Miles King has written regularly on this site. His previous blogs and more information about him can be found here. Twitter: @MilesKing10 . Berrier Farm under Trees: 100 acres of Bog, Heath and Grassland destroyed by tree-planting. England desperately needs more trees, we are constantly told. And it’s certainly true that tree cover here is…
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Gamebirds victory (16) – the 500m myth
DEFRA Secretary of State, George Eustice, says; The negative effects of gamebird releases on protected sites tend to be localised with minimal or no effects beyond 500m from the point of release. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defra-concludes-its-review-into-releasing-gamebirds-on-and-around-protected-sites I wonder why Mr Eustice thinks that. Might it be because that’s what was in a DEFRA Witness statement made by an…
Gamebirds victory (15) – the 500m buffer zone.
There is a narrative developed by DEFRA and Natural England that the Madden and Sage review, and the bits that they didn’t look at, all combine to mean that any impacts of gamebird releases are limited to, and are known to be limited to, 500m from release sites. This is not true. It’s not true…
Driven shooting ceases for a month in England
BASC is quite often ridiculous, but their guidance on shooting and explanation of what Lockdown2 means for shooting is quite clear and really very sensible (although if readers can spot exceptions to that then comment away here!). Driven shooting is off (and the grouse shooting season ends on 9 December anyway) but rough shooting and…
A new lockdown
Depending on where you live, today may mark the start of a new lockdown, but depending on your behaviour, it may not make very much difference to what you actually do. Because of caring duties for two mothers in their 90s our household hasn’t got out much since March and we have got accustomed to…