FoE begins to expose scale of taxpayer handouts

Grouse moor owners are receiving massive handouts from taxpayers on land used for the hobby of grouse shooting, reveals a study by Friends of the Earth in today’s Guardian. It won’t come as a  surprise to readers of this blog that the future of grouse shooting is being debated by MPs in Westminster Hall on…

Guest blog – Royal Patrons by John Burton

John Burton is one of the most experienced and free-thinking of British conservationists. He was a founder and the first chief executive of the World Land Trust. He stood down from that position recently but will still be working hard for WLT into the future. John has just started blogging himself, here. One of my…

Gems from the written evidence 12 – Tweed Ecology Ltd

This one’s a bit different and rather interesting – extracts from the evidence of Tweed Ecology Ltd: Braithwaite’s assessment of Greenlaw Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the largest SSSI in Berwickshire is particularly damning: – ‘Botanically, this is moorland at its worst, as the cycle of muirburn optimised for grouse has gradually eliminated…

Don’t pass on the Hen Harrier

  This is a beautiful sight, a rare sight, an endangered sight. It’s a food pass between a male Hen Harrier (the grey upper bird) and its mate who will take the food back to the nest and feed it to their chicks.  Wouldn’t you lover to see these avian gymnastics in a National Park…