tumblr at http://www.tumblr.com/blog/ralph-orangejam
Defra’s year:
- failure to designate marine protected areas
- badger cull on and off like dodgy lights on a Christmas tree
- buzzardgate
- minimal and inadequate adjustments to agri-environment schemes
- Walshaw Moor affair leads to RSPB complaint to EU
- hen harriers almost extinct on their watch
- new Ministerial team
- no progress on forestry
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Mark – you have focused just on the things Defra has screwed up. Surely this this list needs to be balanced with all of the other excellent work the Government has done for the environment this year including ………….let me think…………….
Nope you were right your list seems to cover the sum of achievement this year.
Happy Christmas
And its no different in Scotland……where SNH continues to purge conservation from all its activities.
Seems to sum it up!
Merry Christmas Mark (and fellow readership) – thanks for all the thought provoking discussions.
Mark, Merry Xmas from both of us and I look forward to Next Year’s blogs.
Please add ‘Caving in to DCLG and allowing really damaging legislation on village greens.’
And to be kind: ‘Working hard to draft legislation to resolve how to get the definitive maps of public paths up to date ahead of the 2026 threatened cut-off for claims.’
Agree with all the comments so far; but English Nature did give Butterfly Conservation a very substantial grant to enable them to purchase a new reserve called Rough Bank just up the road from us in Glos. There is all manner of wonderful wildlife there including wonderful moths (some rare) and butterflies plus breeding Redstarts; BC have let it be known that they may decide to reintroduce the Large Blue at this site. Without this grant this reserve would probably have been lost, or at least not properly managed, so thank you English Nature for this at least!
Merry Christmas to all.
Not only DEFRA but parish councils as well. Our parish council has destroyed several hundred square metres of ivy on a wall which was a fantastic wildlife habitat,they have cut a nice bit of meadowland back to bare soil, they destroyed an area of grassland habitat with the only population of slow worms in a 20 mile radius and they have subsequently completely destroyed the said meadowland.
Check out the details on my website http://wildcaldew.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/dalston-environmental-vandalism/
You will find all of this destruction hard to believe
David
Your Parish Council really does seem to be worthy of some sort of prize for environmental vandalism. I believe that Plantlife’s Roadside Verge Campaign is now closed but is due to begin again next Spring so hopefully that will maintain pressure on Councils elsewhere to avoid such crass behaviour – but it will need support. I don’t know how many signatures their petition finally got but my impression was that the numbers were rising painfully slowly whilst it was live. If we want Councils to stop doing this sort of thing we have to let them know we care.
Happy Christmas and keep up the good work!
HiJonathan
Idid inform plantlife about our roadside verges, but nothing came of it. I recently told them again but haven,t heard anything back yet.
Private eye would like this … might be worth forwarding
There was a wee bit of money for some of the many Nature Improvement Areas needed to deliver on the nice words in the Natural Environment White Paper – even one in the far frozen north… But DCLG’s decision not to allow the appeal to extract more peat at Chat Moss was our highlight in Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside rather more than owt that Defra did.
In Northern Ireland, the Department of the Environment’s declared intention to start restoration of the Horse Mussel reefs of Strangford Lough SAC is the best I can remember; though there was some talk from the Minister of permitting NIEA to have a mind of its own; in the reverse direction from Defra’s approach to Natural England.
I’ve not heard much on the Welsh Assembly Goverment’s proposed amalgamation of CCW, FC (Wales) etc?
Season’s Greetings to one and all.
Merry Christmas Mark and all contributors.
Happy Christmas, Mark, and to your readers too.
You pays your money – you makes your choice!
“In 1994, a hunter in southwestern Alpena County shot a 4-year old male white-tailed deer infected with bovine TB. The only other time TB had been found in a wild deer in Michigan was in 1975, when a hunter killed a 9-year old bovine TB infected female white-tailed deer in Alcona County.
Starting in 1995 hunter harvested, road killed, and other dead deer were examined for bovine TB infection. White-tailed deer in Michigan have since been tested year round for bovine TB. Testing revealed that most of the TB positive animals were located in a core area in the northeastern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. The core area is located around the four corners where the counties of Montmorency, Alpena, Oscoda and Alcona meet. Antrim, Crawford, Emmet, Iosco, Mecosta, Osceola, Otsego, Presque Isle, and Roscommon Counties have also had animals test positive for bovine TB.
In Michigan bovine TB has been found in white-tailed deer, elk, black bear, bobcat, coyote, opossum, raccoon, and red fox.”
Conservationists?
Merry Christmas to all!
Merry Xmas to you too Grinchbrush! 🙂
Have a Good Xmas Mark and thanks for entertaing/educating read look forward to 2013. If I haven’t drowned in flood waters!
A great blog, Mark, and some rather sad lowlights for the environment here. Let’s hope that 2013 is more successful. Good luck for the coming year and I look forward to reading more of your posts and the resulting discussions.
Happy New Year everyone.
Sue – thank you and welcome.