Chris Baines
Encyclopedia
Professor Chris Baines is one of the UK's leading independent environmentalists. He is a gardener, naturalist
, television presenter and author
.
Baines grew up in Sheffield
. He worked in the local park
s department when he left school, and then studied horticulture
and landscape architecture
at university
.
landscapes in the Middle East
and community landscaping on U.K. inner-city housing estate
s, Chris taught landscape architecture at post-graduate level until 1986, when he was awarded an honorary personal professor
ship at Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University
), in Birmingham
.
In 1980 he was one of a group of local environmentalists who co-founded Urban Wildlife Group (now the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country), the first of a series of such urban conservation organisations to appear in the UK that year. This was the beginning of a burgeoning urban wildlife movement with which he has always had a close association.
Through most of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Baines focused on television broadcasting, and presented The Big E, Countryfile
, Saturday Starship, Pebble Mill at One
and several other networked series.
Baines built the first wildlife garden ever allowed at Chelsea Flower Show
in 1985, and in the same year his television programme Bluetits and Bumblebees, and his book, How to Make a Wildlife Garden, inspired many people to begin gardening with wildlife.
The Wild Side of Town, which accompanied a five-part television series of the same name, won the U.K. Conservation Book Prize in 1987. His other books include four story books for young children. His investigative environmental series for children, The Ark, won the International Wildscreen Award in 1987. Also in 1987, Chris recorded an album, The Wild Side of Town, with the folk-rock Albion Band and then toured the U.K., raising money for the British Wildlife Appeal.
In 2000, he presented Charlie's Wildlife Gardens with Charlie Dimmock
.
Baines is one of the U.K.'s leading environmental
campaigners, and in recent years he has particularly championed the cause of trees. He led the fight to prevent cable television
and other utility companies chopping through the roots of urban street tree
s. He has also promoted the concept of urban forestry in the U.K. He is a member of the steering committee of CABE Space, the U.K. Government's urban greenspace adviser.
He was principal adviser to Trees of Time and Place, a campaign for the millennium
which encouraged people to gather seed
s from a favourite tree, grow a seedling
and plant it for the future. He also founded International Dawn Chorus Day in 1997. He is now a member of the steering board for the BBC's Breathing Places campaign.
Baines is committed to urban wildlife and wildlife gardening. He works from home in Wolverhampton
, is president of the Urban Wildlife Partnership and vice-president of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts
. He is a former trustee
of the Heritage Lottery Fund
and continues as a member of the HLF Expert Panel. He is President of the Association for Environment Conscious Building, the Thames Estuary Partnership and the Essex Wildlife Trust
. In 2004 he was presented with the RSPB's annual Medal of Honour for his contribution to nature conservation and sustainable water management.
Baines now works as a self-employed freelancer, and advises government ministers, local councils and senior executives in major water, minerals, finance, construction and housing companies, on environmental practice.
He is particularly active as a professional environmental adviser to the house-building and development industry in the UK. He chairs the independent design panel for the largest new housing development in the Thames Gateway
, East of London at Barking Riverside and he also advises on sustainability at the 2012 Olympic Athletes' Village being built at Stratford, East London. He advises on regeneration in the UN World Heritage city of Bath and in the new township of the Hamptons, Peterborough. He has a particular interest in the environment of retirement housing and is retained by specialist developer Beechcroft. He also advises the UK government's Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) on biodiversity aspects of their proposed Ecotowns.
He is retained bt the Technium Centre for Advanced Software Technology (Technium CAST
) at the University of Bangor in North Wales, where he is working to improve communication of whole river catchment management.
Baines writes frequently in BBC Gardeners' World
, BBC Wildlife
and Country Living magazines. He also writes regularly for Dales Life.
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
, television presenter and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
.
Baines grew up in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. He worked in the local park
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
s department when he left school, and then studied horticulture
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
and landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
at university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
.
Career
After an early career in landscape contracting, including several years of greening desertDesert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
landscapes in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and community landscaping on U.K. inner-city housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
s, Chris taught landscape architecture at post-graduate level until 1986, when he was awarded an honorary personal professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
ship at Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University
Birmingham City University
Birmingham City University is a British university in the city of Birmingham, England. It is the second largest of three universities in the city, the other two being the Aston University and University of Birmingham...
), in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
.
In 1980 he was one of a group of local environmentalists who co-founded Urban Wildlife Group (now the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country), the first of a series of such urban conservation organisations to appear in the UK that year. This was the beginning of a burgeoning urban wildlife movement with which he has always had a close association.
Through most of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Baines focused on television broadcasting, and presented The Big E, Countryfile
Countryfile
Countryfile is a British magazine-style television programme produced by BBC Birmingham, first aired on 24th July 1988, which reports on rural and environmental issues within the United Kingdom. For its first 20 years it was fronted by broadcaster John Craven, until he stepped back from the role of...
, Saturday Starship, Pebble Mill at One
Pebble Mill at One
Pebble Mill at One was a popular British lunchtime chat show broadcast live originally on BBC2 before transferring to BBC1. It was produced from the Pebble Mill facilities of BBC Birmingham, and uniquely was hosted from the centre's main reception area rather than a traditional studio...
and several other networked series.
