 2022, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences released a paper that measured fourteen European countries on three factors: biodiversity, wellbeing, and nature connectedness. Britain came last in every single category. The findings are clear. We are suffering, and nature is too.
Enter 'Wild Service' – a visionary concept crafted by the pioneers of the Right to Roam campaign, which argues that humanity's loss and nature's need are two sides of the same story. Blending science, nature writing and indigenous philosophy, this groundbreaking book calls for mass reconnection to the land and a commitment to its restoration.
In Wild Service we meet Britain's new nature defenders: an anarchic cast of guerilla guardians who neither own the places they protect, nor the permission to restore them. Still, they're doing it anyway. This book is a celebration of their spirit and a call for you to join. So, whether you live in the countryside or the city, want to protect your local river or save our native flora, this is your invitation to rediscover the power in participation – the sacred in your service.
Enter 'Wild Service' – a visionary concept crafted by the pioneers of the Right to Roam campaign, which argues that humanity's loss and nature's need are two sides of the same story. Blending science, nature writing and indigenous philosophy, this groundbreaking book calls for mass reconnection to the land and a commitment to its restoration.
In Wild Service we meet Britain's new nature defenders: an anarchic cast of guerilla guardians who neither own the places they protect, nor the permission to restore them. Still, they're doing it anyway. This book is a celebration of their spirit and a call for you to join. So, whether you live in the countryside or the city, want to protect your local river or save our native flora, this is your invitation to rediscover the power in participation – the sacred in your service.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published April 25, 2024
44 people are currently reading
746 people want to read
About the author
Nick Hayes
26 books80 followersNick Hayes is the author of The Rime of the Modern Mariner, an updating of Coleridge’s famous poem, and the visual biography Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads, both of which are among the most highly regarded of recent British long-form comics. He has also published two collections of his short comics, Lovely Grey Day and 11 Folk Songs. He is the founding editor of Meat magazine, a periodical showcasing new writing, comics and illustration and has won two Guardian Media awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 17, 2025
"If not me, who? And if not now, when? Passion is my qualification."
An inspiring collection of essays written by diverse people on nature and people being part of nature, reconnecting and taking on responsibility. Mostly focussed on UK's nature as part of the Right To Roam movement, challenging ownership advocating for access, so mainly UK citizens are the intended readership. I'm assuming this because of the word "our ..." but (as 'assume' makes an ass out of you and me both, as one of my favourite quotes of this year states) maybe our understanding of the word OUR and what it might exclude needs changing as well. Caring even if you are not addressed directly.
Wild Service as "placing nature above human", "a form of participatory belonging."
"The threat to nature comes not from our people, but from our culture, an ideology which promotes the experience of nature as a resource to be extracted, with the only legitimacy required being enough money in your pocket to afford the price tag."
"While we can live happily enough in a world without princes, we should refuse to live in one without puffins."
An inspiring collection of essays written by diverse people on nature and people being part of nature, reconnecting and taking on responsibility. Mostly focussed on UK's nature as part of the Right To Roam movement, challenging ownership advocating for access, so mainly UK citizens are the intended readership. I'm assuming this because of the word "our ..." but (as 'assume' makes an ass out of you and me both, as one of my favourite quotes of this year states) maybe our understanding of the word OUR and what it might exclude needs changing as well. Caring even if you are not addressed directly.
Wild Service as "placing nature above human", "a form of participatory belonging."
"The threat to nature comes not from our people, but from our culture, an ideology which promotes the experience of nature as a resource to be extracted, with the only legitimacy required being enough money in your pocket to afford the price tag."
"While we can live happily enough in a world without princes, we should refuse to live in one without puffins."
January 28, 2025
‘In a country broken by environmental decline, political fracture and social division, it is nature, not nation, which provides the most likely source of unification.’ -
I loved every page of this book. Not only informative about the environmental destruction of England, but it also emphasises how reconnecting with nature is integral to healing social and political division in this country.
More than anything, I loved how this book was not written from a white privileged perspective that can often dominate environmental discourse. The diverse voices offered a refreshing insight into how we can reconnect and restore nature step-by-step.
