My thanks to Ralph for this cartoon – his idea, not mine.
Monday is the day when I send in the manuscript of ‘A message from Martha‘ to Bloombury and everything is on track. I hope they like it.
I’ve been liaising with the artist who is producing the cover – looking good to me at the moment. How exciting!
I will shut up about this book soon – but, as you will have guessed, I will start talking about it again as we near publication – which is currently thought to be July 2014.
I suppose I had better try to find some paid work now…
[registration_form]
You mean you were doing it all for free!! How brave of you. Oh well the sun is out for the weekend and migration is in full swing. Enjoy.
A picture paints 25.62 trillion words. Here are some more: Long term decline by species:
Tree Sparrow -92%
Willow Tit -92%
Grey Partridge -91%
Turtle Dove -91%
Corn Bunting -90%
Lesser Redpoll -88%
Spotted Flycatcher -87%
Woodcock -83%
Starling -78%
Tree Pipit -75%
Yellow Wagtail -75%
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker -70%
Marsh Tit -68%
House Sparrow -66%
Cuckoo -61%
Curlew -60%
Linnet -56%
Yellowhammer -56%
Skylark -55%
Mistle Thrush -53%
Song Thrush -49%
Lapwing -48%
Bullfinch -47%
House Martin -45%
Meadow Pipit -44%
Little Owl -43%
Little Grebe -40%
Kestrel -39%
Willow Warbler -39%
Grey Wagtail -35%
Reed Bunting -33%
Dipper -32%
Tawny Owl -32%
Dunnock -29%
Herring Gull -29%
Goldcrest -25%
Treecreeper -22%
Great Black-backed Gull -20%
Red-legged Partridge -14%
Sedge Warbler -14%
Blackbird -13%
Kingfisher -11%
Moorhen -5%
Lesser Black-backed Gull -2%
Not my figures !!
Just maybe someone might prove for every loser there is a winner.
Although there is obviously a serious decline in some species we always need to take a balanced view and show the other side.
This hardly ever seems to happen.
We definitely have more WTE,Corvids of all types,Wood pigeons and for sure many others.
When you look into it there are many positives it seems to me.
As I understand it we have 24 species increasing.
Plus 7 that were declining but now levelled off so hopefully we have learn what helps them?.
6 that were declining now improving.
2 that were red alert now increasing.
That is my interpretation but not my figures.
Certainly the decrease in Blackbirds is not representative of this area.
I’m only concerned with the losers!
Just for you Dennis:
Buzzard +435%
Collared Dove +400%
Great Spotted Woodpecker +364%
Nuthatch +203%
Mute Swan +179%
Blackcap +175%
Shelduck +145%
Reed Warbler +135%
Woodpigeon +130%
Green Woodpecker +127%
Jackdaw +124%
Long-tailed Tit +109%
Tufted Duck +104%
Goldfinch +103%
Mallard +98%
Magpie +94%
Great Tit +91%
Carrion Crow +85%
Stock Dove +83%
Coot +81%
Sparrowhawk +81%
Pheasant +76%
Chiffchaff +49%
Robin +49%
Wren +44%
Chaffinch +36%
Black-headed Gull +34%
Coal Tit +30%
Redstart +27%
Blue Tit +23%
Grey Heron +21%
Swallow +21%
Lesser Whitethroat +19%
Common Tern +17%
Cormorant +10%
Sand Martin +9%
Garden Warbler +6%
Jay +6%
Whitethroat +1%
Greenfinch 0
The species mix reflects those found in Gloucestershire.
Both lists reflect UK Long Term Breeding stats.
What do they tell you about balance?
To the conservationists I’ve been funding for decades well done for the positive list, for the negative list can I have my money back please? After all if my nice shiny car came with only half the components I think I’d probably send it back!
It tells you that in ecological terms we are producing a massively simplified and uniform environment, that suits a few species but not many others.
