BY PHIL MARKS The Return of the Capercaillie to Seafield & Strathspey In the ancient pinewoods of Kinveachy and Castle Grant, a sound that had grown dangerously faint is echoing once more. This spring, the misty clearings of the Seafield & Strathspey Estates have resonated with the distinctive calls of 43 male capercaillie, a notable increase from the 25 recorded last year. In the hushed … Continue reading A Fragile Dawn
BY CALUM CAMPBELL Few creatures embody the untamed spirit of Scotland’s ancient woodland quite like the wildcat. Often referred to as the Highland Tiger, Felis silvestris is now recognised as Scotland’s most threatened mammal, with perhaps only a few hundred individuals clinging to survival in the remote glens. The fight to save this elusive predator from extinction has galvanised conservationists, culminating in a landmark reintroduction project led … Continue reading Tigers, Lek, Precarity
BY BERT BURNETT Let’s face it: this was never about finding a lost habitat or restoring a balanced ecosystem. It was never about bringing back the wildcats or the sea eagles for their own sake. No – somewhere along the line, genuine conservation got hijacked. What we have now is a carefully manufactured machine designed to make the public feel guilty, pass the blame onto … Continue reading The Great Rewilding Swindle
BY ALEXIA JAMES There are moments when the world of conservation seems to have lost all grip on common sense. And then there is the Kent Wildlife Trust’s bison project – a £1,450,000 lesson in stating the bleeding obvious. Let us be clear from the outset. The Trust, armed with a small fortune from the Post Code Lottery, has spent the best part of one … Continue reading Bison in Blean? A £1.45M Vanity Project in the Woods
BY CALUM CAMPBELL The Scottish Government has made peatland restoration a cornerstone of its climate change strategy. Through the NatureScot Peatland ACTION team, and in close partnership with the Cairngorms National Park and the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, a major programme of landscape-scale intervention is underway. With over 20% of Scotland’s land area covered by peat, the stated goals are ambitious: improve water … Continue reading The Peatland Paradox: When Restoration Becomes Destruction
BY PHILIP WALLING What the Lynx UK Trust couldn’t achieve by straightforward means it is now trying to get by lawfare. It is applying for judicial review of Natural England’s refusal to grant any licence, now or in the future, for the release of lynx into the wild in Britain. I’ve written about this organisation and its aims before under the heading ‘This insane move … Continue reading Lynx Fanatics Won’t Take No For An Answer
BY JOHN NASH Sometimes, Dear Reader, amid the present dark and dismal forest of terrible weather, the daily struggle against the parasitic blobberati, the equally exasperating snivel service, Sir Keir Harmer and, of course, Mad Miliband’s blind dash back to the palaeolithic, it is sheer joy to be reminded of England when you suddenly come across a sheltered glade of genuinely delightful and wonderful, heartwarming, … Continue reading Predators and Parasites
BY BERT BURNETT This recent article Scotland: The Big Picture (SBP), which uses Slovenia as a model for potential lynx reintroduction in Scotland, is a textbook case of advocacy masquerading as objective analysis. It presents a seductive but profoundly misleading comparison, one that exemplifies a growing concern: you simply cannot trust these narratives when they peddle a partial story, economically with the truth to suit … Continue reading Lies, Legerdemain, and Lynx
BY MARGARET ASHWORTH St Cuthbert’s Cave and the National Trust at its anti-Christian worst The National Trust (NT) has a record of wokery as long as your arm. If there’s a leftie cause, the NT is on it. In 2017, the Trust attempted to make all staff and volunteers at Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk wear LGBTQ+ badges, after outing the Hall’s late owner (who bequeathed … Continue reading Cancelling Cuthbert
BY BERT BURNETT Why ‘Official’ Conservation Fears Success In the rolling hills and managed woodlands of Britain, a quiet war is being waged for the future of our native species. On one side are the gamekeepers and land managers, whose hands-on stewardship has preserved the very landscapes we hold dear. On the other, a powerful coalition of once well-funded conservation charities who, from their air-conditioned … Continue reading The Captive Release Blockade
