Use this post to comment on any events of the last week or so. It would make sense to start your comment with a heading but after that, whatever you like provided it is fair comment and in good taste.
[registration_form]12 Replies to “Free comment”
Comments are closed.
Spring is here
The local roads have sections marked up for East-west Rail
Ecological consultant cars surreptitiously parked on field verges
the stench of the sugar-beet harvest still lingers
And no obvious environmental credentials frm the county mayoral candidates who all want more housing (affordable, obvs!!)
But the lapwings have hatched, whitethroat is back in the garden, and not far away, Nightingales and cuckoo sing.
The dichotomy of modern Cambridgeshire leaves me more frustrated and this new spring dawns
Yet another Hen Harrier dies, sorry disappears with sudden tag failure syndrome, in suspicious circumstances on the edge of that raptor black hole the north York Moors This time a Scottish Border yearling called Yarrow. That makes 53 we know about in a couple of years, Still each case makes me as angry as a stirred hornets nest. I think we the conservationists should no longer be having discussions with what one might call justifiably the dark side in this it is pointless they cannot or will not change. We give their organisational view credence by being prepared to sit with them in discussions, perhaps when the invitation falls through the door those invited should one say where is the local expertise and raptor workers and then NO! until you clean up your act. Its not the only proposal SLE in Scotland have proposed a similar national body to Nature Scot (as SNH is now called), this has been exposed by FOI and is well discussed on RPUK.
We also have The New Moorland Forums where local raptor interest is excluded and the premise is that DGS management will continue, frankly officialdom should be avoiding this like the plague. Surely their premise should be to promote the best future possible for our uplands and not tie themselves to the DGS apologists. I attach below the terms of reference and proposed membership note no local wildlife experts such as NERF, RSPB do not represent local expertise. BTO will not be attending and have not as far as can be established been invited to the other area forums.
NORTH YORK MOORS MOORLAND FORUM
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The members of the North York Moors Moorland forum (NYMMF) represent organisations and individuals who are involved in and committed to developing sustainable moorland habitats that benefits wildlife, communities and the local economy, and acknowledges climate change.
The purpose of the group is to create a focus for joint working, improve communication and to understand and resolve misinformation and misunderstanding. The purpose is also to develop and implement a clear vision of sustainable moorland management to both residents, visitors and the land-based organisations within the North York Moors region.
The forum will work towards;
Developing and adopting a strategy for sustainable grouse shooting and management of grouse moors in the North York Moors, which provides a balance between the aspects of the physical, social and economic environment.
A commitment to Zero Tolerance on illegal raptor persecution, but also recognising the importance of promoting and protecting key moorland species, and in particular ground nesting birds.
Improving methods for local experts and keepers to monitor and record key species.
A better understanding and monitoring of moorland burning practices on blanket bog.
Implementing wildfire plans to aid the prevention, preparedness, response and recovery of wildfires. Promoting the highest standards of practice to reduce wildfire risk on the North York Moors.
An acknowledgement of the need to deal with all forms of rural crime and assist in communicating the investigation and reduction of all rural crime, especially in remote areas of the North York Moors.
Improving visitor engagement
Sharing knowledge and working towards communication messaging for the key areas of sustainable moorland management.
Such other topics which are relevant to the management of moorland in the North York Moors.
MEMBERS
Individuals representing the following organisations;
The Moorland Association (MA) – RAH Sword
British Association of Shooting and Conservation (BASC) – Gareth Dockerty
National Game Keepers Organisation (NGO)
North York Moors Moorland Organisation (NYMMO)
North York Moors National Park Authority (NYMNP)
North Yorkshire Police
North Yorkshire Fire Brigade
National Farmers Union (NFU)
British Trust of Ornithology (BTO)
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) Natural England (NE)
Yorkshire Peat Partnership
For my part I believe the time for talk is long gone because when we did it was always foundering on this or that logjam put forward by the dark side , you found a way through one and they invented another to prevent progress, talking was their only aim not change. So no more meetings in new committees just get on with getting rid of these Victorian and Edwardian anachronisms that have huge impacts on the biodiversity of our uplands, are not economically important and would and could be replaced with something more biologically and economically important plus far more sustainable AND NO MORE EXECUTED HEN HARRIERS ON THE ALTAR OF DGS.
