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…
Tag: grouse moor
Peaceful protest against Hen Harrier persecution
There will be a peaceful protest against Hen Harrier persecution somewhere in the north of England on or around (probably before) the ‘Glorious’ 12th August this year. Let me know if you would be interested in taking part and wish to be kept informed by emailing mark@markavery.info The number of people expressing an interest is…
Wuthering Moors 45
This is NE’s response to my FoI/EIR request of 10 March. The answer to Qu4a confirms the ongoing scale of the burning of blanket bog in the English uplands and the fact that it has been consented by NE. The answer to Qu 5 seems rather evasive to me. Qu10 – that’s a lot of…
FoI request to Defra
Dear Defra Did a Minister see and approve the Defra response to John Armitage’s e-petition on the licensing of grouse moors? If so, which Minister?
Defra response to John Armitage’s e-petition
John Armitage’s well-supported e-petition has received the following response from Defra: ‘As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response: The Government is aware of incidences of illegal killing of birds of prey and Ministers take the issue very seriously. To address this, senior Government…
Bits and pieces
How wolves change rivers – a four minute video (although that is the wrong Badger species!). Vote here for the project you would like to see get £25,000 – I voted for the World Land Trust project on leopards but it wasn’t an easy decision. I keep forgetting to tell you that the sale…
Cheltenham preview for Day 1
I’m off to Cheltenham tomorrow for the first of four days racing at the Cheltenham Festival. Despite the deluges of much of the winter the ground has been drying out, as it always does these days at Cheltenham, and the going will probably be just on the soft side of good. But we’ll see how…
What would you have liked to have asked? Wuthering Moors 44
This interview with the Chief Executive of Natural England is interesting in a way. It illustrates the tensions of pleasing one’s current political masters and living up to the mission that NE has had handed down by Parliament. Which direction to face? What would you have liked to hear him say? Here are some questions…
Wuthering Moors 43
This is the fourth blog today on the subject of burning of blanket bog (see here, here, and here). These were sparked (!) by the RSPB releasing data on the scale of the issue and calling for an end to the burning of blanket bog. There has been a little media coverage of this –…
Wuthering Moors 42
The scale of burning of English blanket bogs revealed by the latest RSPB work is scary. There are 127 separate consents (mostly through HLS agreements – ie we taxpayers are paying for it too) for burning on blanket bogs. These affect these seven Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)(Border Mires, Kielder-Butterburn; Ingleborough Complex; Moor House –…