Finally, ‘Wild Service’ does a spectacular job of deconstructing the myth that those who own the land are its capable stewards, and it is our increasing responsibility to challenge their dominion over nature.
It shows how over time those who own the land have torn communities from nature, not just in the UK, but indigenous populations across the globe, and how we must reclaim our old traditions tied to the land.
5* and a perfect starting point for anyone spiralling about climate change, and how we can start to take action in small ways.
I loved every page of this book. Not only informative about the environmental destruction of England, but it also emphasises how reconnecting with nature is integral to healing social and political division in this country.
More than anything, I loved how this book was not written from a white privileged perspective that can often dominate environmental discourse. The diverse voices offered a refreshing insight into how we can reconnect and restore nature step-by-step.
Finally, ‘Wild Service’ does a spectacular job of deconstructing the myth that those who own the land are its capable stewards, and it is our increasing responsibility to challenge their dominion over nature.
It shows how over time those who own the land have torn communities from nature, not just in the UK, but indigenous populations across the globe, and how we must reclaim our old traditions tied to the land.
5* and a perfect starting point for anyone spiralling about climate change, and how we can start to take action in small ways.
December 7, 2025
Enjoyed dipping in and out of this over the last year. Learned a lot and got angry about things I hadn't thought to be angry about, so job done
June 18, 2025
‘we can quite happily live in a world without princes, but we should refuse to live in one without Puffins’ ❤️
July 10, 2024
I love everything to do with the Right to Roam movement and will continue to read anything they publish. The work they are doing to spread awareness for the importance of being connected to nature, in order to light a fire underneath people’s bellies to protect it, is imperative. If we don’t feel a kinship and connection to the land, then we are never going to possess the urgency to save it. This manifesto is truly inspiring. Collecting the individual voices of people from across the globe, who are each doing their own little bit to protect the land they live within, and uniting their shared common sentiment is so powerful. It gives me faith that no matter how small an action may seem, if you are doing it, it will amount to something. I especially found the teachings on indigenous philosophies interesting, as it educated me on the fact that this call to action is not some newfangled idea, it is drawn from some of the oldest thinking humanity has ever possessed, we have just forgotten it. I loooved ‘The Architecture of Belonging’ sections and will probably never look at a rope swing the same again! My only criticism is that some points were slightly repetitive due to each author having their say, but the message they were repeating is an important one and probably does need to be driven home.
June 24, 2025
This is an important and worthwhile book with multiple contributors which isn't quite what I expected: far less specific and practical, more high concept, sometimes in my view downright silly and contrarian. A particular lowlight, frustratingly in a really important piece on class, is the assertion that digging a pond and sitting in a park drinking lager are straightforward equivalents. Using a place, just being in a place has value, and not all of us can or should, for a variety of reasons (not much disability in this book...) be digging ponds all over, but still...
These are, on the whole, not people like me, in a number of ways, and I retain a sneaking suspicion that it is the very rebelliousness that is wired in or attractive and wonder what will happen if some of the ideas become, as I hope, mainstream. But I do very much value the perspectives here - the return to older definitions of stewardship from the narrow (and so often woefully inaccurate) PR of landowners, the notion of a right to responsibility.
These are, on the whole, not people like me, in a number of ways, and I retain a sneaking suspicion that it is the very rebelliousness that is wired in or attractive and wonder what will happen if some of the ideas become, as I hope, mainstream. But I do very much value the perspectives here - the return to older definitions of stewardship from the narrow (and so often woefully inaccurate) PR of landowners, the notion of a right to responsibility.
June 25, 2024
I urge you to read this book. The myriad voices, sharing a common sentiment, echo across the pages. Nature needs us. Shared culture, shared land, a shared passion for nature, the intrinsic values of what makes us human, what makes us a part of nature, and why we need to protect it. Our connectedness to each other and the earth that we walk upon, from the Highlands of Scotland to Namibia. Keep singing those folk songs, keep sharing those experiences, keep trespassing and challenging ownership.
