Where’s your nearest coral reef?

Most people hear “coral reef” and think of Australia, which, for nearly everyone reading, will be exotic waters 1000s of km away. I asked 10 British friends of mine where they thought our nearest corals were, and not one guessed in the UK, despite there being corals along the English south coast and reef-forming corals off the Scottish Highlands. If you’re American… did you know the Florida Reefs are in the top 5 largest reef systems in the world?

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This is a genuine problem in ecology that is much bigger than a lack of coral knowledge. There is a common trend for most of the nature encountered outside of school to be international rather than local.

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Exotic foreign things in far-flung lands tend to make more exciting documentaries. It is hard to blame the documentary makers; their topics do matter, and the producers need to get their ratings and make their money. But it leaves many people unaware of the exciting treasures on their own doorstep.

I never encountered leaf-mining insects until the 2nd year of University. For the prior two decades of my life, when I looked at a tree, I did not see more than a tree. You rarely stop to appreciate all the things that call that tree home, or the soil beneath it. The website leafmines.co.uk records a massive 767 species. All lay their larvae on or in leaves. Next time you go for a walk, stop and look at some of the leaves and the chances are you’ll probably find plenty of frasses (in non-technical terms… Wiggly lines).

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I don’t think knowing leaf miners exist is essential, but again, they are indicative of wider trends. The 100s of things around us that we don’t know about, even though we’ve all seen a lion chase a wildebeest on the Serengeti.

So… What do I suggest we do about it?

For the interested adult in the UK, I suggest books. You can do your own searching, but I can recommend the following from (either my own reading, or recommendations of Ecologist friends) as a solid start:

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Bird Therapy - Joe Harkness

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Hedgelands - Christopher Hart

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The Lost Rainforests of Britain - Guy Shrubsole

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Craftland - James Fox - This book is not ostensibly about the environment, but professions. Despite this, historic professions are connected to our land and its usage so the book is of environmental value too.

Rewilding the sea - Charles Clover - This describes all the best work of his charity in protecting British waters.

Birds Beasts and Bedlam - Derek Gow

Shearwater - Roger Morgan-Grenville

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If you’re not a reader, or you’re a parent or will become one in the future, I’d recommend instead learning through a more natural discovery approach. Go for a walk and ask questions – if you have a child, they will likely ask plenty for you. Wander around the countryside and ask the internet (or look in identification books if you are so inclined) “What’s that?”, “Why does it do that?” “What does that eat?” “What lives there?”… you are guaranteed to learn new things. This applies even to seasoned ecologists; they cannot be experts in it all. For things you are unable to describe, Google Lens can be a helpful tool. Just be careful not to trust AI overviews or treat automated photo identification as fact without reviewing the plausibility of its claim.