Following The Times‘s support for the RSPB’s moderate shuffle forward on gamebirds along comes The Guardian too. Maybe less surprising that the Guardian thinks that greater regulation is all very sensible – but they are right.
Some quotes:
[registration_form]Since some of the damage to wildlife associated with the dramatic recent intensification of shooting is widely recognised, it reflects extremely badly on the shooting industry that its initial reaction has been hostile. Even repeated calls to stop using lead shot, which is poisonous, have been resisted…
Pheasant, partridge and duck shooting are part of social life in many rural areas, and there is no threat to these kinds of activities from the RSPB, or even from more radical groups such as Wild Justice, whose crowdfunded challenge to the release of tens of millions of game birds without any environmental assessment of their impact will be heard by a judge next month.
It is reprehensible, given the huge climate and biodiversity challenges facing us, that those who claim to have rural interests at heart appear determined to block progress.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/12/the-guardian-view-on-game-shooting-the-threat-is-to-nature-not-sport
If one looks at the various shooting organisation websites there is no mention of the new RSPB policy statement on that of GWCT, NGO, SGA, that of the Moorland Attritionists writes of the current regulation being sufficient and how they are tackling the ills of persecution and burning themselves– the case for self regulation in other words, a similar argument is forthcoming on the BASC website. Whilst that of the Countryside Areliars has two recent pices in latest news with the headlines “Why is the RSPB throwing stones at shooting?” and “The RSPB’s unprincipled approach to shooting.” both by that doyen of of not seeing the other pointof view Tim ” not nice but dim” Bonner. Based on this I suspect that the majority of shooting has either just renewed its contract for the sand to hide its head in or sees any compromise, change for the better or regulation as a large step too far, entirely predictable bluster, one hopes for a more reasonable view behind the front line but I somehow doubt it.
I suspect this is going to seriously test the metal of those in charge at RSPB and hope they are forewarned, forearmed and up to the task because it appears intransigence still rules.
A message for shooting– there will come a time very soon I suspect when you will not be able to rely on the protection of a sympathetic government, the jester Johnson and his talentless buffoons are being rumbled and may soon be out on their undeserving ear.
There has to be a change, the grouse moor owners can’t keep managing this land from the recommendation of Genghis Khan manual on the scorched earth policy. Would I be worried if I was them on the RSPB juvenile school gate veiled threat that “my dad’s bigger than your”? Probably not.
What is of concern for me is later in the article on land greed, for this I can’t blame any Moors Owner, as no one wants any part of these moors. But, they want other land and are prepared to offer ridiculous sums to get it.
In our lifetime we probably won’t see the full-extended outcome of this latent stealth acquisitions, but problems are brewing and offers a future bigger threat to wildlife, than a bunch of Neanderthal’s burning the living soul out of the moors.
They clearly still don’t get the message. There was a brief item on Farming Today yesterday morning when BASC and Martin Harper were interviewed. BASC were still saying that detailed discussions were needed. So they haven’t changed. They have been following this tactic for ten, ,twenty and more years. In other words doing absolutely nothing under the pretence of “discussions” .
Don’t be coned or fooled RSPB it is now down to the shooters, who like to kill our wildlife for fun, to halt all their abuses of the land and our wildlife, period. Thirty years of so called “discussions” have clearly failed to improve the situation and in fact things have got worse.
The problem is that the shooters have their “fairy god mother “ behind them in the form of Defra and Natural England so I think it will take a change of Government to really force the shooters to stop or get rid of their abusive, so called “sport”.
In my opinion, from experience, the grouse moor owners will never ever get the message. They don’t have the capacity for critical self-assessment. Roughly speaking they fall into two camps – firstly, the super-rich from new money (or second or third generation of these) who they think that having big money trumps everything else, and it often seems to. Secondly, the old Establishment and landed aristocrat types who see a betrayal. They genuinely believe that somewhere within the social and economic compromise they were obliged to make in the last century, they were promised a free hand over both military and countryside matters.
Saddened to read of a bearded vulture shot dead in France. Unfortunately the arrogant people who disregard the legal protection of birds of prey in pursuit of their own narrow interests are not a uniquely British phenomenon.
https://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/Reintroduced_Bearded_Vulture_shot_dead_in_the_France.aspx?fbclid=IwAR2oql1Uk0AQt82JbYQm–raTc9pR9imNbDnfeuJP-UzBUXV_sGX2aaqeUE&s_id=871854152
In my opinion the statements and posturing by the shooting organisations is part of a strategy. So that, when (not if) licensing is discussed they can look as if they are being ‘reasonable’ by moving towards accepting licensing but are arguing from a position of ‘needing’ minimum restrictions (i.e. changes from what they currently enjoy) to continue operating.