Steve Cracknell

Wolves and bears are returning to the countryside, but many shepherds are unhappy, asking who owns the mountains? It is a question that is being asked all over the world. Who does own the countryside? How is that ownership shared? What are the rights and responsibilities? I've been looking for answers in the Pyrenees.

Born in Yorkshire, England, I started walking in the North York Moors, then the Lake District. But it wasn’t until I moved to France 25 years ago that I took up long-distance trekking. I had to write about it.

Soon, I was talking to the locals. I started seeing the Pyrenees from their point of view. The mountains became a backdrop to the humans and animals who live there. I had to write about that too.