Back in April they said this – we’re going to have a rally. And they had help, advice and support from the Countryside Alliance, the National Gamekeepers Organisation (I always want to put the apostrophe in there, but they don’t…) and BASC (but it’s not just shooters, oh no!) And they did get a crowd…
Category: THE STATUTORY AGENCIES: NE, EA, FE etc
Natural England praises moorland estates
One can almost forgive the Moorland Association’s over-the-top spin – that’s all they have left to give. There are a few pairs of Hen Harriers on English grouse moors this year. Not as many, I think we will find, as are nesting in other places but the Moorland Association had to jump the gun (apt…
Flows (2)
This area of bog and cotton grass used to be a conifer plantation. Who’d have known? Thirty- three years ago when I first worked in the Flow Country of Sutherland and Caithness I often drove along the road north of Lairg which heads past Crask Inn to Altnaharra where you have the choice of continuing…
New Natural England chair faces massive criticism on social media
Natural England’s new chair, my mate Tony Juniper, has been roundly criticised on social media for his support of Natural England’s licensing of brood meddling. Here is a selection of the comments to give you a flavour: To grant #broodmeddling licences to vested interests 4 one of England’s rarest breeding raptors on grounds that ‘if…
General Licence 31 – Woodpigeons and serious damage to crops
This general licence was published yesterday evening by Natural England – the next ones look as though they will be published by Defra. I’ve had a quick look at it. Noticeable is this passage; This appears to be a recognition of the point raised on this blog last week (and raised in the Wild Justice…
Statutory agencies – fit for purpose?
Wild Justice’s successful legal challenge over the General Licences is the third legal challenge in which I have been involved against this statutory agency in just over a year. First there was my legal challenge of the brood-meddling licence that NE issued in early 2018. As regular readers will know, this case was contested by…
SNH says ‘no’ to Strathbraan Raven cull
Raven. Photo: Tim Melling Excellent news from Raptor Persecution UK – SNH rejects 2019 licence application for Strathbraan Raven cull. That’s good news on which to end the week. Well done to Ruth Tingay and the Scottish Raptor Study Group for taking their challenge. I’m glad I contributed to their crowdfunder. But what are our…
NE plans for licensing of bird-killing represent massive change of emphasis.
Where is NE heading with the licensing of bird-killing under General Licences? It’s difficult to tell, and we’ll have to see. However, the claim that it will all be business as usual already looks unlikely to be true. Charlotte Smith: will it be harder to get a licence? Marian Spain, Natural England: it shouldn’t be…
Non-news: I know Tony Juniper!
Today’s Daily Telegraph has a bit of a go at Tony Juniper for knowing me… It has emerged that Mr Juniper has close links with the group’s [Wild Justice’s] co-founder, former RSPB conservation director Mark Avery. The pair appear to go back a long way. Two years ago, Mr Juniper collaborated on behind More Binoculars,…
Pigeon Pie and the General Licences
Woodpigeon. Photo: Tim Melling Let us take Woodpigeon as an example. Under what circumstances do Woodpigeons cause serious damage to crops – and what constitutes serious damage? And which crops can be seriously damaged by Woodpigeons at which times of year? How is the shooting of Woodpigeons solely for food consumption legal – we suspect…