Scotland’s iconic seabird sanctuaries saved for future generations National Heritage Memorial Fund supports RSPB to acquire Bass Rock and Craigleith islands in the Firth of Forth, safeguarding iconic seabird sanctuaries RSPB and Scottish Seabird Centre plan bright future for conservation and public access backed by The National Lottery Heritage Fund As birdwatching rises 1088% among…
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Sunday book review – The Return of the Oystercatcher by Scott Weidensaul
Scott Weidensaul visits successful conservation projects in order to celebrate achievements and to try to dispel feelings of gloom about the natural world. I enjoyed reading about these dozen successes, some of which were, for me, close to home (bird of prey recovery in the UK and rewilding at Knepp Castle in Sussex) whereas…
Guest blog – Walshaw Turbines: Stanbury Bog Expressway of CEP (240 MW) by Nick MacKinnon
Nick MacKinnon is a freelance teacher of Maths, English and Medieval History, and lives above Haworth, in the last inhabited house before Top Withens = Wuthering Heights. In 1992 he founded the successful Campaign to Save Radio 4 Long Wave while in plaster following a rock-climbing accident on Skye. His poem ‘The metric system’ won…
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I’m generally unimpressed by the standard of service delivered by public bodies such as government departments and agencies. And I am generally in favour of us, the public, holding their feet to the fire to ensure better behaviour. The Health and Safety Executive has never impressed me and that is why I was immediately interested…
Stuart Butchart FRS
BirdLife International’s Chief Scientist, Dr Stuart Butchart, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. This appears to be the first time a scientist working in a wildlife NGO has had this honour and it reflects well on both Dr Butchart himself and the overall science of the BirdLife family. The…
Moorland burning for upland management is exposing millions to unsafe air pollution levels – Leeds University/RSPB
Moorland burning for upland management is exposing millions to unsafe air pollution levels In the UK, moorland burning, which is widely used to support recreational shooting, releases small particles of pollution, known as ‘particulate pollution’, which pose a serious health risk when inhaled New research shows prescribed burning led to on average more than…
Sunday book review – Wildlife of Middlewick Ranges edited by Russell Leavett
Little did I think that after reviewing the CNHS’s 70th anniversary book (click here) I’d be revisiting them again so soon but this book, describing the wildlife of Middlewick Ranges is now rather topical. In the recent Wild Justice report (authored by Kiera Chapman, Malcom Tait and Rob Davies – click here), Middlewick Ranges is…
Sunday book review – Whale by Asha de Vos
Who doesn’t like whales? If you’ve seen whales I would guess that the memory remains strong in your mind and that it brings you pleasure. I’ve seen a few whales in my time, from Iceland to the Azores, and off the Pacific coasts of the USA and of Australia. I’m really glad that I’ve seen…
Exmoor’s eagles
Exmoor is an upland area of almost no value in terms of food production – that’s why the recently produced England Land Use Framework – click here – had it shaded as an area for above average land use change. Exmoor is also a National Park. If we can’t put hook-beaked biodiversity back in a…
Natural England, Knepp and storks
On Wednesday morning, the BBC Radio 4 Today programme aired a short chat (click here – in the last five minutes of the programme) about White Storks between Tony Juniper, the Chair of Natural England and Isabella Tree, author, rewilder and leading light in the Knepp project. I guess this was scheduled because even Today…