Phil,thank you,put like that it does not look half as bad,Think in actual fact all conservationists are concerned with the losers and lots of them put massive number of unpaid hours helping increase numbers of threatened species.
Those conservationists you blame are in reality blameless in this instance and working very hard to address the problem.
You really need to put the blame on the 55 million or so non conservationists and just think without all that money you have pumped into conservation the problem might well be worse.
Well said Dennis.
Dennis/Joe, was it cold in the sand this morning?
39 species increasing in numbers and 43 decreasing. Nicely balanced eh?
So if we extend that to global bio-diversity a 52% loss is not so bad after all??
Depends on your point of view of course, up here in the stratosphere it’s not looking too good and I blame the conservationists because 55 million non-conservationists obviously have no idea about the level of threat that represents. If they did they’d be putting the environment before the latest gadgets on offer in Apple stores etc.
Dennis – well said, indeed.
Phil,we all have sympathy with your point of view but from what I think most of us see is that mostly conservationists are working very hard and passionately about improving things you highlight.
Dennis, conservationists such as Martin McGill and his team at WWT are engaged in a heroic effort to save another species, Spoon-Billed Sandpiper, that is hurtling towards extinction. Martin also makes the effort to engage with blokes like me to explain the situation and describe the hardships his team endured in establishing a breeding base at Slimbridge.
My earstwhile collegues at my local ornithological society who were at the same talk couldn’t subsequently be asked to campaign COLLECTIVELY for Martin’s cause although they did cough up £100 out of thousands of pounds of excess “charitibly collected” funds sat in a bank doing nothing! So COLLECTIVE conscious salved then!!
When I asked Martin, “Why bother?” he said “because I believe in bio-diversity”.
Funnily enough so do I !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
However, when somebody like me strenuously restates the unequivocal fact that bio-diversity is declining at an alarming rate – Mark Avery’s words not mine, I am vilified for being nasty rather than nice, kind and fluffy. Its a familiar tactic used by politicians since the days of Machievelli!
I am a conservationist in as much as I am sympathetic to the cause but unskilled in getting the message across. I have taken up the professional conservationist challenge to get involved and influence the small circle around me. I am clearly failing in that. What excuse do the professional conservationist leaders, who sit on podiums at Bird Fair telling us about the threat to East Australiasin Flyway got for not reaching the 55 million non-conservationists?
Mark, quick to jump on the lets screw Davis bandwagon, could you please explain?
No you can’t!!!
Phil, you seem to feel that the failure of conservation organisations to have had more impact than they have is a sign that they are incompetent, don’t care or perhaps a mixture of both. Don’t you think that the fact that they are battling against massive odds might also have something to do with it? The ‘excuse’ for not reaching the 55 million people for example could be something to do with the fact that they are competing for attention with people who are very keen for us all to go on consuming merrily and who have incomparably larger budgets to spend. As an example, the latest version of the computer game Grand Theft Auto was produced and marketed with a reported budget of about $265 million – massively more on one product launch than RSPB’s entire annual expenditure. Against this background conservation bodies are arguably punching above their weight in bringing the problems faced by wildlife to the public’s attention.
“he said ‘because I believe in bio-diversity’.”
The notion of “biodiversity” was always (from its inception) liable to be waved around like a placard and screeched about by scientists and non-scientists alike … often with little real thought as to its relative importance or value in specific (rather than generic) circumstances.
Yep.
“Biodiversity” has become a reach-for slogan these days.
Phil,do not think any of us doubt your passion and sincerity and indeed I think we are all on the same side but no doubt we would fail to convince you of that.I do feel you are beating yourself up about something that is too big for one person to solve and that makes me feel sympathy for you although you might see that as patronising.
Do not think for one minute(I have communicated with Mark for several years)Mark even thought lets screw Davis,he is simply not like that and the thought of it even makes me smile as nothing could be further from the truth.
For sure Mark feels at least as passionate about declining species as yourself but recognises it is a long and hard road to correct things.
