BY BERT BURNETT I read the Times article below with an equal mix of amusement and incredulity. (Please click on image to read) Now no doubt it will be farming practices which get the blame rather than thieving BBC presenters. When things start to disappear that’s the easy way out. Of course, we all know that there is something more obvious going on. In the … Continue reading Vanishing Kestrels & Baffled Scientists
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 This is a picture put up by the Cairngorms National Park. Beautiful isn’t it? But what this photograph fails to reveal is that this is what the area looked like before the Park Authorities took over. It’s looked like this for decades if not longer, thanks to the management that was in place before not the management that we have now. Such … Continue reading Real or a Postcard?
BY BERT BURNETT Loch Lomond was once a stronghold for capercaillie but thanks to RSPB type management where nature takes its own course the capercaillie is now gone forever. It has been suggested for years that the way to bring back capercaillie is to rear and release but RSPB have effectively blocked any attempts for this to happen. They encourage releases with so many other … Continue reading The RSPB Works in Mysterious Ways
BY BERT BURNETT The RSPB only ten years ago were practising this technique and they know its benefits for wildlife and fire mitigation but they have chosen to ignore what they know and use this fire management as a club to attack the shooting industry with. According to them fire is only destructive when carried out by gamekeepers and other upland managers. They have even … Continue reading Why Do the RSPB Feel the Need to Lie about Fire Management?
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 BERT BURNETT Dear Editor, Talk about hypocrisy! Chris Packham, with the blessing of the RSPB are challenging general licences to control crows and calling on a ban to stop killing foxes. The RSPB initially boycotted the Understanding Predation project and tried to scupper the Working for Waders initiative but now that MONEY is available for these projects there they are with begging bowls at … Continue reading The Hypocrites’ Begging Bowl
BY BERT BURNETT On Thursday STV were too quick to highlight that Scotland’s wildlife population is in a state of consistent decline, referencing a new report. 70 wildlife groups joined forces with Scottish government agencies for the first time, to analyse data about nearly 6500 species across land and sea for the latest ‘State of Nature’ report. It found that in the five decades since … Continue reading A Scottish Gamekeeper Speaks Out
