A message from Pitcairn

Last week I met two islanders from Pitcairn; Melva Warren Evans and Simon Young. We met in London and I asked them about their hopes for the Pitcairn protected marine area which their community wants to see the UK government establish. Melva was born on Pitcairn and is one of the descendents of the crew…

Now that the Party (Conference) is over…

Did you comb the speeches of the Party leaders, at their Party Conferences, for mentions of the environment? Nick Clegg did best – he said that it was the Liberal Democrats who were keeping the Government ‘green’ and had ‘saved’ Natural England from the axe. Nick Clegg didn’t mention ‘wildlife’ or ‘nature’ but he did…

A few dead seabirds – does it matter?

This is a second mention in a row for the RSPCA.  Their name has been in the news recently for their rescue of oiled seabirds on the south coast of England. Rather than being washed up covered in thick black oil these seabirds, mostly guillemots, have been found on the coast from Cornwall to Hampshire…

Bitterly disappointed, hugely disappointed, shameful, pitiful, appalling, lamentable…

Bitterly disappointed, hugely disappointed, shameful, pitiful, appalling, lamentable…  That’s how the Wildlife Trusts, Marine Conservation Society and RSPB described Defra’s announcement that it was consulting on designating just 31 of 127 marine sites selected by a lengthy, inclusive and costly process involving hundreds of people.  Further progress might be made next year. Defra described this…

Give oceans real protection – everyone gains

More than two thirds of the Earth’s surface is ocean and yet we give it barely a thought, at least according to a recent poll by KnowSeas which shows that only a third of UK citizens are worried by ocean health whereas around 60% of Portuguese and Spaniards have the oceans on their minds.  Might…