The idea of giving an outgoing Chair of a statutory agency the opportunity to reflect on the state of the world is a good one – particularly if they grasp the opportunity , which Andrew Sells did this morning. He went out of his way to talk up vicarious liability and removal of the general…
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
NE Chair breaks ranks and calls for Vicarious Liability
Giving evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee this morning, the outgoing Chair of Natural England, Andrew Sells, said that he, personally (ie not as NE Chair), favoured the introduction of vicarious liability for wildlife crimes. He added that he was surprised that Defra had ruled it out. Mr Sells did not have…
Two weeks to go
Two weeks today (5 December) our judicial review hearing (and that of the RSPB) challenging the legality of the licensing of brood meddling will start. It’s been a long time coming but it’s not that far away now. Last week I was involved with our lawyers in finalising our skeleton argument – that was filed…
An encounter – briefly
I was at Cheltenham racecourse on Saturday – a delightful afternoon with friends but not a profitable visit. A large part of my enjoyment of racing is the journey to and from the racecourse. The trip to Cheltenham through the Cotswolds was lit up with autumn colours, and the beechwoods before Adlestrop, still copper-gold in…
Defra – political purgatory?
I couldn’t help smile at Jeremy Paxman’s opinion of Therese Coffey in this article from last year. But it was Paxman’s remark that Defra was… … a place of political purgatory, where ambitious politicians suffer torments in hope of preferment somewhere else https://www.ft.com/content/17bedfec-da71-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b482 …that really caught my eye. We’ve had some shocking ministers in Defra…
Access and Influence at New Networks
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I was at the New Networks for Nature meeting on Friday last week – from what I experienced it was a highly successful event. This was the 10th such event which brings together a new network – that of artists and scientists, conservationists and politicians, old codgers and young students. I have to admit that…
Paul Leyland – Meadow Grasshopper
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I usually hear a grasshopper before I see it. Then it’s a matter of looking down on the ground hoping to see it flitting from one stem of grass to another. If I want a photograph, it’s down on my knees and hope the insect stays still or that it won’t be completely obscured by…
Sunday book review – On the Marshes by Carol Donaldson
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Reviewed by Ian Carter I’ve always liked books about alternative lifestyles, especially by people seeking out a gentler pace of life, more attuned to the natural environment. This is a good example and it’s a book I gradually warmed to as the author’s journey across the North Kent Marshes (contrary to the sub-title) unfolds. In…
Tim Melling – Roseate Tern
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Tim writes: on 24th July 1812 Dr Peter McDougall was with two friends on the Isle of Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde. They went out to two small islets in Millport Bay where terns were nesting. One of the party shot a tern and McDougall noticed it differed from other terns in having more…
from Mr Carbo
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