Ecologists have been studying the causes and consequences of habitat fragmentation for more than 60 years. In this presentation I discuss my role in the past 30 years of that history, especially in tackling the fragmentation "non‐questions" - "Is habitat fragmentation a big problem for wildlife species?" and, "Are the effects of habitat fragmentation generally negative or positive?" I speculate on the reasons why we are, so far, largely incapable of accepting the answers, and I muse on some lessons learned along the way.

PLENARY: Habitat fragmentation: a long and tangled tale