Three weeks ago Miles King had a Guest Blog here to shine a light on the outrageous planting of trees on a peat bog at Berrier in Cumbria and today Farming Today had a good piece (first 6mins of programme) on that case and the wider issue that it (and Miles) raised, about how careful…
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
What now, DEFRA?
Yesterday’s announcement by the Scottish government makes DEFRA look like it is still run by throwbacks to the Edwardian era. No DEFRA minister with responsibility for wildlife conservation has ever condemned wildlife crime in the terms that we heard from the Scottish government yesterday; not Richard Benyon, not Rory Stewart, not Therese Coffey and not…
Scotland starts the proper regulation of driven grouse shooting
Well, thank heavens for that! And let’s thank the SNP government for having the balls to move decisively (after a bit of a long wait) to announce that they will bring in regulation on driven grouse shooting, muirburn and the use of medicated grit. I was struck by the widespread support for this move from…
Guest blog – Gull Rescue as a Non-lethal Solution by Kevin Newell
I am Kevin Newell owner and founder of Humane Wildlife Solutions we are Europe’s only non-lethal, ethical, environmentally friendly alternative to pest control. We help businesses and individuals all over Europe find solutions to wildlife conflicts without causing harm to the wildlife or the environment in the process. In the spring of 2020 coming out…
Werritty and Westminster
It will be interesting to see how much of the above picture by Mr Carbo will be affected by tomorrow’s statement on Werritty. But BASC and the Countryside Alliance are also predicting that there will be a Westminster Hall debate on grouse shooting in early December. If so, and it’s not listed yet, then this…
Scottish Government to opine on Werritty report
I read on Raptor Persecution UK today that the Scottish Government is going to say something about the Werritty report tomorrow afternoon – good. After all this time of setting up the group, writing the report, publishing it and then reading it, we need to see some action on the subject in Scotland. I’m quite…
Farming Today, today (2)
I heard two good things on Farming Today, today – this is the second. After hearing Luke Pollard talking fish, I heard another good speaker a bit later in Farming Today, Rosie Woodroffe talking Badgers. Now I do know Rosie a bit, not very well but a bit, and I have a lot of time…
Farming Today, today (1)
I heard two good things on Farming Today, today – this is the first. When I turned on I’d just missed the beginning of the programme and there was some bloke talking about marine fisheries. I didn’t recognise him but he seemed pretty fired up, spoke very well and as he talked I thought ‘I…
Guest blog – Birds on the Brink by Paul Sterry
Paul Sterry is a passionate conservationist and has been writing about natural history and photographing wildlife for the last 40 years. He founded the international competition Bird Photographer of the Year and is a trustee of the charity Birds on the Brink. Formed earlier in the year – by unfortunate timing just on the cusp…
Bird/poultry flu update
There is another poultry farm, in Melton Mowbray, Leics, with avian flu (announced yesterday). DEFRA has updated its ‘wild’ birds register too. Mostly wild birds like Canada Geese… Many poultry farms are under lockdown but it is expected that some turkeys will be allowed to travel just before Christmas.