Wild Service is a manifesto for protecting nature told in voices from all walks of life.
Wild Service is a manifesto for protecting nature told in voices from all walks of life.
July 16, 2024
Good environmentalist rallying call .. well worth reading
April 22, 2025
This book is a compilation of chapters of perspectives on approaches to nature, conservation and connection. It felt almost “academicy” at times but was still an enjoyable read.
May 17, 2024
A beautiful beautiful book. It’s charm lies in the different voices and perspectives unified by a love of the natural world. This book explores our relationship with the land and offers opportunity for us to consider how we can rebuild it for a positive future. I loved it.
October 10, 2025
It's a sad and (quite frankly!) astonishing fact that, in 21st century Britain, we still have to contend with the feudal enclosures of whole parts of our countryside,with the majority of lands still being private and so access to them being denied to the general public unless through "trespass". The Right to Roam campaign surely had succeed into bringing some change (e.g. the CROW Act 2000) yet...
Yet, the vast majority of our rivers still remains closed off to swimmers and canoeists; many forests and woodlands are excluded from the CROW Act; fees can be charged by landowners to access otherwise wild terrains; and (the elephant in the room) this overall lack of access still mean lack of accountability when it comes to what some private owners are actually doing on their lands, from the destruction of natural habitats to the endangering of whole biomass, and/ or releasing of animals mainly for shooting games (e.g. pheasants etc.). So how, then, do we address this?
This book is interesting for two main reasons. First, because it's an anthology of various essays written both by campaigners and landowners (mainly farmers). This shows that compromises and consensus can be reached between the two camps, by demonstrating that not all landowners are merely motivated by selfishness, entitlement, greed and/ or unconcern for nature (far from that!) while stressing that free access to nature certainly doesn't mean being free from responsibility. Then, because of its core stance regarding why freedom to roam should be crucial to wider environmental issues. There is indeed a very interesting parti-pris taken here, one that leans towards a support for the deep ecology movement (encouraging the idea that nature should have the basic moral and legal right to be protected) while not challenging the concept of property rights per se but, our understanding of "property" itself hence relationship with nature. Put bluntly, it's about encouraging a change of mindset from that of "stewardship" (which, as some authors here are showing, can be both paternalistic and anthropocentric) to that of "guardianship" (far more inclusive and so far more relevant).
All in all, then, this is a very interesting read bringing to the fore quite powerful arguments for a new relationship with nature and our so-called wilderness. Environmental issues have become a major topic of urgency at our planetary level. Thing is, we the people won't be able to address them adequately if we don't have a basic understanding of nature to start with. As such, it all starts with connecting with our natural environments even if merely at a local level. But then again: how is that possible in countries where private owning of vast arrays of lands still prevent the general public to make such connecting? Right to Roam is not only about contributing to fight ignorance when it comes to nature (a sad reality as it is, especially among younger generations including mine...). It is, above all, about contributing to a whole redefining of our understanding of our very place in the natural environment, and so of our responsibilities (let alone basic right to be responsible!) regarding its very survival.
Yet, the vast majority of our rivers still remains closed off to swimmers and canoeists; many forests and woodlands are excluded from the CROW Act; fees can be charged by landowners to access otherwise wild terrains; and (the elephant in the room) this overall lack of access still mean lack of accountability when it comes to what some private owners are actually doing on their lands, from the destruction of natural habitats to the endangering of whole biomass, and/ or releasing of animals mainly for shooting games (e.g. pheasants etc.). So how, then, do we address this?
This book is interesting for two main reasons. First, because it's an anthology of various essays written both by campaigners and landowners (mainly farmers). This shows that compromises and consensus can be reached between the two camps, by demonstrating that not all landowners are merely motivated by selfishness, entitlement, greed and/ or unconcern for nature (far from that!) while stressing that free access to nature certainly doesn't mean being free from responsibility. Then, because of its core stance regarding why freedom to roam should be crucial to wider environmental issues. There is indeed a very interesting parti-pris taken here, one that leans towards a support for the deep ecology movement (encouraging the idea that nature should have the basic moral and legal right to be protected) while not challenging the concept of property rights per se but, our understanding of "property" itself hence relationship with nature. Put bluntly, it's about encouraging a change of mindset from that of "stewardship" (which, as some authors here are showing, can be both paternalistic and anthropocentric) to that of "guardianship" (far more inclusive and so far more relevant).
