Ray Mears tells teenage eco-zealots to 'relax and enjoy' nature
Survival expert Ray Mears has said are not saving the planet and should stop blaming the older generation for climate issues. The TV presenter, 59, said he is impressed by the enthusiasm of 'vocal teenagers' in their plight to combat , but said they also need to learn to just 'relax' and 'enjoy' nature. Mears, who famously used his bushcraft skills to track down gunman , said youngsters need to realise that it was the older generation who 'opened the discussion'. 'I'm really encouraged by their enthusiasm and their determination to improve the world, but we must also teach them to relax a little bit and enjoy it,' he told the Hay Festival. 'Many people the same age as me, we get the blame from teenagers, and we need to remind them that actually we inherited many of these problems ourselves and this is a new dialogue we're talking about. 'Things that 40 years ago nobody was talking about, so we've actually opened the discussion. 'We've opened the door and we've advanced the knowledge we're handing on to them. We are not the problem - we are part of the solution.' He continued: 'We need to just loosen up a bit. Nature recovers. I'm often torn by teenagers when they say they're saving the planet. They're not. The planet will tick on very nicely without us... The question is our survival. That's what's at stake.' Mears also called for more wild camping sites to help build resilience in the young as he claimed we are living in the most 'dangerous period of our time'. Referring to Dartmoor national park, which was granted permission to appeal against a decision to make wild camping illegal in April, he said: 'The small amount of environmental damage, which is ephemeral, it won't last compared to the massive benefit in the growth of individuals who are training as youngsters or as soldiers on Dartmoor... 'In the back of my mind is, we have never lived in a more dangerous period of time in our history than now and I worry that we aren't resilient in the way that we once were. 'And we need to preserve those opportunities and those places where we can train the next generation to be truly strong so they can face whatever challenges.' Mears, who was promoting his latest book, British Woodland, also praised the 'wonderful' retirees who are 'chaining themselves to trees to protect them', adding that people who want to cut down them down have 'departed from the realms of wisdom'.