Not so Fine Shade (8) – perfectly Fineshade!

Yesterday evening’s decision by East Northants District Council was the right one, and was arrived at through a mixture of heart and head. David Williamson, speaking for the Forestry Commission demonstrated no ecological understanding of the importance of this site and his message to the councillors was essentially ‘Don’t worry dears, it’s all OK really’. …

Another unsatisfactory response from Defra

I met up with Sir John Randall MP earlier in the week for a chat about a range of issues – mostly about birds as Sir John is a keen birder. Yes, we covered Malta, Hen Harriers, the banning of driven grouse shooting and a range of other topics. We also talked about diclofenac use…

What the Wildlife Trusts are saying about tomorrow’s EU elections

The following is taken from a Wildlife Trusts’ press release:   The UK will elect 73 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) tomorrow who will have significant influence over a range of important EU policy decisions.  For people who care about the future of nature in the UK, these decisions are crucial. During the next…

What did politicians offer?

I have a column in the current British Wildlife magazine about the relevance of the EU elections on 22 May, the Scottish independence vote in September and the next UK general election (just over a year away) to our wildlife.  In it I also set out 20 policies that might get my vote in the…

That was a heck of an e-action

Well done to the RSPB, and the Wildlife Trusts, for launching an impressive e-action over the weekend to persuade the Prime Minister to back his Secretary of State and go ahead with a 15% transfer of funds from one part of the CAP (the rather useless part) to another part of the CAP (the rather…