Baines built the first wildlife garden ever allowed at Chelsea Flower Show
Chelsea Flower Show
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show, is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London...
in 1985, and in the same year his television programme Bluetits and Bumblebees, and his book, How to Make a Wildlife Garden, inspired many people to begin gardening with wildlife.
The Wild Side of Town, which accompanied a five-part television series of the same name, won the U.K. Conservation Book Prize in 1987. His other books include four story books for young children. His investigative environmental series for children, The Ark, won the International Wildscreen Award in 1987. Also in 1987, Chris recorded an album, The Wild Side of Town, with the folk-rock Albion Band and then toured the U.K., raising money for the British Wildlife Appeal.
In 2000, he presented Charlie's Wildlife Gardens with Charlie Dimmock
Charlie Dimmock
Charlie Dimmock is an English gardening expert and TV presenter. She was one of the team on Ground Force, a BBC gardening makeover programme.-Early years:...
.
Baines is one of the U.K.'s leading environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
campaigners, and in recent years he has particularly championed the cause of trees. He led the fight to prevent cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and other utility companies chopping through the roots of urban street tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s. He has also promoted the concept of urban forestry in the U.K. He is a member of the steering committee of CABE Space, the U.K. Government's urban greenspace adviser.
He was principal adviser to Trees of Time and Place, a campaign for the millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
which encouraged people to gather seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s from a favourite tree, grow a seedling
Seedling
thumb|Monocot and dicot seedlingsA seedling is a young plant sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle , the hypocotyl , and the cotyledons...
and plant it for the future. He also founded International Dawn Chorus Day in 1997. He is now a member of the steering board for the BBC's Breathing Places campaign.
Baines is committed to urban wildlife and wildlife gardening. He works from home in Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, is president of the Urban Wildlife Partnership and vice-president of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts
Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts
The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts or RSWT is a registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter to promote conservation and manage environmental funds...
. He is a former trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
of the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
and continues as a member of the HLF Expert Panel. He is President of the Association for Environment Conscious Building, the Thames Estuary Partnership and the Essex Wildlife Trust
Essex Wildlife Trust
The Essex Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Essex and part of Greater London , England. It is headquartered at Abbotts Hall Farm, Colchester....
. In 2004 he was presented with the RSPB's annual Medal of Honour for his contribution to nature conservation and sustainable water management.
Baines now works as a self-employed freelancer, and advises government ministers, local councils and senior executives in major water, minerals, finance, construction and housing companies, on environmental practice.
He is particularly active as a professional environmental adviser to the house-building and development industry in the UK. He chairs the independent design panel for the largest new housing development in the Thames Gateway
Thames Gateway
The Thames Gateway is an area of land stretching east from inner east London on both sides of the River Thames and the Thames Estuary. The area, which includes much brownfield land, has been designated a national priority for urban regeneration, taking advantage of the development opportunities...
, East of London at Barking Riverside and he also advises on sustainability at the 2012 Olympic Athletes' Village being built at Stratford, East London. He advises on regeneration in the UN World Heritage city of Bath and in the new township of the Hamptons, Peterborough. He has a particular interest in the environment of retirement housing and is retained by specialist developer Beechcroft. He also advises the UK government's Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) on biodiversity aspects of their proposed Ecotowns.
He is retained bt the Technium Centre for Advanced Software Technology (Technium CAST
Technium CAST
Technium CAST is a building of the Welsh Technium Network, located in North Wales at the foot of Snowdonia and on the shores of the Menai Strait...
) at the University of Bangor in North Wales, where he is working to improve communication of whole river catchment management.
Baines writes frequently in BBC Gardeners' World
BBC Gardeners' World
BBC Gardeners' World is a British gardening magazine owned by BBC Worldwide containing tips for gardening from past and current presenters of the television series Gardeners' World. The magazine often has offers on plants, free supplements and giveaways...
, BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife is a British glossy, all-colour, monthly magazine about wildlife, founded by BBC Worldwide and published through the BBC Magazines Bristol division, also trading as Bristol Magazines Ltd....
and Country Living magazines. He also writes regularly for Dales Life.
Television programmes
- BBC Gardeners' World 1981 and 1999
- Your Country Needs You 1988
- Grass Roots 1993 - 1996
- Bluetits and Bumblebees 1985
- The Big E 1988
- Countryfile 1989 - 1992
- Saturday Starship 1986
- Pebblemill at One 1981 - 1984
- The Ark 1987
- The Wild Side of Town 1987
- Under the Axe 1998
- Charlie's Wildlife Gardens 2000
Awards
- International Wildscreen Awards, winner of children's TV prize for The Ark, 1987
- Sir Peter Kent Conservation book prize for The Wild Side of Town, 1987
- Honorary Fellow, the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management
- Honorary Fellow, the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management
- Honorary personal chair, University of Central England
- Honorary Doctorate, Sheffield Hallam University
- RSPB Medal for contribution to conservation
External links
- The Albion Band - The Wild Side of Town