Wemmergill Moor is where a young Hen Harrier ‘disappeared’ in February – the latest of so many. It is also the first site where NE agreed a Moorland Management Plan with the estate. These MMPs are the response of Defra and NE to the fact that they have been told by the European Commission that…
Author: Mark
Born Bristol, UK
Educated: Cleeve House School Bristol, Bristol Grammar School and Downing College Cambridge
Ph.D. University of Aberdeen, Winter activity of pipistrelle bats.
NERC post-doctoral Research Fellow, Edward Grey Institute, Oxford University
Former Conservation Director of the RSPB, 1989-2011
Shiants declared rat-free
Brighter future for seabirds as Shiants declared rat free Internationally important seabird colony The Shiant Isles have been officially declared rat-free, thanks to a four-year partnership project to restore them as a secure haven for nesting seabirds. A month-long intensive monitoring check in February found no sign of rats. This means that none has been…
Guest blog – the 25-year plan and my visit to No 10 by Findlay Wilde
Last November I was invited to meet with Sir John Randall, the PM’s special adviser on the environment, to discuss environmental policy and some of the many issues that need addressing. During that meeting with Sir John (and you can read the full details here), I talked about how I can see the impacts of…
Marc’d down on Wemmergill
The news (RSPB blog, RPUK blog) of yet another disappeared Hen Harrier from the cohort of 2017 youngsters is not a great surprise. There aren’t that many left! But the location is interesting – Wemmergill Moor. Wemmergill Moor is a big-name grouse moor. Until 2006, this moor, of 17,000 acres had been in the same…
Wuthering moors (63) – waiting for an answer
I sent this FOI/EIR request to Natural England a week ago: Please send me the Habitats Regulations Assessments for the Catchment Restoration Plan for Walshaw Moor Estate and all associated documents, email correspondence etc. Note that I am requesting the Habitat Regulations Assessments – plural, as I believe that more than one version exists and…