Always think of the land!

It’s somewhat ironic that a few weeks after the Labour Party said it was dropping its policy to renationalise water utilities the idea is gaining more currency in public debate. On Today this morning, at around 08:23,  Baroness Young, a Labour peer, was asked about the idea and sounded somewhat sceptical and on PM this…

Press release – Wild Moors

Peatland restoration value hits £470m, outpacing grouse shooting as an income source for landowners A new analysis has shown that trading carbon by restoring upland peatlands could be worth more than four times the economic value of grouse shooting. Amidst reports that grouse moors may face another uncertain season, new market analysis released by Terra…

Alternatives to driven grouse shooting

This paper is a mixture of the completely obvious and the quite important. It takes the oft-quoted suggestion by pro-grouse-shooting interests, that the only real alternative land uses to intensive driven grouse shooting are harmful agriculture and harmful afforestation, and says that isn’t true. It clearly isn’t, because what happens in terms of land use…

Burning

This post is about the announcement, long-awaited announcement, overdue announcement, that DEFRA made on Friday about burning on blanket bogs. I’ll tell you what I think in the hope that it influences what you think. I’ve read the announcement, and thought about it, and that probably helps. 1. The announcement is good news The announcement…

RSPB press release – moorland burning is massive problem

New analysis shows that burning of moorlands is the biggest threat to England’s most important places for wildlife New analysis of Government data by the RSPB shows that the burning of moorlands is the biggest identified threat to England’s Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). The analysis also shows that no reason has been identified…