The story about the start of the grouse shooting season this year – on Friday, the Inglorious 12th – is that more 80,000 people have signed a petition to ban driven grouse shooting.
Of 3600+ open e-petitions on the Westminster parliament website this e-petition ranks as the 16th most-signed.
I am very, very hopeful that we will reach 100,000 signatures by 20 September and be given a debate on the future of grouse shooting in the Westminster parliament.
Dr Mark Avery, proposer of the e-petition says ‘Intensive grouse shooting has had its time and now we need to dedicate our hills and National Parks to sustainable land management that stores carbon, produces clean water, protects rare habitats, reduces downstream flood risk and protects threatened species like the Hen Harrier.
Intensive grouse shooting has had its 150 years – it’s time for change.’
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Dr Mark Avery, who launched this e-petition, is available for radio and TV interviews in London on 11 and 12 August – including down the line interviews.
Mark Avery is a former Conservation Director of the RSPB and is now a blogger, author and environmental campaigner. He has done hundreds of TV and radio interviews before.
Contact him via email on [email protected]
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Just to sidetrack slightly; the top three fastest growing petitions at present all involve species protection;
1) (I know it’s about so much more, but still) Hen Harrier: Ban driven grouse shooting
2) Buzzard: Suspend Natural England licence to kill buzzards
3) Hedgehog: Give the hedgehog better legal protection in order to reverse its decline
Proud of you today, nation!
Jim – you’ve spoiler-alerted my evening blog! But I forgive you!
While I did very much enjoy Les Wallace given me the tag Jim ‘numbers’ Clarke the other day, a couple more good predictions and it’ll have to be ‘Mystic Jim’!
3)
Better order a shed-load of popcorn
“Here, we report on the opportunistic use of a replicated and controlled culling experiment (the Randomised Badger Culling Trial) to investigate the relationship between two sympatric predators: European badgers Meles meles and western European hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus. In areas of preferred habitat (amenity grassland), counts of hedgehogs more than doubled over a 5year period from the start of badger culling (from 0.9 ha pre-cull to 2.4 ha post-cull), whereas hedgehog counts did not change where there was no badger culling (0.3–0.3 hedgehogs ha).”
Trewby ID, Young R, McDonald RA, Wilson GJ, Davison J, et al. (2014) Impacts of Removing Badgers on Localised Counts of Hedgehogs. PLoS ONE 9(4):
e95477. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095477
And a wee bit of more local news:
Sheffield, Hillsborough and Brightside has just joined the 100 Club, so just Sheffield South East (currently on 81) for the full set of 6 (/5.5; Penistone and Stocksbridge is half Sheffield, half Barnsley) Sheffield constituencies. Hallam and Central are on course to finish well over 300 (by ‘eck, Central has added 42 signatures in a little over 4 days!), Penistone & Stocksbridge and Heeley look like they will finish well over 200.
Also, just waiting for the last of the 9 Peak District constituencies to pass the 100 barrier; Oldham East and Saddleworth currently on 88. As for the others, well it’s just stunning! Both High Peak and Derbyshire Dales to pass 400? Maybe even a 500?
76796 and 114 added in last hour
– Average Central at 118
Are Marks and Sparks still planning to sell lead grouse this year?!
80,000 cracked at 18.10 today!
Great stuff!
The total for all the Oxfordshire constituencies just passed 1000. All but one also over the 154 line, too.