COUNTRY lanes ain't what they used to be.
In fact, around busy population centres like Beaconsfield, many rural roads simply aren't safe for pedestrians any more, never mind wildlife.
UNSAFE: country lanes pose risks for pedestrians
Even away from the thunder of traffic on the M40, arterial routes from the fast-growing town are just too hectic to offer much peace of mind for pedestrians, cyclists or horse riders.
Head towards Slough or Amersham on the A355 or Gerrards Cross or Loudwater on the A40 and you'll find that sections without footpaths are pretty much unusable.
QUIET SPOT: an unspoilt byway near Hedgerley
The carcasses of deer, badgers, foxes and the all-too-rare hedgehog bear testimony to just how difficult these litter-strewn rat-runs are for wildlife to navigate too.
And while nature flourishes only a stone's-throw from these routes, the depressing state of our A roads signifies a major disconnect between those who relish and respect the countryside and those who just don't "get" it.
PROTECTED PLACE: Burnham Beeches nature reserve
Author Paul Murray summed up one aspect of the divide with great humour and empathy in The Bee Sting:
The Tidy Towns Committee...was always shiteing on about the natural beauty of the area, but Elaine did not accept this. Nature in her eyes was almost as bad as sports. The way it kept growing? Did no one else get how creepy that was?
I'm not being negative, she said. I just want to live somewhere I can get good coffee and not have to see nature and everyone doesn't look like they were made out of mashed potato.
CALL OF THE WILD: Black Park
We're told teenagers are fearful of climate change and young people generally are much better informed about the environment than previous generations.
But word hasn't spread to the young lads scattering their fast-food wrappings in our lay-bys or the speeding drivers flinging their empty cans and bottles into the hedgerows.
DUMPING GROUND: a ditch beside Stoke Common
Buckinghamshire Council's #ForBucksSake campaign using dashcam footage to help convict litterers is a great step in the right direction, but the fast-food outlets have dragged their feet over printing registration numbers on their packaging, for example.
We're blessed with beautiful countryside in the Chilterns but it's blighted by the detritus of those passing through, oblivious to their surroundings, not to mention the fly-tippers and rogue waste carriers who see the countryside as a handy dumping-ground in their hunt for a quick profit.
THROWAWAY SOCIETY: rubbish left by the roadside
We can blame it on our throwaway society, on selfishness or entitlement, but we need to do more to combat the menace.
It starts in our schools, where we need to do more to allow children to get close to nature, and get their fingers dirty. Chris Packham laments how we have come to live in increasingly sterile environments where people's growing "biophobia" is fuelling an intolerance and ignorance of the natural world.
EARLY START: engaging with nature
We cannot love what we don't understand and we won't fight to protect what we don't cherish. Those who lose respect for the natural world are bound to struggle to engage with any resistance to enviromental destruction and species extinction.
Perhaps that's the message we need to get across to those motorists speeding along our Chilterns highways, wiping out our wildlife and jettisoning their cans and cartons in our bushes as they go.
HOUSEHOLD DEBRIS: flytipping in Buckinghamshire
For those anxious to protect the natural environment, it's hard not to feel a blind fury at those who seem intent on destroying it, or oblivious to the destruction they leave in their wake.
But step away from the main roads and it becomes clear that these mindless idiots are in a minority. On the litter-free footpaths and byways tramped by dog walkers and ramblers, we're reminded that rescuing nature is not yet a lost cause, just a long darwn-out battle with a long way to go.
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