The Waterlands

It falls in a moment. When the heaviest droplets of ice can no longer be held, the first raindrop slips from the sky and plunges, down through the damp, cold air, thawing as it plummets. Splashing into the sodden hillside, rainfall merging with river source, it flows for the first time.

The Waterlands explores the natural rhythms and miraculous power of water, following a raindrop on its journey through diverse waterscapes: river sources in the upland moors; saltmarsh-flanked firths and estuaries; serene and spectacular lochs; crystal-clear chalk streams; blanket bogs that are both land and water, a thin skin of peat over millennia-old water.

Water sustains these unique wetlands – but they are under threat: reclaimed, built upon, polluted, diverted, dammed; around the world 87% have been lost over the last 300 years. With both water scarcity and extreme flooding on the rise, restoring these waterscapes to their natural state has never been more important. 

Exploring geography, ecology, climate change and social history, The Waterlands is a captivating retelling of the water cycle, and an urgent call to protect our most essential resource.