Standing up for Nature
Mark writes: have you been watching the Attenborough series, The Hunt, on BBC1 on Sunday evenings? Top notch, I’d say. A great mixture of large cuddly killers and small invertebrate killers. I’ll be watching tomorrow.
The Rural Payments Agency has just (30 minutes ago) confirmed the amount of penalty imposed on the Stody Estate – it’s €263,308.10 (which according to my currency converter app is £192,160.63). This differs from the figure estimated by raptorpersecutionscotland by a fair margin – perhaps they will be blogging about this later in the day…
Dr Emily Adams is a researcher, writer and manager who currently lives in Zurich, Switzerland, and works part-time for the British Association of Nature Conservationists (BANC). She has a PhD in Geography (studying beekeeping knowledge and engagement with science and policy), and a background in biology and conservation. She runs a small silk painting company,…
…our e-petition to get a debate on driven grouse shooting passed 24,000 signatures yesterday. Another milestone – and thank you to all who have helped get there. This was, by far, the slowest additional 1,000 signatures of the lot – but I don’t think that means that the e-petition has lost steam – there are…
The story of Bowland Betty is one of a Hen Harrier satellite-tagged in Bowland in 2011 and then travelling around much of upland Britain before being found dead on a Yorkshire grouse moor in June 2012. Bowland Betty was shot, not necessarily on the Swinton Estate on which she was found, but most probably nearby,…
One of the many good things about writing a blog is that one learns things from the wise comments of one’s readers. This quote was posted by reader, Northern Diver (and I am very grateful to him or her) on my blog Too little, too late about NGO feebleness: ‘You have two babies very…
Congratulations to Andy Richardson and the shooting community for quickly reaching the 10,000 signatures milestone in their badly-worded and badly-argued e-petition to keep toxic lead ammunition. That is the way to do it – it’s effective campaigning, even though for an awful cause. My sincere congratulations to them (clearly BASC was involved and who knows…
It was just over a year ago, 9 November 2014, that the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (in Resolution 11.15) called on Parties to “Phase-out the use of lead ammunition across all habitats (wetland and terrestrial) with non-toxic alternatives within the next three years with Parties reporting to CMS…
In response to the call from the Labour Shadow Minister, Alex Cunningham, to get rid of lead ammunition the Countryside Alliance’s Tim Bonner huffs and puffs in the Huffington Post. In an article wittily called ‘Lead Ammunition – the Facts’ Bonner says very little of note. He says that the issue should be decided on…
Prof Sir John Lawton FRS is a distinguished ecologist and is the chair of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1989, awarded a CBE in 1997 and knighted in 2005 for his contributions to ecological science. He has been awarded numerous other national and international science prizes. John…