Yesterday’s announcement by the Scottish government makes DEFRA look like it is still run by throwbacks to the Edwardian era. No DEFRA minister with responsibility for wildlife conservation has ever condemned wildlife crime in the terms that we heard from the Scottish government yesterday; not Richard Benyon, not Rory Stewart, not Therese Coffey and not…
Tag: hen harrier
Scottish Government to opine on Werritty report
I read on Raptor Persecution UK today that the Scottish Government is going to say something about the Werritty report tomorrow afternoon – good. After all this time of setting up the group, writing the report, publishing it and then reading it, we need to see some action on the subject in Scotland. I’m quite…
Guest blog – Fighting for the Soul of Swanscombe by Dave Clark
Dave Clark is an ornithologist with an MSc in Ornithology from the University of Birmingham and environmental campaigner with a particular interest in the interactions between birds and humans. Dave is keen to spread the word about the importance of urban areas for wildlife and improving our engagement with nature. Dave’s previous two guest blogs here…
Corncrake conservation in the UK – a well-told tale.
This paper is in the current (November) issue of British Birds and it’s a thorough review of the successful conservation of this globally threatened species in the UK, based on science, largely RSPB science and largely led by the author. I think it’s becoming fashionable these days to ignore species conservation as a bit easy…
RSPB press release – Westminster government set to fail first major domestic test of its commitment to saving nature
The Government looks set to fail in its first major domestic test over its declared commitment to the environment ahead of an upcoming speech by the Prime Minister. A recent PR charm offensive by the energy company EDF extolling the green credentials of its proposals to build the Sizewell C nuclear reactor seems to be swaying government opinion, despite the fact that the project may irreversibly damage one of the UK’s most important and well protected wildlife…
Gamebirds victory (15) – the 500m buffer zone.
There is a narrative developed by DEFRA and Natural England that the Madden and Sage review, and the bits that they didn’t look at, all combine to mean that any impacts of gamebird releases are limited to, and are known to be limited to, 500m from release sites. This is not true. It’s not true…
Sunday book review – A Vulture Landscape by Ian Parsons
Ian Parsons has written more than 20 guest blogs here and so is a fairly familiar name to this blog’s readers. But when not writing for this blog he is a nature tour leader in Extremadura and this blog is about that land, west of Madrid and stretching to the Portuguese border, its wildlife and…
DEFRA begins to reply
In response to the e-action organised by Wild Justice, Hen Harrier Action and the RSPB, voters in England are beginning to receive, via their MPs, responses from DEFRA. Having given DEFRA the opportunity to impress us all with their grasp of the subject and their fast pace of policy action these responses are very similar…
What the RSPB says now
The RSPB statement on gamebird shooting – click here to read it. It’s written in black and white and yet already there are some who are giving it their own interpretation. Driven grouse shooting Critically RSPB says; We will provide an annual assessment of progress and review our position within five years. Failure to deliver effective reform…
E-action or inaction?
If you took place in the Wild Justice, Hen Harrier Action, RSPB e-action then I wonder whether you have had a response from your MP yet? I know that quite a few people haven’t yet, and that is pretty poor. I think there is a preponderance of Labour MPs in the non-repliers but that’s just…