Walshaw Moor Estate is applying for planning permission to build a big new track through an area of moorland protected for its wildlife interest. Track building has been highly contentious on this site for many years (see here, here) and the statutory nature conservation agency, Natural England, is well aware of that. However, NE is…
Tag: golden eagle
Guest blog – Licensing by Ed Hutchings
Born in East Anglia, but raised in the Arabian Gulf, Ed Hutchings was always going to have two things – itchy feet and an inquisitive mind. After leaving university with a degree in hospitality, he embarked on a career as a sommelier for a decade, working at various Michelin-star restaurants; in the process winning the…
Scottish government grouse moor enquiry
Scottish government press release: New group to focus on sustainability of driven-grouse moors. Membership of an independent group to ensure grouse moor management practices are sustainable and legally compliant has been confirmed. The new group will be led by Professor Alan Werrity, who previously chaired a Scottish Natural Heritage review into sustainable moorland management. It…
Everyone’s talking about wildlife crime except Defra
This is the sixth Defra response to an e-petition attempting to press them into action on wildlife crime and unsustainable upland management associated with grouse shooting. And this is the sixth response in Defra which has failed to admit the scale of the problem of wildlife crime and failed to bring forward any sensible response….
Guest blog – Ireland’s Harrier crisis Ryan Wilson-Parr
Ryan has studied Hen Harrier for over 20 years as a researcher, an accredited ecological consultant and as a contracted Raptor Expert to the National Parks & Wildlife Service. Ryan is Chairman of the Irish Raptor Study Group, Director at the Golden Eagle Trust and Project Scientist for the Hen Harrier Project, a new results-based…
The Defra response – a few comments
The biggest problem with the Defra response is that it still ducks the issue of wildlife crime – and how can a government turn its back on crime? I’ll come back to that tomorrow morning. But for now, let us thank Gavin Gamble (and 9,999 others) for flushing out these comments. It’s always enlightening to…
A Defra response only scores 3 out of 10
Defra responded yesterday to Gavin Gamble’s e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting. Congratulations to Gavin for having moved things on a bit – it’s always interesting to get a glimpse of what is going on in the government mind. Here is the government response: Defra is working with key interested parties to ensure the sustainable…
Dr Coffey’s reading list (14) – RSPB Birdcrime report published
Dr Therese Coffey is the junior minister at Defra. Now that Gavin Gamble’s e-petition in favour of banning driven grouse shooting has passed 10,000 signatures Dr Coffey will need to sign off a government response. In order that she does not make Defra look even more foolish than they do already I am providing a…
Dr Coffey’s reading list (12)
Dr Therese Coffey is the junior minister at Defra. When Gavin Gamble’s e-petition in favour of banning driven grouse shooting passes 10,000 signatures (and it stands at over 9800) then Dr Coffey will need to sign off a government response. It looks to me as though ‘drafting a response’ will be in Dr Coffey’s civil…
Make your choices
The Birdwatch Birders’ Choice Awards are now open for your votes – and there are some very difficult choices too. Who will be Conservation Hero? Will it be Helen Glover and Steve Backshall who raised £300,000 for the World Land Trust (of which I am a trustee)? Or my friend Ruth Peacey who has supported…