Please do not think we are against you and perhaps your brand of anger at things will get results.
Hope these words mean something as it is not easy with spitting sand out of my mouth.
Jonathon, Dennis, Doug
Sincere thanks for discussing! It would have been nice if Mark had met the challenge I presented also. You are intelligent people (and clever too) and you can see what I am trying to achieve. For others I’ll spell it out.
Yesterday I spent the day in Birmingham at the RSPB Sandwell Vallley reserve and observed two encouraging developments.
1) two (rspb) volunteers making visitors very welcome to the hide, offering use of binoculars and pointing out what was about (Snipe, Gadwall, Shovellar, Cormorant, Great Crested and Little Grebe, Lapwing, teal, Black Headed Gull and a Mediterranean Gull. The response from the visitors was excellent with genuine interest shown to the extent that I joined in with setting up my telescope so that some got close ups of the various species.
2) A large party of teenagers working with the warden in maintaining the habitat on the other side of the hide and thorougly enjoying themselves. The sort of people that no doubt also spend their time queuing outside Apple stores
A quick call to the Sandwell Valley office today will confirm the above I’m sure 0121 357 7395
This tells me there is hope so long as conservationist organisations and I’m talking about the leadership here not the (Berts and Freds and Veras in the trenches (paraphrasing Spike Milligan), reach out to the currently disconnected. My experiences over the past 4 to 6 years is that they don’t. I tried to engage with the rspb on a couple of occasions recently to get them help me in my personal attempts to make a difference. I was badly let down. The attitude to John Squire Armitage’s ePetition is illustrative of what I’m talking about also. One million voices for nature not being used – why ever not? Lottery money obscuring the overall objective of the organisation? Because the initiative comes from outside the organisation, albeit by an ex staffer, they are not apparently interested. It comes across as arrogance (and incompetance).
The other encouraging development yesterday was the “Great British Wildlife Revival” program that also shows an appetite for redressing the balance. All very nice and fluffy but I personally would like as an addition a hard hitting debate around the subject. For top class presenters with passion to explain why it matters. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver, a couple of foodies, are brilliant at this sort of thing and look at the results they achieve. They are essentially highly skilled, passionate and great communicators. The Great British public will respond if you engage with them, but that seems to be the hardest thing to get the conservationist leadership to take on board.
I’m not beating myself up over this, somebody has to try something different, the strategies of the past 60 years have failed !! I simple use the conservationists own words to carry the fight back to them. That’s probably why I find myself stigmatised and ignored.
Oh jeeeesus Phil.
Not jamie oliver purlease.
I come out in hives whenever that podgy mockney appears on my tv (only to tell us how “byoooodiful” his food is every bleeding 30 seconds…. a great communicator he most certainly is NOT).
Seriously though.
Next time Jamie is on tv….
Sit down and count how many times he does say “byoodiful” in a half hour show.
You’ll be amazed and you’ll not be able to watch his programmes like you used to ever again….
Hi Phil,well I find when we visit rspb reserves that we see exactly the same as yourself that those on the ground are always very helpful and sometimes do more than is required of them.We have certainly seen rare birds we would not have seen without their help and like you we get pleasure out of letting people with no scope look through ours.
Dennis, I never was aiming my criticism at the guys on the fornt line only those who have the responsibility to articulate the story of the evidence uncovered by the troops.
Thinking further about Jonathon Wallace’s response to me above, I am very much aware of the “overwhelming odds” faced by these people, it’s why I plug excellent films like “Consumed. Inside the Belly of the Beast”. Its here on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOKl04TWVsU
Did anybody take the trouble to watch. If so what did you think?
The odds are piled up against those who want humanity to recognise the central role the environment plays in all human activity, the thing is are you “crushed” by the “established orthodoxies” or do you fight?
If you found somebody on the roof of your home tearing the tiles off I assume they’d have the hell of a fight on their hands? So why not get spitting mad with the forces that are wrecking the one and only home we all share? Jonathon what is your position?
