Intensive grouse shooting depends on wildlife crime – protected raptors have to be killed in order for the big ‘bags’ of Red Grouse to be possible. Even if a particular grouse moor does not kill protected raptors, they will benefit if other grouse moors, near and far, do so. Intensive grouse shooting is underpinned by…
Author: Mark
Born Bristol, UK
Educated: Cleeve House School Bristol, Bristol Grammar School and Downing College Cambridge
Ph.D. University of Aberdeen, Winter activity of pipistrelle bats.
NERC post-doctoral Research Fellow, Edward Grey Institute, Oxford University
Former Conservation Director of the RSPB, 1989-2011
Defra ministers – you need to get a grip
You really know that your predecessors in the job were doing a rubbish job when the top three trending subjects on the Westminster parliament website are in your area – Defra. It’s not the fault of Andrea Leadsom and Therese Coffey that Liz Truss and Rory Stewart did such a poor job for wildlife but…
The Inglorious 12th is Friday. Journalists – get your story here
The story about the start of the grouse shooting season this year – on Friday, the Inglorious 12th – is that more 80,000 people have signed a petition to ban driven grouse shooting. Of 3600+ open e-petitions on the Westminster parliament website this e-petition ranks as the 16th most-signed. I am very, very hopeful that…
IPSO annual report
You may remember that there was a lot of fuss last year over a YFTB-led error-strewn piece in the Daily Telegraph. Many of us complained to the Daily Telegraph and then on to the Independent Press Standards Organisation. With their help we got the Telegraph to correct the piece and print an apology – a…
Leaflet strategy and how you can help, please
There are three types of people in the world of e-petition leaflets: those who haven’t asked for leaflets those who have asked for leaflets and got them those who have asked for leaflets and not got them This post is mostly of relevance to the third category of people, but is also of some relevance…