Emma Marsh, Director, England, RSPB, says: The Westminster Government has issued an underwhelming statement on the future of England’s National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). More warm words and not enough of the action needed. There is huge public demand for these places to be at the heart of the fight against…
Category: THE WILDLIFE NGOs – RSPB, Wildlife Trusts Wild Justice, BSBI etc
Press release from EuroNatur and Riverwatch – Goldman Environmental Prize goes to activists defending Balkan rivers
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I blogged about the River Vjosa in Albania back in March, and if you missed this wonderful video then, have a look at it now; This week sees the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize going to a campaigner defending free-flowing rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Press release from Euronatur and Riverwatch: Goldman Environmental Prize for the…
BBS completed
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Last week I revisited ‘my’ two Breeding Bird Survey squares to carry out the second surveys at each to complete the data collection for 2021. BBS1, as I shall call it, is arable farmland and I have now completed 17 years of surveying it for the national scheme, and BBS2 is mostly farmland by the…
Honours
Full list here – did I miss many people? CBE Jameel Sadik AL-KHALILI OBE FRS, Professor of Physics and Professor of Public Engagement in Science, University of Surrey. For services to Science and Public Engagement in STEM Emma HOWARD BOYD, Chair, Environment Agency. For services to the Environment William James SUTHERLAND, Miriam Rothschild Professor, Conservation…
Wild Justice starts two more legal cases
Wild Justice forced DEFRA to introduce restrictions on the release of non-native gamebirds into the countryside in a process which started back in 2019, produced, eventually a review of the evidence and a last-minute announcement that DEFRA would put Red-legged Partridge and Pheasant on Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act making it an…
BBS 2020 report published
And so this report is different, maybe refreshingly so (just because everyone likes a change now and again) and has fewer trends (because they can’t be calculated reliably) and more reflection. I like reflection. I was quite surprised that in England there were as many as 1757 BBS squares covered compared with 2934 in 2019,…
BBS 2021
Last weekend, the May Bank Holiday weekend, it was back to normal and I made my first visits to ‘my’ two BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey squares in the Northants countryside. Let’s call the two sites BBS1 and BBS2. Actually, when I say back to normal, there is no such thing as a normal Spring as…
Guest blog – HS2, Natural England and Jones Hill Wood, by Dominic Woodfield
Dominic Woodfield is the Managing Director of Bioscan, a long established and well-respected consultancy specialising in applied ecology. He is a life-long birder, a specialist in botany, habitat restoration and creation and in protected fauna including bats, herpetofauna and other species. He is also a highly experienced practitioner in Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations…
Press release – SCOTLAND the big picture
Chain of rewilding ‘stepping stones’ to tackle Scotland’s nature and climate crises A chain of nature-rich hotspots bringing together a diverse group of estates, farms, crofts and community-owned land is to be created across Scotland with a new rewilding network launched by charity SCOTLAND: The Big Picture. The Northwoods Rewilding Network will allow more of…
RSPB press release – 2020 on RSPB nature reserves
2020: an amazing year for wildlife on RSPB reserves New report shows that despite Covid restrictions affecting vital conservation work many threatened species had a bumper year on RSPB reserves in 2020. Highlights included breeding spoonbills, egrets and rare plants, butterflies and spiders. More than 18,500 species have now been found living on RSPB reserves. Despite Covid-19 restrictions affecting access and conservation work in the…