Michael McCarthy

In a month’s time, on 26 March, Michael McCarthy leaves The Independent newspaper as their Environment Editor. With his departure I will no longer hesitate over which newspaper to buy – I can just pick up the Guardian every time knowing that I won’t be missing a McCarthy article in The Indie.  Many nature conservationists’…

The home straight

You only have two weeks to join over 700 others in voting in the Nature of Harming ‘award’ – the results will be announced on April Fools’ Day. Although there is a clear leader, one candidate made a strong bid for your vote this week and it seems that another is planning to get your…

The tangled bank

This is quite a long blog – for you it’s a ‘cup of tea and two chocolate digestives’ blog, for me it was a ‘two glasses of Rioja’ blog. And I write of the subject covered by Peter Marren in his thought-provoking opinion piece in the Independent last week (and the news piece written by…

What’s happening in the NGO family?

Everybody seems to be talking about NGOs this week – last week government was shouting at them! Greenpeace is 40 this week . WWF is 50 this week. The late, great, Sir Peter Scott who founded the Wildfowl Trust, now Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and had a lot to do with setting up the WWF…

Butterflies, Sir David, Ingrams, Waitrose and windfalls

I’ve done my bit for Butterfly Conservation this weekend and carried out a Big Butterfly Count in the back garden. This very serious survey was postponed as when the rain fell this morning I nipped in to Waitrose in Rushden to stock up on cheap white wine and found that my local Waitrose store was…