Smoke in the hills

Boris Johnson wasn’t watching Extinction – the facts last night even though his missus was, if a report, just a single sentence, in The Times today is to be believed. At the very foot of an article about how the UK would meet its net-zero target is the sentence ‘Plans to ban peat-burning appear to…

Christmas is cancelled – but the grouse must be shot

A day at the races? No. An afternoon at the football? No. Jogging with six friends? Of course not. A day on a grouse moor? Of course old boy. Rich people travelling from the towns to the uplands, drinking and shooting and then travelling home? An epidemiologist’s nightmare! The track and trace records for these…

Extinction – the facts

Did you watch this yesterday evening? I did and I was a bit disappointed by it until it got onto the current and other pandemics. Yes the early part of the programme was interesting and beautifully filmed but there were rather too many talking heads whose soundbites were bookended by stunning or disturbing imagery. The…

RSPB calls out UK’s lost decade for nature – press release

UK failure on international environmental targets revealed by the RSPB on eve of major UN report    RSPB analysis of the UK’s self-assessment reveals the picture may be worse than reported, raising doubts some targets have not been met and highlighting areas where the UK has regressed  The UK must recognise the opportunity to make urgent changes at home…

Brood meddling of Hen Harriers – where next?

The daft government brood-meddling scheme, one of the most controversial so-called conservation actions of my time in nature conservation has always been controversial but following the recent news on Hen Harriers it is in even greater trouble. Brood -meddling (called brood management by its supporters) consists of removing young Hen Harriers from their nests, rearing…