Defra doesn’t have a clue about who the Secretary of State has met recently. That’s the most charitable interpretation of their behaviour. In March this year (Defra have the date wrong in their response) I asked Defra the following questions: What meetings has Michael Gove had with Ian Coghill (GWCT) and/or The Ninth Marquess of…
Search Results for: Wuthering Moors
Three more gone – Defra’s plan is wholly inadequate.
Hen Harrier, Hilma. Photo: Steve Downing. Hen Harrier, Octavia. Photo: Steve Downing Hen Harrier, Heulwen. Photo: Guy Anderson. Three more young Hen Harriers have disappeared – all in areas of driven grouse shooting. See the RSPB Skydancer blog for details. Rory Stewart’s Hen Harrier Inaction Plan is working very, very badly – just as many…
Great timing!
Gove meets the Dukes (and see here) and NE meet the ‘keepers. You couldn’t get a cosier relationship between the regulator and the regulated (ha! ha!) than that between Defra/NE and the industry responsible for large chunks of wildlife crime and unsustainable moorland management. For an alternative view turn to yesterday’s statement from Sue…
Bowland Gull Cull 18 – the Habitats Regulations Assessment
Having read NE’s response to my FoI/EIR request, and the proposed MoU between NE, Abbeystead, Bleasdale and United Utilities and the SSSI/SPA Management Plan, we now move on to the 27 pages of the Habitats Regulations Assessment. This document is where NE assesses whether a plan or project will affect a site designated under the…
Guest blog – Whither Now for State Nature Conservation? 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…