This year is the centenary of the extinction of the Passenger Pigeon and also of the death of John Muir – ‘the Scotsman who saved America’s wild places’. John Muir was born in Dunbar in 1838 and died in California in 1914 – in between he fell in love with the USA’s wildlife and wild…
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And so…
Let’s just take a step back and survey the scene. the number of Hen Harriers nesting in England over the last decade has fallen and this bird is almost extinct in England Hen Harrier Day attracted hundreds of protesters (in appalling weather) and achieved a social media reach of millions the opening of the Red…
Grouse shooters – time to give a mile
The issues surrounding driven grouse shooting are far wider than ‘just’ the despicable illegal killing of protected wildlife – but that isn’t a bad place to start. And we need to start to end it. It is clear from today’s blog by the RSPB’s Conservation Director, Martin Harper, that the RSPB feels that the criminal…
Inner steel
It’s not often that Martin Harper posts a blog on a Saturday but this one is well worth reading. Here is an extract: ‘There is little sign that the grouse moor industry is prepared to condemn, let alone end illegal killing. The industry has to prove that it can deliver the recovery of hen harriers…
Saturday cartoon by Ralph Underhill
George Monbiot on this subject.
Round up
Yesterday, the Wildlife Trusts awarded Simon Barnes (pictured right) their Rothschild Medal. this is a richly deserved honour in recognition of Simon’s campaigning journalism and beautiful writing – it probably deserves a mention in The Times. This year Simon has been closely associated with two issues that will be familiar to regular readers of…
A green deal
I got my electricity bill today and it was a bit less than I was expecting so that was nice! I also got an email from my electricity supplier, Ecotricity, the other day. They’d like me to persuade you to switch to them and then they’ll give you £50 worth of vouchers and me £50…
Suspended sentence for ‘worst bird of prey poisoner’, Allen Lambert
10 poisoned Buzzards = 10 weeks suspended sentence. This is totally outrageous. Media coverage – click here.
RSPB will come out fighting
Whoever is behind the ill-conceived attack on the RSPB fronted by a silent and absent ex-cricketer, a silent baronet and a silent ex-nature conservationist, and carried into the pages of the Mail on Sunday (did you know that the Daily Mail’s editor, Paul Dacre, owns a grouse moor?), I believe they have miscalculated. They have misconstrued…
To Quito with love
I blogged a while ago about the meeting in Quito which has implications for insecticide use on crops, veterinary use of diclofenac and the poisoning of wildlife with lead and other poisons. That meeting is now underway. I hear, from mates in other EU countries (isn’t it good to have contacts?) that things, at the…