The government is about to spend a pittance on a very serious problem – but it should be celebrated as a start. Our trees are under threat from imported diseases – perhaps from some diseases that stand a better chance of becoming established under new climate scenarios. So Defra and the (unreconstructed) Forestry Commission have…
Tag: Defra
Chaos theory – what happens when a butterfly doesn’t flap its wing?
The government and opposition argue about how to manage the economy. They agree that cuts are needed (although the size of the cuts is at issue) but the route to growth is in dispute. If you cut and cut will the economy stagnate? Many small businesses, including small NGOs, are worrying about how public spending…
Checking out
It’s better to be wildlife abroad than at home if you are relying on the English government for help; that appears to be the message from the report card issued by 29 environmental groups on the government’s progress. Defra gets green lights for whales and elephants but seven ambers and seven reds for everything else….
Still plenty of hope
The success of the RSPB’s Hope Farm project gave me a lot of pleasure when I worked for the RSPB and I hope its continued success brightens the life of my successor, the excellent Martin Harper, now and again too. And it still pleases me that bird numbers continue to be so impressive on this…
Sparing the Dogger Bank
This blog brings together information and ideas from several previous blogs. A long time ago, in another life, I wrote this blog about data loggers and kittiwakes heading from Bempton cliffs to the Dogger Bank. It’s a long way to go if you are a little kittiwake – 150km of sea to cross to get…
Sharing or sparing?
A couple of my mates, and a couple of people I don’t know, have recently produced a paper in Science – the US-based not-quite-so-good version of Nature. They look at two versions of land-use and ask which is best as in the title of this blog. Starting from the point that we may soon have…
I’ll be Doggered now I know a bit…
Many thanks to Amanda in the Defra Press Office for the following answers to my questions: Does the Dogger Bank have any extra protection already? On 26th August Dogger Bank was put forward to the European Commission to be selected as a candidate Special Area of Conservation. Under Article 6(2) of the Habitats Directive there…
I’ll be Doggered if I know…(3)
I phoned the Defra Press Office today, and I now have more faith that someone will get back to me – but they haven’t yet.
I’ll be Doggered if I know (2)…
I phoned the Defra Press Office on Monday and they said they’d get back to me. I phoned the Defra Press Office on Tuesday and they said they’d get back to me. I phoned the Defra Press Office on Wednesday and they said they’d get back to me. All I want is the details of…
I’ll be Doggered if I know (1)
Today you get two blogs for the price of none – this one’s about being at sea (or they might both be about being at sea…) Last Thursday Defra issued a press release about the Dogger Bank being given extra protection under the EU Habitats Regulations as a Special Area for Conservation (SAC)(but it’s proposed…