Whoever it was in the Moorland Association who had the bright idea to issue a press release which alluded to the fact that two recently tagged Hen Harriers were missing in action in the most roundabout and misleading way was a fool.
Whoever it was in the Moorland Association who issued this press release without mentioning the police investigations into the disappearances of these birds was a fool.
Whoever it was in the Moorland Association who issued this press release without checking with the police forces carrying out those investigations was a fool.
And now we learn that Natural England were not told about this foolishness either.
Andrew Gilruth of GWCT provided a quote for this release and whoever made him do that was a fool too. Teresa Dent is Andrew Gilruth’s boss at GWCT and is also a Board Member of Natural England. Is she preparing to step down from her NE position or is she preparing to look for a new spin doctor, or is this behaviour of no consequence at all? Let us hope that her trustees in GWCT are helping her make these decisions wisely because such behaviour reflects very badly on GWCT. Those trustees include two former Defra Ministers (one of whom, Sir Jim Paice, is the GWCT Chair) but of course it’s tricky, because the Chair of the Moorland Association, Nick Downshire, is also an ex-officio GWCT trustee.
But the Natural England Board and its chair, Tony Juniper, could step in too. Will they?
The press release was a crude attempt to tell the world that there was ‘nothing-going-on-here’ in the midst of police investigations into the missing birds, when the whole point of the brood meddling project, foolishly, and I would claim illegally, licensed by Natural England, is to remove wildlife crime from the uplands. Of course, we don’t know the fate of these two birds but we are now all very interested in them. And we do know that their disappearance is well worth investigating because we do know that similar birds disappear at the time of year, on grouse moors in the north of England, very regularly and due to illegal persecution.
For how much longer are game shooting interests to be allowed to behave this badly with everybody just looking the other way?
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Wait for the outcome of the police investigation after all you are innocent until proven guilty and then if required by all means use the full force of the law on the guilty.
Suggesting game shooting is in someway to blame without Knowing the outcome of the police investigation as to why the two birds disappearance is behaving badly and foolish.
If you are concerned about anyone jumping the gun on this John, I’d suggest it is the Moorland Association you should be going after for their little attempt at misdirection – malfunctioning transmitters and all that – whilst failing to mention any police investigation.
Given that the history of hen harrier persecution on grouse moors and the fact that the whole brood meddling project was initiated in response to acknowledgement of this fact by all sides it is scarcely being unduly prejudiced to suggest that the possibility of foul play is significant and worth investigation.
So you think Mark is behaving “badly and foolish(ly)”!
Publishing, it seems, another organisation’s confidential data and issuing a press release apparently without the “knowledge or consent” of all of the partners in this controversial scheme – how do you rank that?!
Issuing a press release that exposes an on-going police investigation and throws in all the usual ‘defences’ to the incidents in question “without Knowing the outcome of the police investigation” – how do you rank that?!
Hmm – I reckon you need to think about your moral outrage against Mark and re-direct it somewhere else. The Moorland Association and the Game and Wildlife ‘Conservation’ Trust might be more appropriate targets don’t you think?
Totally agree. Whatever anyone’s opinions are you cant just make out as if game shooting is guilty without being proven so. Your words make it appear to a reader that game shooting interests have been found to be responsible and that is just totally false. This sort of strategy is how you get people to sign your petitions, I’d curb your own ‘spin’ behaviour before accusing anyone else of it.
S – as often, you aren’t reacting to what I wrote, only to something else rattling around in your head.
S,
Read Mark’s response again, this is typical behaviour of the Moorland Association, at best its a premature and ill thought out press release at worst its an attempt to muddy the waters before the facts are known.
Its not a case of “making out” that game shooting interests are responsible, its a case of commenting on a typical opaque and ill informed response from an organisation that represents game shooting interests. The kind of response that does them no favours and your doing exactly the same, trying to imply that Marks blog is “spin” and yet no recognition from you that the actions and the words of the MA press release is dubious practice that isn’t helping their case.
The data from numerous satellite tagged Hen Harriers clearly shows a pattern of mortality on or very close to moors managed for Grouse shooting, now why do you think that is? If it were solely down to natural mortality then that pattern wouldn’t exist. Circumstantial evidence maybe, but drawing attention to this is hardly the same as these birds were shot by game shooting interests is it?
How refreshing, someone has actually engaged their brain on this blog. John’s right the press release is spin, exactly the same as your replied response, and that’s where the trouble begins – between you and Gilruth, both of you enjoy the verbal diarrhea that you hurl at each other with a cock-eyed dualistic viewpoint.
Is anyone that naïve to think that the RSPB doesn’t spin their own doctrine when it suits them, especially if there’s some free dosh being granted? These birds are probably dead, either by being shot or natural causes, until we know its just speculation.
I don’t agree with brood meddling, it goes against everything I’ve tried to do over the past 6 years, but in your case it’s the only game in town, which addresses immediate action for these birds. I’ve got a better chance of opening the batting for England on the next Ashes tour than of grouse moors being banned.
For our Higher Tier Stewardship plan, we have taken financial risks against the advice in the plan – and it has worked, we have experimented in order to increase the biodiversity of plants, insects and animals.
I’ve learnt one thing over the last 6 years, that none of our conservation bodies really work well with each other, all of them have egotistical faults, and all are insular. I started out thinking all farmers should be lined up against the wall and shot, and all those people working within are conservation charities are wonderful – I now think the reverse.
I see brood meddling as an experiment we could try, it’s not ideal – far from it, but it puts the hen harrier back in the public eye. If it proves halfway successful and Gilruth and his cronies want to crow about it – then great – we have a stick to beat them if things start to go wrong.
Thomas – your comment is interesting although almost entirely irrelevant to the post on which you are purportedly commenting.
“How refreshing, someone has actually engaged their brain on this blog.”
Given that, according to your comment, you once thought all farmers should be lined up against a wall and shot and now apparently think that all people working in conservation charities should be lined up against the wall and shot, you don’t sound very much like a person who is particularly adept at engaging his brain.
Clearly the shooting industry have come up with some new trolls to misdirect and disseminate misinformation about your analyses.
John, and Thomas Bickerton, anybody , in whatever circumstance, will always try to put their own ‘spin’ on opposing sides of an argument, we are all as bad.
However, the point here , is that an agreed protocol ,between partner organisations has been
broken, and as I understand it information has been divulged that may, conceivably, prejudice
a ‘live’ police investigation.
When, a few years ago, after a suspected pole trapping incident on the estate where I worked,
I tried to publish my interpretation of the case, pressure was brought to bear on the editor of
my chosen outlet, by the police.
It was explained directly to me ,that the investigation would remain ‘live’ for two years, and any
comments I made , would be deemed prejudicial to this.
The fact still pisses me off to this day.
The Moorland Assoc increasingly find themselves having to justify the unjustifiable.
The Swinton Estate, one of their members, refused to let the meddled harriers be re released onto their land as they new it would inevitably bring poor publicity for their other commercial ventures.
I was advised by a very interested party in this brood meddling experiment that as a direct result of the Moorland Assoc involvement “these five hen harriers would be the safest in the country”. 40% didn’t even last to the end of Sept.
Bang bang, they shot you down
Bang bang, you hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, they always shoot you down.
‘The Swinton Estate, one of their members, refused to let the meddled harriers be re released onto their land as they new it would inevitably bring poor publicity for their other commercial ventures.’
I can think of some other reasons. This was the unlucky estate where Bowland Betty was shot and where a gamekeeper was convicted of using a pole-trap. Very unlucky with Peregrines too.