Dear Minister Welcome to your new role in Defra following in the rather small footsteps of Rory Stewart. It is to be hoped that you will be able to do more good for wildlife and the environment than your predecessor. You have a wide range of jobs to do but may I point you in…
Tag: Natural England
Guest blog – What is Britain’s Native Wildlife? by John Burton
John Burton is one of the most experienced and free-thinking of British conservationists. He was a founder and the first chief executive of the World Land Trust. He stood down from that position recently but will still be working hard for WLT into the future. Defining Britain’s native wildlife is complex….
All change at Defra – not quite
And so we say farewell to Liz Truss and Rory Stewart – both of whom were promoted in Theresa May’s reshuffle. Truss remains in the Cabinet and got the bigger job in Justice (never has a promotion been so unjust) and Rory Stewart is made Minister of State at International Development. Only George Eustice, the…
Guest blog – Time for tidal power by Sian John
Sian John is Tidal Lagoon Power’s (TLP’s) Environment Director and Royal HaskoningDHV’s Director of Environment in the UK. A strong advocate of marine conservation and sustainable development, Sian is currently leading the implementation of TLP’s visionary Ecosystem Enhancement Programme. Hailing originally from NZ, she loves the sea. As a regular contributor to Coastal Futures,…
Guest blog – Words from a Young Naturalist by Tiffany Francis
Tiffany is a nature writer, illustrator and conservationist living in the South Downs, Hampshire. She is about to complete her Masters in English at University College London and volunteers for the Hampshire Wildlife Trust and Bat Conservation Trust. Her first book will be published by Bloomsbury in Spring 2018. I have never seen a hen…
Wuthering Moors 53
Comments Off on Wuthering Moors 53
I recently contacted Natural England and asked them the following questions which they have been kind enough to answer as follows: Q1: Has NE’s James Cross met Richard Bannister of the Walshaw Moor Estate in 2016? A1: Yes, he has, on 4th February 2016. Q2: What was the subject of their meeting? …
Slim Chance of survival of Hen Harriers
Yet another satellite-tagged Hen Harrier, this one called Chance, has disappeared – her last known location (when transmitting a strong signal) was on a south Lanarkshire grouse moor. This sounds as though it must be in the same general area where Annie (pictured above) died. Add in Highlander whose satellite tag stopped transmitting…
Rewild our trashed hills
I think anyone looking at the landscape above would be hard-pressed to call it ‘natural’. It is drained and burned – and it has tracks running all the way through it. It’s the burning that creates that patchwork of different colours – patches of heather that were burned in different years according to a…
Sunday book review – Where the wild thyme blew by Peter Marren
Comments Off on Sunday book review – Where the wild thyme blew by Peter Marren
I’m a big fan of Peter Marren’s writing – his Rainbow Dust was (and is) a lovely book which I listed as my #2 book of the year for 2015. Peter has also written a number of Guest Blogs here and I hope he will write some more. This book is one that the author…
Guest blog – Bowland and its lack of raptors by Terry Pickford
I have been involved with monitoring and protecting raptors, in particular the Peregrine beginning 1967, when the North West Raptor Group was established, then only 7 active territories remained in the North West England. In the 1980s I located the first ground nesting pair of Peregrines close to the A6 on Shap. Field work began…