Pheasant outside my window under a Coral Carpet has at last hatched her clutch and led them away cheeping into the blackthorn and hazel forest where they will be part of a stoat’s 5 a day I have no doubt.
Spotted Flycatchers have returned 2 weeks late from winter holiday in Africa only to find it’s very cold and there are no flies
I now see hot in the news that some vindictive two brain celled idiot has chain sawed through the nesting pole of the Llyn Brenig Ospreys. Words almost fail me for a change, one can only hope they are caught and dealt with appropriately for once by the courts. I cannot really articulate how angry and impotent this vandalism makes me feel.
Just the one pole? Lacks the ambition of the nutter from SW London who felled ~50 actual trees before Inspector Knacker caught up with him. Perhaps he was testing a prototype silencer – or everyone in Surrey is deaf. I blame lockdown meself
Raptor hating morons continue in their vile efforts to eliminate birds of prey. Person(s) unknown felled the osprey nesting tree at Lyn Brenig North Wales last night. I despair.
Cut Carbon not Forests
Imagine power stations in Britain changing from burning coal and oil to burning native forest trees to save carbon! Yes. Drax in Yorkshire is the greatest burner of trees in the world!
Old growth, biodiversity hotspot swamp forests in South East USA are being clear felled at a rapid rate to create wood pellets to burn at Drax. And to help them the UK taxpayers are subsidising it to the tune of millions of pounds a day! Are we mad?
Sweden and Finland have just got the EU to accept their native forest timber (as well as plantation stuff) as sustainable biofuels to burn in EU power stations, subsidised of course. After all it is saving us from the dangers if climate change. Burn the planet to save the planet. Apparently Baltic State and Romanian forest are also feeding this insatiable trade.
To me this is the greatest environmental scandal if our times.
Please follow groups such as Biofuelwatch.org.uk and cutcarbonnotforests.org who are campaigning on this scandal. There are links on their websites to write to your MP’s.
Michael Moore’s fillum “Planet of the Humans” covers this and the scandals of solar farm inefficiency, habitat destruction and waste and the same for wind farms. You can get a summary here and some info about where it can still be seen after Moore got so hacked-off by YouTube removing it that he removed it himself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_of_the_Humans
Let’s increase the green madness even more, with a story; let’s say it takes place on the Isle on Wight. A plantation is removed; I’m not averse to the removal of this stuff for the right reasons. The logs stacked and the brush burnt. Then by red diesel tractor and low-loader the logs are transported down to a quay storage area, as it’s the cheapest means of transport. The logs are then stacked by light crane, and then ground into chippings, into a bloody big pile. Then with a JCB the chippings are loaded into diesel dumper lorries which travel down to the dock, where the contents is again offloaded onto barges, which travel the length of Solent to the east coast, where yet again off-loaded into diesel lorries which travel by road to be burnt. Now these people don’t do this amount of work out of the goodness of their heart, they make money – lots of money – but who’s paying for it? Until those with green tendencies emerge from their insular bubble and recognise what’s actually happening in this world, we are not going to achieve anything.
“Until”
While you are holding your breath, you might like to read Steve Koonin’s new book – “Unsettled”
Assuming the vaccinations continue to drastically reduce the risks of covid19 it must be regarded as a triumph for science over the science deniers. Let everyone take note of this and act according to what science tells us and NOT what politicians would like.
Unless I am missing their point the politicians in UK would like us to be vaccinated. I hope the company scientists that developed the vaccines intended them to control Covid-19 rather than to blacken the eye of anti-vaccinators.
We should be eternally grateful to the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Porton Down Defence Science and Technology Laboratory and their colleagues around the world for working tirelessly to keep us all safe.
This in my RSS yesterday – https://unherd.com/2021/05/how-science-has-been-corrupted/