Doug, Jamie is a hero to me but I can see he would not be everybodies cup of tea. However, look what he did for out of work young disengaged, disadvantaged people with his “15” string of Restaurants – now a global, social enterprise! Look what he did to get children eating properly at school shaming the money people into funding proper investment in our future generations. Still more influenced by his accent and patois?
Look at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his Fish Fight campaign and the welfare of chickens campaign before it. I can tell you first hand this is a great guy, he gave my own son valuable work experience with his team at River Cottage HQ and you can see him inspiring communities all over with his ideas for self help groupings
I am campaigning for communicators of this calibre to be unleashed to put over the compelling stories the conservationists have to tell? Followed by no holds barred debate between those who place financial capital before human, societal, natural and spiritual capital and those who see the need for a complete rethink (as Colin Tudge stated last week at the Blenheim Literary Festival).
Mark, you are very very good at debating the fine detail of single issues but you become strangely quiet when basic questions are posed attempting to re-establish the fundemental purpose of conservationist organisations and how they are squaring up to the responsibility. I find the same response with the authors of Bird Atlases when I question their reluctance to get involved with the campaigning effort. Silence!! Why engage shed loads of people like me to invest time, effort and skill in compilling a book if your not prepared to fight for the cause in return?
Can we keep this discussion going please?
Phil – you may have noticed that I have been writing a book. You may have noticed that it was due in today. You might realise that I have to earn a living and that I have been quite busy. You might realise that writing a blog every day is part of what I do but is not something that I get paid for. Mightn’t you?
“Still more influenced by his accent and patois?”
Not influenced at all by anything Oliver.
Please be my guest and hero worship the cook without me.
Mark, I had noticed you were writing a book, thats what you do now isn’t it. So two fundemental questions:
1) What is the message from Martha? 55 million non-conservationists need to know not the 12,046 who already know but will hopefully buy your book regardless.
2) How you going to reach the said 55 million or will 12045 suffice?
Doug, so negative, so predictable!!
You deny being a pessimist (off the bat).
Then admit you actually are (with respect to your generation and ngos).
You call me an optimist.
Then call me negative (and therefore predictable).
With demonstrable inconsistency like that… it will remain impossible to take you seriously.
Doug, you read what you want to read rather than read what’s actually written. I’ve been asking some fairly basic fundemental questions of some highly educated, highly knowledgable people on this blog and getting no answers. Any ideas why not?
Phil. You’re “….getting no answers [to your questions]. Any ideas why not?”
Hmmmm…. If I really had to have a stab at one idea – I’d probably say “see the last five words of my penultimate comment on this thread.”.
Doug, On that basis I ought to be a push over don’t you think? Hiding behind wrecking ball tactics is pretty transparent, why not try actually answering some of the questions?
Having had my fingers burnt on a number of occasions, I now think that anybody, whether its Mark, the rspb, your local Ornithological Society or local Bird Atlas project who wants either your money or your time, skill and effort should be able to stand up to some basic scrutiny of their level of commitment to standing up for nature.
Are they using gullible people like me and quite possibly the greatest threat to humanity’s long term survival (their words) to make a living or realise a personal ambition? I’m interested to know and the inability to discuss in all the cases I’ve come across precipitates doubt in my mind at least.
I suspect I’m not alone. Is it any wonder the Lawson’s and Delingpoles hold sway with the 55 million non-conservationists?
Address that question and you might start to turn the tables or are you, Doug, not really that interested!!
Mark, another thought occurs to me regarding question 2 above:
How about you team up with Jonathon Porritt and Caroline Lucas and debate the issues with Lord Lawson, his son Dominic and James (I’m right about everything) Delingpole with Jeremy Paxman in the chair?
If anybody at Newsnight is reading this could you set it up? I’d pay money to see that as part of the lead up to the next election.