All in all, then, this is a very interesting read bringing to the fore quite powerful arguments for a new relationship with nature and our so-called wilderness. Environmental issues have become a major topic of urgency at our planetary level. Thing is, we the people won't be able to address them adequately if we don't have a basic understanding of nature to start with. As such, it all starts with connecting with our natural environments even if merely at a local level. But then again: how is that possible in countries where private owning of vast arrays of lands still prevent the general public to make such connecting? Right to Roam is not only about contributing to fight ignorance when it comes to nature (a sad reality as it is, especially among younger generations including mine...). It is, above all, about contributing to a whole redefining of our understanding of our very place in the natural environment, and so of our responsibilities (let alone basic right to be responsible!) regarding its very survival.
July 1, 2024
The excellent essays in this book, while UK-centric, are drawn from the knowledge of Indigenous philosophies from around the world. I could say a lot about my takeaways after reading, but a big theme for me was how harmful the deep-set shame of human presence in nature is seen to be in western cultures. If we are raised to believe that all of our interactions with nature will taint it, and that we are not to be considered a part of nature, of course we will grow to feel a disconnect with the natural world. One of the book's rallying cries is to replace this shame with connection, and give all people the right to show their responsibility toward nature by not revoking access to forests and rivers, but allowing ourselves to be able to interact and remember how we are a part of everything. I've simplified the nuances involved in the stories in this great compilation, but can recommend it to anyone looking for ideas on how to improve your personal or community's connection to the natural world.
September 15, 2025
A series of essays by mostly amateur nature and ecology activists exploring their own relationship to the land, in England particularly but across the British Isles and more globally.
The essays breathe logic, a profound and obvious reasoning as to how we as human expressions of nature have lost our awareness of connection to it and how we might reconnect and heal.
They present personal experiences to highlight the simple ways in which anyone can meet nature where they are. Though the ultimate aim of the book is to highlight our duty of care for the natural world, there is no preaching or doom-laden narrative, just simple words of human connection, of initiatives taken and of love in action.
This is an important book for anyone with a sense of their responsibility towards nature, and an even more important read for anyone who has lost that sense.
The essays breathe logic, a profound and obvious reasoning as to how we as human expressions of nature have lost our awareness of connection to it and how we might reconnect and heal.
They present personal experiences to highlight the simple ways in which anyone can meet nature where they are. Though the ultimate aim of the book is to highlight our duty of care for the natural world, there is no preaching or doom-laden narrative, just simple words of human connection, of initiatives taken and of love in action.
This is an important book for anyone with a sense of their responsibility towards nature, and an even more important read for anyone who has lost that sense.
May 31, 2024
It sometimes feels that there are so many books about what we can do for nature that it becomes bewildering and it was perhaps that that made me surprised to find that I had a resistance to reading 'Wild Service', but this book is certainly not a 'to do list'. Instead, it weaves politics, history, folk tradition,ecology, resistance and so much more in an anthology of essays that are thought-provoking, inspiring, galvanising, and occasionally even amusing. And Nick Hayes' illustrations are gorgeous!
'Wild Service' is not about requirement but about relationship, love, and reconnection with the land and nature; a call to reclaim what has been deliberately taken from us through division and a bitter enchantment. 'Wild Service' is a prayer to resituate ourselves within nature, not apart from it, and so to take responsibility for nurturing that relationship. We need it. The land needs it. Life needs it.
This is a wonderful, hopeful, inspiring book. And anything that acknowledges the tragedy of the Enclosures and the loss of the Commons is alright with me. A must read for anyone who cares about anything at all.
We are Esme Boggart!