BY BRENDAN ANDERSON Time to Rethink Airgun Licensing in Scotland? In 2017, Scotland introduced strict licensing requirements for air rifles following a tragic incident involving an illegally used airgun. While the intention behind the law was to enhance public safety, its unintended consequences are now harming conservation efforts—particularly the fight to save Scotland’s native red squirrels. The airgun licensing system was introduced with little consultation, … Continue reading Protecting Red Squirrels Requires Commonsense Reform
BY BERT BURNETT How Mismanagement and Predation Are Driving Scotland’s Iconic Bird to Extinction For decades, conservationists have peddled the same tired excuse for the capercaillie’s catastrophic decline: lack of habitat. But the numbers tell a very different story—one of wasted millions, misguided priorities, and a refusal to confront the real threat: predation. The Habitat Myth In the 1960s, Scotland’s capercaillie population thrived at around 20,000 birds. … Continue reading The Great Capercaillie Lie
BY IAN MITCHELL Kintyre, a region renowned for its stunning natural landscapes, is facing a significant threat from the expansion of wind farms, some towering as high as an eighth of a mile. This rapid development, perceived by many as environmental vandalism, is being driven by the Scottish government and executed by profit-driven power firms from around the globe. Critics argue that Scotland’s breathtaking beauty … Continue reading Kintyre’s Environmental Vandals
BY BERT BURNETT The Rathlin Island rat eradication project is a large-scale conservation initiative intended to protect the island’s vulnerable seabird populations by removing invasive rat species. Despite the promising goals, the project has stirred significant environmental concerns. While much of the debate has focused on the issue of cattle potentially accessing poison-laden bait stations, a growing worry surrounds the possible unintended consequences of secondary … Continue reading Rathlin Rats
BY BERT BURNETT In recent years, discussions about wildlife in Scotland have repeatedly centred on concerns regarding species decline and environmental degradation. However, one notable success story that challenges this often-cynical narrative is the remarkable recovery of the Golden Eagle population in Scotland. Contrary to the prevailing perception in the Guardian and across the BBC of a “nature-deprived” UK, data suggests that Scotland is home … Continue reading Golden Eagles Soaring
BY BERT BURNETT The recent final report on the Cairngorms Capercaillie Project, presented by Andy Ford, Director for Nature and Climate Change, reads like a self-serving obituary penned by a notorious highwayman. After a staggering £16 million public expenditure and a 75% decline in the capercaillie population over the last two decades, the report boldly claims the project’s success. This audacious declaration feels like Dick … Continue reading The Cairngorms Capercaillie Project’s Dubious Success
BY BERT BURNETT We keep hearing this soundbite … “Scotland is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, and our country’s biodiversity has been altered by centuries of habitat loss, fragmentation and management changes.” But where is this decline taking place? It’s not on managed moors be they Highland, Perthshire, Angus or Southern. These areas abound with a complete package of waders, … Continue reading RSPB Fails & Anti-Shooting Bluster
BY BERT BURNETT How much wildlife have we lost through conservation charities like RSPB due to their management choices? RSPB have managed Abernethy estate for capercaillie for over 25 years and have succeeded in reducing the capercaillie population by 75% minimum. They also inherited with the purchase a healthy population of mountain hare and upland waders etc., the hares have all but gone and the … Continue reading RSPB Might As Well Be Run By Foxes
BY BERT BURNETT Dear Editor, We have a growing number of people having to choose between heat or food, relying more and more on food banks. Mental health issues are on the up alongside homelessness and child poverty, all apparently created in great part because there is not enough funding to cover the issues. By contrast over the last couple of decades we have seen … Continue reading Investigative Journalists, Where are You?
BY TARQUIN SUTHERLAND I like many have made the long and tortuous journey from the Left of politics to the Right. As such, I feel afforded a viewpoint whereby the machinations of organised politics have never really fitted in anywhere along the linear spectrum at any given time. Now, in my mid-fifties, I find myself scratching my head over the notion of just how and … Continue reading Conservatives Must Reclaim Green
