BLOG POSTS
Thank you Andy Sawford MP
I wrote to my MP last week and received a very prompt reply from him on Monday this week! That’s impressive and I am very grateful for the speed and content of his reply. Mr Sawford has written to Owen Paterson on my behalf asking the Secretary of State ‘the extent to which Defra use…
Guest blogs
I’m always on the look out for Guest Blogs on subjects that are relevant to nature conservation. Advice to people submitting a blog to this website: get in touch before submitting your blog so that we can discuss it any blog should be of interest to readers of this blog and of an environmental bent…
Guest Blog by Andy Atkins – Seeing without looking: the joy of abundant nature
Andy Atkins, executive director, Friends of the Earth Andy has been a key player in campaigning and research for human rights and development NGOs including the Chile Committee for Human Rights, CAFOD and CIIR (now Progressio). While at CIIR Andy established a ground breaking programme of work on the developmental implications of the illegal drugs…
20:20 on science and policy
Recently a paper was published, by scientists, about the 20 things that politicians should understand about science. It’s a bit of an irritating list and I was just about to sit down and write about the 20 things that scientists should know about politics and policy-making when, partly to my relief and partly to my…
New CLA President – Henry Robinson
The new President of the CLA is Henry Robinson – well, he’s no longer that new, he’s been in post a couple of weeks. I’ve always liked Henry (though I don’t know him that well – maybe I’m too quick to like). Anyone who I occasionally meet at Cheltenham racecourse starts with a slight advantage…
Scotland’s environment
We’re all told that Scotland is different but it appears that its politicians aren’t that different really. The Environment, Rural Scotland, Energy and Resources chapter of Scotland’s Future forgets to leave a place for nature. It’s all about energy, energy prices, Scottish fishermen and Scottish farmers but very little about the Scottish landscape or wildlife…
Naughtily nutty – the rspb
The rspb is following other farmers into the rapeseed oil business. I visited Ian Dillon at Hope Farm last week and had a chat about it with him. Regular readers of this blog might recall that the rspb bought Hope Farm when I was Conservation Director and so I have a quasi-proprietorial interest in it….
Minox challenge binoculars sell at £622!
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Following my review of them, seven Chief Executives writing Guest Blogs (Mike Clarke (rspb), Stephanie Hilborne (Wildlife Trusts), Martin Warren (Butterfly Conservation), Matt Shardlow (Buglife), Joanna Bromley (Plantlife), Andrew McLeish (MARINElife)), readers of this blog voting on the Guest Blog they favoured most – a pair of Minox 10x43HD binoculars were auctioned on eBay…
Wildlife MP of 2013 – you choose
Wildlife doesn’t have a vote. If the interests of wildlife are to be served, then those interests need to be voiced by us and by our representatives in the various parliaments around the UK. Here is a list (alphabetical order) of six Westminster MPs who have made an impact on wildlife during 2013. Who would…