GrouseMoorExit here we come?

A You Gov opinion poll (2033 respondents questioned on 19 & 20 Sept) commissioned by Animal Aid shows that 48% of people would ban driven grouse shooting – only 28% oppose a ban. So when you take out the undecideds that’s 63% in favour of a ban and 37% against it. Since 52% is enough…

Defra firmly in the shooting camp.

There is a pro-grouse-shooting e-petition which is stumbling forward – it has almost reached 19,000 signatures after 7 weeks (in comparison, our e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting got there in under half the time – who said driven grouse shooting is popular?). Defra has just published its response to this e-petition which is as…

Questions for Defra

I submitted this request for information to Defra on 12 September. I am looking forward to receiving their full response on or before 12 October so that I can refer to it in my oral evidence to the inquiry into grouse shooting.     This email is a request for information ahead of an evidence…

Absolutely last chance

I’m not sure when the cut-off is but you are running out of time to submit evidence to the House of Commons inquiry on grouse shooting. Here is the link. I’ve been sent some of your submissions and several people have quoted our new Prime Minister whose speech to the Conservative Party Conference today  included…

Heather burning, water quality and greenhouse gas emissions

The Committee on Climate Change made a written submission to the Environmental Audit Committee inquiry into soil health in January this year. In it they wrote: ‘The English uplands are dominated by blanket bog and heathland habitats, which tend to have highly organic and peaty soils. When in good condition, peat bogs actively soak up…

I worry about them…

This is Brian – Brian is another Hen Harrier who has gone missing in his first few months of life when travelling around the driven grouse moors of one of our National Parks.  You can read about it here and here. I’m a bit worried about some other Hen Harriers. First we have Finn… …no,…

Compare and contrast

The shooting industry (BASC this time): Heather burning good for biodiversity says study. A consortium of 50+ environmental and wildlife NGOs in the State of Nature report (p26): ‘In large areas, uplands are also subject to burning rotations as part of grouse moor management. This can result in heather dominating blanket bogs and has greatly…

Goyt Valley peregrine – an update

The shooting of a young Peregrine Falcon in the Goyt Valley on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border has been well-covered by our big brother blog, Raptor Persecution UK (see here). Again – they broke the news of a raptor killing – they do that a lot. But there has been follow-up information on the BBC and in…