This week I spent some time at the World Land Trust HQ in Halesworth. I’ve been a Council member of WLT, and for the last couple of years a Trustee (the two roles are different) and now I find myself Chair of Trustees. This is almost akin to being a grown-up, which is a bit worrying.
The WLT is a great organisation and I found this blog about WLT from 2014 which sums it up quite well still. Anyway, you’ll probably hear more about WLT in this blog over the next few years…
It’s amusing that that old blog post mentioned heroes and villains as the next day I was sitting on the beach at Minsmere and heard that I’d been name-checked at the Oxford Farming Conference (along with George Monbiot and Sir Ian Boyd) as a villain. Pretty good company to be in (for me, not necessarily for them) and as I looked out to sea a Red-throated Diver flew past. A few moments later I first heard and then saw a Dartford Warbler in the sand dune bushes, and after a few more minutes a very pleasant RSPB volunteer was letting me look through his ‘scope at the Green-winged Teal in the distance.
My first visit to Minsmere was almost 50 years ago and from very close to where I was sitting I saw my first Marsh Harrier and my first Spotted Redshank. Since then I have volunteered at Minsmere before I went to university (Fighting for Birds p10-12) and had quite a lot to do with it in my 25 years working at the RSPB. Now I am an occasional visitor as a birder – but then, I was a birder on every other visit too.
The view from the East Hide hasn’t changed very much but the fate of birds such as Marsh Harrier, Avocet, Bittern and Dartford Wabler have changed in that time – overall very much for the better for those species and the RSPB has played a starring role in those stories.
[registration_form]
I am a member of WLTand as you say Mark it is a very good organisation. The view from the beach at Minsmere is also very familiar. With the outfall of the river Min just showing on the right of the photo. We often visit Minsmere and stay at my cousins house at Darsham just down the road from Weselton. The RSPB do a fantastic job just think where we would be without them.
Glad you were cast as a villain at the farming conference. Most of the individuals there suffer from very bad myopia and tunnel vision so you would not want to be included in the same category as them..
Congrats on your chairmanship. Just take a deep breath before every meeting, you’ll be fine.
Not surprised at Monibot being name checked at the farming conference after seeing ‘Apocalypse Cow’ this week, compared to him your a pussy cat. Programme could have been a little more grown up production wise but still worth a look if you haven’t seen it. Channel 4 on catch up until 7th Feb. Don’t think it is as far fetched as some might view it.
Les, you might like it, Dennis, give it a miss!