Next week I will blog about badgers again, one day (not sure which day). The definition of a cartoon. Ralph Underhill is a talented cartoonist – more of his work can be found here.
BLOG POSTS
BASC, Countryside Alliance and the chocolate
It is now over a week since I pointed out that the statements by BASC and the Countryside Alliance on the relative amounts of lead in chocolate and game meat are incorrect. Whereas these rash statements may have originally been made in error they remain on the BASC and CA websites: BASC says ‘Pound for…
More good news – unless you are a raptor hater
Today the Environmental Audit Committee publishes a report on Wildlife Crime. Amongst other useful findings it recommends that the government in England and Wales introduces an offence of vicarious liability for wildlife crime (as already exists in Scotland) and makes the possession of the banned pesticide carbofuran illegal (as it already is in Scotland). In…
A burning question for the National Trust
This blog has been a bit critical of the National Trust in the past, suggesting that it isn’t taking its nature conservation work sufficiently seriously, and so it gives me great pleasure to highlight an excellent piece of work, nearing fruition, by NT. It’s such good news it is worth being the second blog of…
Guest Blog – Christopher Graffius (BASC) Lead Shot
Christopher Graffius is the Director of Communications at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). He enjoys shooting and fishing and goes wildfowling on the Dee estuary and shoots game in North Wales. Mark Avery has invited me to contribute a “guest blog”. I’m happy to do so because I’m convinced that interaction between…
Wuthering Moors – 29 The bigger picture
The Walshaw Moor Estate case is important in itself, and we commend again the RSPB for taking a firm stand on it, but it is also indicative of a much wider and deeper Defra malaise. If Defra is not now acting merely as the Rural Jobs and Fieldsports Department then it needs to get its…
Wuthering Moors 28
In a move that will be highly embarrassing for the UK government, particularly for Defra and the Defra Minister Richard Benyon, the RSPB today launched a complaint to the European Commission over the Walshaw Moor affair. The RSPB is ‘Stepping up for Nature’ by suggesting that Natural England, the delivery agency of Defra, contravened European…
Birdwatch
My latest column in Birdwatch (the one with the Sabine’s gull on the cover) discusses whether we should like pheasants or not – I’d like them more if they weren’t full of lead. I wrote in BBC Wildlife a few months ago about pheasants too – now there are lots of letters on the subject…
Ralph Underhill cartoon – 4
On Monday I am taking part in a discussion as part of Biology Week where we will discuss whether we should bother saving the panda. Looks like fun and I hope to see you there. Saturdays are cartoon days on this blog and feature the work of talented cartoonist Ralph Underhill.
Not so blithe now
I entered three poems for the Rialto/RSPB poetry competition but, not surprisingly, none of them won a prize. I’ve always liked Shelley, red Shelley, for his lyricism but also for being a campaigner and an angry one at that. If he were back with us he might (or might not) write this: Not so…