'Wild Service' is not about requirement but about relationship, love, and reconnection with the land and nature; a call to reclaim what has been deliberately taken from us through division and a bitter enchantment. 'Wild Service' is a prayer to resituate ourselves within nature, not apart from it, and so to take responsibility for nurturing that relationship. We need it. The land needs it. Life needs it.
This is a wonderful, hopeful, inspiring book. And anything that acknowledges the tragedy of the Enclosures and the loss of the Commons is alright with me. A must read for anyone who cares about anything at all.
We are Esme Boggart!
July 24, 2025
The Bloomsbury hardback green and gold cover is gorgeous and the black and white woodcuts throughout are beautiful - and for these alone I am glad I requested this book from the library. But I wasn’t expecting this to be a collection of essays, and whilst I really enjoyed some (particularly Amy-Jane Beer’s chapter on Reciprocity) others required a level of intellectual or philosophical engagement that I wasn’t prepared for - I was looking more for practical inspiration.
All of which to say, this got a quick read - skimming the main chapters, jumping to the Wild Service in Action interludes, all of which I enjoyed -and because I didn’t really properly engage with the full text, I am marking this as abandoned rather than read.
All of which to say, this got a quick read - skimming the main chapters, jumping to the Wild Service in Action interludes, all of which I enjoyed -and because I didn’t really properly engage with the full text, I am marking this as abandoned rather than read.
March 11, 2025
A very welcome conttibution from right to roam to the rights of nature. As we humans are part of nature, so we cannot save nature without putting ourselves back in nature. The illustrations by the author all put human figures in nature. Again we are shown we cannot reshape nature to its imagined original form by erasing humans from nature. Illustrated with examples of individuals taking this lesson to heart a vision of future humanity in a reciprocal relation to nature comes into view. I would like more of this.
May 24, 2024
This is a beautifully illustrated book, but apart from a few insights the narrative lacks depth and says nothing new, at least for this reviewer. My expectation from the title, and especially the sun-title - Why Nature Needs You - that the book would include a perspective from science. The view of this reviewer is that we need nature more than nature needs us, and that nature will always continue even if we, as a species, don’t.
September 4, 2024
A series of essays all linked by the concept of Wild Service. The strongest essays, for me, are those that explicitly link the current eco-environmental catastrophe to its capitalist roots and the white supremacist ideology. Less convincing are the essays which get metaphysical about nature - however well-meaning.
June 1, 2025
Read this if you care about Nature. we are all custodians, it's not too late to save oyr rivers, oyr birds and our trees but we need radical change. Right to Roam should be at the front, left and centre of the Green Party. Bursting with positivity and ideas, small change can be beautiful. Ibrahim ❤️
July 11, 2024
A call to reframe nature as something we ought to serve. A pleasure to listen to individual accounts of personal connections with nature from butterflies to black poplar trees. Some really strong takeaways too around indigenous practices, rethinking land ownership, sharing and caring.
January 4, 2026
Some sections a lot more gripping than others, but t was cool to have a variety of different voices and ways of looking at the subject instead of just a guy. I particularly liked the architecture of belonging sections.
May 5, 2024
a well written series of essays, impressive how none of them repeat each other
May 18, 2024
Spectacular book, everyone in the UK should give it a read. Hugely inspiring and uplifting, wild service is something we can all take action on and get excited about.
June 9, 2024
Beautiful, empowering and important book.
July 6, 2024
A beautifully written book, that’s a pleasure to read. Perhaps overly utopian in its hope for an improved relationship between humans and nature, but it’s nice to dream sometimes.
August 15, 2024
A book everyone should read.
May 31, 2025
inspiring
June 16, 2025
I wish I had the words to explain just how much this book moved me! It moved me to tears multiple times and moved my mindset on land ownership, access and conservation, and the role of people in them
September 21, 2025
Nick Hayes Goat
February 16, 2025
This book contains some interesting ideas, in a set of essays, to complement the Right to Roam campaign but, for me, contains too much "new age", pseudo-spiritual, "the past as a rural paradise" material, which I didn't find helpful and sometimes just irritating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews