Writing to my MP – 1

I’ve been telling people that they should write to their MPs as I travel around the country giving talks.  Politics is at the heart of almost all solutions to environmental problems. So, I wouldn’t ask you to do it if I wouldn’t do it myself, so here is the first of monthly letters that I…

Bird Atlas – Farmland birds

Pictures can get messages across better than words sometimes. As one flicks through the pages of this Atlas one keeps seeing farmland species with shrinking distributions. But the key to truly appreciating the scale of what is happening to these familiar birds is to look at the maps of change of relative abundance.  Time after…

LEAF – turn over a new one

On Monday I went to the Linking Environment and Farming President’s conference in the headquarters of HSBC in Canary Wharf.  I have a lot of time for LEAF, although there were a few moments on Monday when I thought I might have stumbled into an NFU conference instead of a LEAF one. How long should…

And so we say farewell…

…to Peter Kendall, the President of the National Farmers’ Union, who has decided not to seek re-election next February. Farmers Weekly quotes Kendall as saying he isn’t looking for a career in politics – so I expect that’s where he’s heading. Peter Kendall has been a very popular NFU leader amongst farmers – he has…

An open letter to the new Defra Ministers

To George Eustice and Dan Rogerson. Dear Ministers Congratulations on your new ministerial appointments.  You have an unpredictable time, but no more than 568 days (less holidays, the run up to the General Election, time off sick and being moved on or sacked) to make a difference.  Given the uncertainties of Ministerial tenure you can’t…