On Saturday it’s the RSPB AGM – have you booked your place online?
This is always an interesting event, and usually a somewhat uplifting one, and it’ll be fascinating to hear the RSPB’s new position on gamebird shooting. At least, I assume it will be a new position after over a year of cogitation.
The impetus for change came from the membership and the review was put in place to stave off any possibility of anything as unseemly as a fuss being made at an AGM about the RSPB’s position. No doubt, thus prompted, the RSPB thought that a dusting off of an old policy would be a good thing in any case.
I really don’t know what the RSPB is going to come up with and I’m agog to hear. Rumours reach me that the discussions with game shooting organisations on these matters were a bit tense so I expect there will be some harrumphing from the usual suspects and I expect there will be an unflattering account in the Daily or Sunday Telegraph.
A couple of thoughts from me. First, I wonder whether the RSPB has had equally frank talks with the other side of the debate – those who would like to see the RSPB come out against killing birds for fun altogether. I don’t know that they have. And I don’t count myself in that number except where it comes to driven grouse shooting and that is only partly on the grounds of the tastelessness of the scale of killing. I hope the RSPB has engaged with all sides in this debate otherwise it will look a little odd, and things might backfire badly. Shooting organisations can jump up and down and shout but disappointed members become disaffected members and there are always other place to spend one’s money. If one is looking for balance you have to have a good idea of where the pivot is. It was, after all, the perceived lack of balance in the RSPB’s position that created the impetus for this review in the first place. This infographic released by the RSPB in the summer doesn’t look like a membership that is looking for the status quo.
Second, I’m always hearing the RSPB asking government for fiirm commitments which include milestones. It will be interesting to look out for those coming from the RSPB on this subject.
But there will be other things to look out for too. Is the RSPB going bust? What does it claim as its major conservation achievements on the last year? Who gets the RSPB Medal this year?
I’m looking forward to it.
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Yes I am looking forward to it too and to hear the new policy on gamebird shooting. There are a few reasonably new “steaks or bigger steaks in the ground” since the existing policy was formulated. These include,
Firstly, the fact that there is no way the shooters of our wildlife for fun can or wish to prevent their associated criminals from killing protected species.
Secondly the fact that the abuse of our moorlands by the shooters is very much tied into the climate change emergency and its issues. Thirdly the fact that this West Minister Government, because they have so many allies in the shooting industry, has steadfastly refused to take any action in relation to the above two items, to put these right. There is also little or no prospect of them doing so.
Fourthly the millions of game birds released each for shooting is having a serious impact on our native wildlife.
All this to my mind adds up to a considerably more robust policy on the control of shooting being needed from the RSPB. Let’s hope it is forthcoming on Saturday.
The case against DGS and its mismanagement of our uplands has been very clearly made in terms of both persecution of protected species, biodiversity loss, climate change and clean water. r spb surely cannot fail to take this on board.
The case against the mass releases of alien gamebirds is to my mind as strong, my argument is quite simple they can shoot as many of them as they like with lead free shot but releases should be stopped or significantly reduced. Again anything less from RSPB will be hugely disappointing.
RAPB have long treated the shooting lobby organisations as friends, if sometimes very difficult friends, they are not they are and probably always have been anything but friends and any new policy must reflect this. These organisations have by and large continued to be apologists for all that is wrong with shooting and as such are part of the problem and certainly not part of the solutions.
Well, I have in my mind put aside a few quid to join the RSPB (having never been a member), assuming a new stance is taken against all driven shooting & commercial shooting and the associated management practices, Agents and Estates. If they don’t take a new stance, then that money will just go instead to Wild Justice. Odd to think that the last big organisation I was a member of was BASC, for about 17 years.
Ever heard of the issue of hedgerows being twisted into a device for an anti predator agenda?
Have a gander at this shameless contrivance from Rob Yorke…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/04/planning-and-access-to-nature
Dunno about the AGM, but the RSPB hasn’t been keeping up with the taxonomists. Anas got split up some time ago.
Anas clypeata is no more; long live Spatula clypeata. Anas strepera is no more; long live Mareca strepera.
Plus there’s more.
Dendrocopos minor is no more; long live Dryobates minor.
(The bird i.d. section of the website)
Quite probably down to DNA analysis.