To Kevin Cox, Chair of RSPB.
Dear Kevin,
I see BASC has written you an open letter – click here. As an RSPB Life Member I hope you won’t waste too much time (your staff’s time) agonising over replying. BASC, as you know, have long been thrashing around rather aimlessly, being rude to all and sundry and can hardly string an argument together on the best of days. And this clearly wasn’t the best of their days.
Nor was last Wednesday a good day for BASC, when they were arguing something or other that it was difficult to fathom on BBC Farming Today – click here to listen – and you’ll find a more rationally argued account of the subject from Wild Justice (from me actually).
BASC and many others are getting worried that the life of a Conservative administration in England may fairly soon be drawing to a close for a while. Let us hope so, but although Labour are strong odds-on favourites to win at the moment, I wouldn’t be counting my chickens, restored SSSIs or rewilded uplands until we can see them.
The best thing in advocacy terms that RSPB has done in the past five years was the #attackonnature. It was quick, strong and very welcome. People were talking about it with admiration – maybe not on the Clapham omnibus but certainly amongst the nature writers, nature enthusiasts and the nature conservation professionals. You need to take that outrage into the next 18 months or so heading for a general election. A list of broken promises would be good to see… Here’s one for a start – peat use.
It was only only last August that Defra was saying that 95% of responses to their consultation supported a ban of peat in horticulture and that ‘The government in England is committed to banning the sale of peat and peat containing products by 2024‘ and so we all went ‘Woohoo!’ That was August, last August.
Now, a couple of weeks ago, Defra have pushed that ban back by six years – click here. The conservation NGO community do look a bit like they are being taken for a long, never-ending, ride by this administration. I suggest you simply devote your time to working with the Opposition parties across the UK, make it clear that you have no confidence in this government to do anything very useful nor to keep its promises and say you have more important things to do than sit in meetings that lead nowhere. I’d like it if you did that. The #attackonnature hasn’t ended, it’s just not being so crassly pushed forward at the moment. What is the RSPB response?
Anyway, you’ll be able to read my new book soon which says some nice things about the RSPB and some stern things about the NGO conservation community as a whole. And you’re welcome to have a guest blog here, Kevin – that would do you much more good than responding to BASC’s open letter.
Let’s have a chat some time,
cheers,
M
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Yes please Kevin, I’d also like to see a guest blog on here, great idea.
Another Lifer.
That’s great ! RSPB’s muirburn reporting is obviously hurting – it’s hard to involve people in investigations work – by it’s nature it’s unobtrusive until the police raid. Reporting muirburn means everyone can get involved – a great piece of campaigning, as clearly BASC agree. It is, of course, rich for BASC to be trying to attack RSPB for causing discord. The shooting lobby have made no concessions whatsoever to valid criticism. They’ve relied on a favourable Government for 13 years. That was 13 years in which they had the chance to put their house in order – they’ve done the exact opposite. They’ve forgotten (like the Government that supports them) the first principle of politics – making friends and influencing people. Instead they’ve launched a campaign against one of the most popular TV presenters and the BBC, with their supporters becoming abusive and threatening. In 2012 only one pair protected by the Forestry Commission prevented them achieving the extinction of Hen Harrier in England. The BASC letter tells RSPB it is getting it right – I hope it’s reaction will be to redouble its efforts.
If I were Kevin I would completely ignore BASC or the British association of shooting clots as I often refer to them. They are thrashing in the wind, terrified of a future without the party of privilege and corruption in power to protect their interests. Now if fact is a good time to really give the shooting lobby and their hobby a really good kicking, getting across all the woefulness they support. IOM ALL driven shooting should go and most if not all game bird releases.