BASC wriggling, G(W)CT silent. How interesting.

BASC are wriggling on lead. Their previous Chief Exec appears to be in favour of a lead-free future, on the basis of the evidence. So BASC is preparing to disparage and demean their long-serving and much-respected former Chief Exec, it seems. I cannot understand why BASC is so against a ban on lead ammunition –…

A lead-free future

If you know anything about the evidence for harm from lead ammunition, and know anything about how many other countries have switched to non-toxic ammunition, then it is difficult to imagine how the ‘Lead Ammunition Group‘ could possibly do anything other than opt for a lead-free future. Parts of a single email released under FoI…

Defra – what are you for? 3

Defra – where’s the report of the Lead Ammunition Group, please? The group will be convened for an initial 12-month period…. It’s only been going for five years. Hello? Is there anybody there? Hello??? How long does it take to write ‘We’re heading for a lead-free future as quickly as possible’?

The backlash begins…

Governments from across the world, including the UK, decided over the weekend that lead ammunition should be phased out urgently – for the sake of wildlife and people. Not being able to see a mouth without sticking their feet in it, BASC and the Countryside Alliance oppose this move on grounds that they don’t explain….

Good news from Quito! Twice!

Governments across the world commit to stopping lead poisoning in migratory birds As described in my earlier blogs (here and here)  the inter-governmental Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) has been holding a Conference of the Parties (COP) in Quito, Ecuador this week. One of the Resolutions aimed at stopping the poisoning of migratory birds includes…

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…

A few things

Here are a few things in brief: the farmland bird index declined in 2013 (as predicted here) – and to their lowest level ever. You are living in a country with fewer farmland birds than at any time in your life. Doesn’t it make you feel good? I’ll blog in more detail on this next…

Lead and other poisons

In a couple of weeks time there will be a meeting in Quito of the Convention on Migratory Species. Sounds terribly dull doesn’t it? Well maybe it will be – but maybe it won’t. One of the areas to be discussed is poisoning. I wonder what position our government will take on such issues that…

This is a scandal and yet no-one seems to want to expose it

The shooting industry is poisoning thousands of children and has known it is for years – and yet it still promotes wild-shot, lead-shot game meat as a healthy option. See the minutes of the meeting of the Lead Ammunition Group of 16 April 2014 which say: The survey estimated in UK that 5,500 – 12,500…