A series of images that I’ve been given, apparently from May 2012. What we see is a Lapwing which looks like it might be settling on, or getting up from, a nest. Looks a bit like a male Lapwing on crest length and amount of black – but I’m no expert on Lapwings (and males…
Category: REARED GAMEBIRDS
Writing, reading and comprehension over non-native gamebirds.
I think Matt Cross writes quite well, it’s his reading and comprehension that let him down! This is the Matt Cross who leapt into a long Twitter chain which contained a gross error because he hadn’t properly read the papers on which he was commenting. He has calmed down a bit now, for his current…
Guest blog – A Pheasant Surprise? Possible Implications of In-Combination Effects on the Gamebird Shooting Industry by Richard Wilson
Richard Wilson is a professional ecologist with 20 years’ experience undertaking surveys for a range of clients, His specialist knowledge is in invertebrate and avian ecology, and his technical knowledge informs Environmental Impact Assessments, including when relevant, Appropriate Assessment. His professional background has led to a keen interest in EU and UK law in the context…
Gamebirds victory – keep your eyes open
Following the victory of Wild Justice last week, a legal victory not a campaigning one, I have written a series of blogs about different aspects of the subject from the can of worms of non-compliance with existing legal requirements on registering captive gamebirds to the implications for other jurisdictions, and from the details of what…
Gamebirds victory (16) – the 500m myth
DEFRA Secretary of State, George Eustice, says; The negative effects of gamebird releases on protected sites tend to be localised with minimal or no effects beyond 500m from the point of release. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defra-concludes-its-review-into-releasing-gamebirds-on-and-around-protected-sites I wonder why Mr Eustice thinks that. Might it be because that’s what was in a DEFRA Witness statement made by an…
Gamebirds victory (15) – the 500m buffer zone.
There is a narrative developed by DEFRA and Natural England that the Madden and Sage review, and the bits that they didn’t look at, all combine to mean that any impacts of gamebird releases are limited to, and are known to be limited to, 500m from release sites. This is not true. It’s not true…
Gamebirds victory (14) – NE’s got some work to do
If you read the DEFRA witness statement (paras 11-21) you’ll find that Natural England has a lot of work to do checking sites before DEFRA can be sure that gamebird releases are not wrecking our best wildlife sites. If only there were a regular and frequent programme of assessing important wildlife sites which was properly…
Gamebirds victory (13) – the complex business of licensing
In the previous blog I explained that DEFRA will put Pheasant and Red-legged Partridge on Schedule 9 of the WIldlife and Countryside Act – as non-native problem species. However, they will do other things too. DEFRA intends to limit the operation of the Schedule 9 listing to areas that are important wildlife sites or within…
Gamebirds victory (12) – Schedule 9, WCA
In order to avoid getting a whipping in court yesterday and today, DEFRA had to concede last week on the necessity to assess the impacts of the release of tens of milllions of non-native gamebirds on protected wildlife sites. That is what Wild Justice asked for and that is what we got. Because DEFRA has…
Gamebirds victory (11) – what happens next?
Today, in a series of blog posts, I will concentrate on what needs to happen next as a result of the Wild Justice legal victory. But, since there is a lot of nonsense being written about the Wild Justice legal victory, here is the sealed court order which ended the case and which is based…