The message went out 5.7 million times just after 10am on Sunday, ‘We’re missing our hen harriers – we want them back!‘
This was too controversial a message to gather the support of Defra (the government department responsible for nature conservation and restoring the status of the Hen Harrier in England), Natural England (the English government’s delivery body) and, shame on them, the National Trust (an NGO that sometimes claims to be ‘…one of Europe’s leading nature conservation organisations‘ and which certainly is a large upland land owner).
As a National Trust member I am very disappointed that the National Trust doesn’t want our Hen Harriers back, or if it does want them back is too scared of large landowners to voice this wish, or… or what? Maybe the National Trust, purveyor of tasty scones, would enlighten us? But here, as so often, in nature conservation, the National Trust is not leading, and is not even following.
On the other hand, there was great support from the RSPB (@natures_voice) with almost all its Twitter accounts joining the thunderclap, from @RSPB_NEScotland (only just in time guys!) to the RSPB in South West England (@RSPBSouthWest).
And on that same hand, the support from the Wildlife Trusts was massive too – with most upland Wildlife Trusts adding their name to the thunderclap (although where was @wildsheffield?) and many lowland trusts too (notably Norfolk WT (@supportNWT), Warwickshire WT (@WKWT), Devon WT (@wildlifeDevon) and Yorkshire WT (@YorlsWildlife), and of course the Derbyshire WT (@DerbysWildlife) but not, sadly for me, my own local Beds, Cambs and Northants Wildlife Trust. Where were you guys? Not impressed.
Thank you to all who used their voices on social media – your help was much appreciated. Together we are so much stronger than when we are apart.
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The effort and support for these events was superb and to be commended. Congratulations to one and all. I hope the arguments will continue to move forward, facts, science and so much else in on the side of what is right, banning driven grouse shooting and therefore bad practise in upland moorland areas, is a focus for all of us who want to protect ‘OUR’ natural heritage. The countryside, the environment and wildlife is for ALL of us, not a just privileged few to enjoy at OUR expense.
I suspect NT is more terrified of its own grouse shooting tenants than of other large land owners. The fact that it is a large land owner yet remains largely silent on the issue of Hen Harrier persecution makes NT part of the problem.
They seem to treat their shooting tenants with much respect than they do a great many of their housing tenants. I’m given to understand that on a nearby NT Estate, many of the NT Estate workers have been served with notices of eviction from homes they have lived in for many years. All so they can draw higher rents from more affluent incomers. I think that’s pretty shoddy.
I’m jumping ahead a bit but the latest news of a shot hen harrier in Scotland – criminal and tragic though it is – has at least made headlines. I would just say that I am formally complaining through the BBC complaints procedure about the sentence in the BBC Scotland online report http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-33861121 which unnecessarily and I think cravenly states “The timing of the appeal is likely to be questioned by the supporters of grouse shooting.” Since when is reporting of an appeal for information about a high profile crime accompanied by a rider that the perpetrators or their friends might find this inconvenient?