Not much has happened this week – although the ‘ban’ e-petition gained a signature!
My copy of Nature’s Home magazine came through the post and I can see why that hasn’t produced many signatures for licensing from its alleged readership of over 1 million. The small article hidden on page 41 hardly quickens the pulse.
This is a problem for the RSPB – they aren’t showing that they can mobilise their membership (in fact they are demonstrating that they can’t) and they are looking more and more like a weak force. That’s hardly going to make governments anywhere in the UK take any notice of them, nor is it going to strike fear into the hearts of those who are opposed to the RSPB’s aims.
Three e-petitions - how do they compare?
| Position | Signatures | Signs in last week | Days left | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gavin Gamble | Ban | 48,174 | 1 | closed |
| Jane Griggs | Pro | 15,175 | 18 | 31 |
| Ed Hutchings | License | 15,760 | 325 | 52 |
In common with other charities the RSPB has asked all of its members to opt in to being contacted by them. Mike Clarke in his comment piece in the latest edition of Nature’s Home urges us to do so so that we can be contacted when the the RSPB needs our help. I have written to Dr Clarke urging him to take advantage of the permission we have given him to full effect and to contact us individually and chivvy us into signing Ed’s petition. I would encourage others to do the same in the hope that we can chivvy the RSPB into more fervent action. Even if your preferred option is a ban I believe that a strong result for Ed’s petition would help to keep the issue ‘live’ and underline the strength of feeling about the present situation. On the other hand a failure to beat the pro grouse shooting petion (with its damaging and false message that birds of prey are ‘out of balance’ with nature and need to be culled) by a substantial margin would be rather damaging.
Although having signed Ed’s petition, I have always had doubts about whether any form of licensing can possibly work, for so many reasons. However, after Fridays appalling news, I now know it can’t. Ever.
It is now clear that licensing would only play into the landowners hands and give them at least a further 20 year’s of talks and prevarication.
‘Well, we must give this licensing thingy a chance to work you know.. blah blah’
Surely now even the blinkered RSPB can see that it’s time for an outright ban. Problem is now, how do they back down. Hopefully, the debacle over Ravens will give them the answer.
I see the RSPB have advertised the Petition on their main Facebook page following your blog this morning Mark.
Richard – maybe just a coincidence? But it has added as many signatures in a day as it did in the last week. That’s good.
I have never believed that licensing would be effective but, like Paul Fisher, I signed Ed’s petition. Part of my idiotically naïve thinking was that the moderate tone of the petition combined with the might of the RSPB backing it might lead to a snowstorm of votes (maybe 200,000+) that would force wildlife persecution up the agenda and lead to some real action.
I know the petition still has plenty of time to go, but I think Mark has put it perfectly. The RSPB has demonstrated its weakness rather than its strength. It may have a huge membership, but it has shown itself to be unable or unwilling to mobilise them. Any politician, polluter, developer or wildlife killer who might have had some anxiety about crossing the RSPB now knows that they have little to fear.
Like Paul, my only hope is that the actions of some anti-wildlife groups and their apologists are becoming so outrageous that the RSPB may be forced to re-think its ‘we-mustn’t-upset-anyone’ approach.
“This is a problem for the RSPB – they aren’t showing that they can mobilise their membership (in fact they are demonstrating that they can’t) and they are looking more and more like a weak force. That’s hardly going to make governments anywhere in the UK take any notice of them, nor is it going to strike fear into the hearts of those who are opposed to the RSPB’s aims.”
Yes! Absolutely!! Well said!!!
Has the RSPB lost the heart of its founders?
In its earliest days, the society consisted entirely of women and membership cost twopence. The rules of the society were:
That members shall discourage the wanton destruction of birds and interest themselves generally in their protection
I think licensing is worth fighting for, but only if the set conditions are correct.
That means that relying upon criminal prosecutions alone is insufficient. If it is the Government which refuses such conditions – whilst possibly accepting licensing – then that is one thing: but it should not be the RSPB’s job to make it easy for them!
The RSPB need to unequivocally address all their members with a call to arms to support a licensing scheme to protect raptors etc – on shooting estates – which includes conditions which are easily enforceable.
And for those, all you need to do is to read Ed’s blog in this parish.
Remember, UK Raptors are the most persecuted birds in all of Europe! That is what Birdlife International reported!
Let us see some action!
As someone who spent 25 years working for the RSPB – starting out as a volunteer and latterly sitting on the Board – I am baffled and angered by the Society’s apparent lack of resolve on this issue. There is no doubt that RSPB can mobilise its members in droves – if it chooses to do so.
It may feel it has a perfectly reasonable justification for not doing more to support the licensing petition. It will certainly have debated the pros and cons of its stance at Board and Council. Does it have some information that we don’t? Perhaps it would care to enlighten us?
Paul, I suspect the RSPB are influenced by a very obvious fact: there is no chance whatever of the present government introducing licencing in England. RSPB are doing lots to combat raptor persecution in the UK and deserve our support. There are also many other urgent conservation challenges at the moment where perhaps progress can be made. RSPB did not launch the petition but they have publicised it. The time to push for licensing in England (or a ban if you prefer) is when we have a different government – which will happen, sooner or later. And petitions are not the only way of engineering change, and possibly not the most effective way either.
Much of what you say is true, Bob. However, the RSPB should still be battling this with a show of strength, not weakness. Yes, the politics may not be favourable, but I don’t see that as a justification for a lack of steel. You don’t win battles from weak positions, even when the field changes.
Thanks Paul. I think the RSPB are showing a lot of steel where raptor persecution is concerned. The problem is they are being badly let down by the English and Scottish legal systems.
“I suspect the RSPB are influenced by a very obvious fact: there is no chance whatever of the present government introducing licencing in England.”
That becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy… It takes such little effort to publicise a petition when you have a large membership…
But what about Scotland, then? Shouldn’t the RSPB Scotland be publicly pushing for conditions which will ensure the success of any licensing scheme there? All I have heard is the call for a dependence upon prosecutions, but we have decades of experience to show that is unlikely to work on its own. RSPB Scotland should be publicly pushing for license conditions in Scotland to include regular biodiversity audits, and reports on water management…
If such conditions are not adopted all we might end up with in Scotland is a poorly enforced law, like tailgating.
Keith, I’m sure the RSPB are working hard in Scotland to achieve a good licensing system.
Bob W – that’s quite a big misreading of how things work. ‘The time to push for licensing in England is when we have a different government’? Hardly! That ‘different government’ is around now as a bunch of MPs who need to be influenced. The election manifestos for the next general election need to be influenced. The time to influence the next government is before it comes into power not after.
Thanks Mark. I didn’t mean to imply that we shouldn’t try to influence existing MPs and political parties – that’s obviously very important. When you gave your talk in Ipswich you made some interesting comments about petitions and the timing of them in particular, and we know how much effort you and others put into your banning petition. I’m not a big fan of petitions. Personally, I’d like to see the RSPB put together a short film on the misuse of our uplands in general and raptor persecution in particular (but always acknowledging that there are good law-abiding people even in the grouse shooting industry). Some footage of a peregrine struggling in a trap at its nest should be worth a thousand words. Perhaps they’re working on such a film, even now.
Who knows when we will get a different government anyway. I am far from confident that Labour will win the next general election.