Tag: rspb

Letters

The Clipboard-Wielding Zealots of Natural England

Dear Editor, Ben O’Rourke’s excellent article last week, Shamefully Burning Taxpayers’ Cash, is a blistering indictment of the bureaucratic lunacy that now passes for countryside stewardship. At last, someone has dared to say what every farmer and gamekeeper has known for years: that the clipboard-wielding zealots of Natural England and the RSPB are not just misguided—they’re actively dismantling rural Britain in the name of saving it. … Continue reading The Clipboard-Wielding Zealots of Natural England

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countryside

Shamefully Burning Taxpayers’ Cash

BY BEN O’ROURKE The fuses have been lit. Does Bruce Willis still have time to save the countryside? There’s a popular trope in films where authorities are convinced of one thing and people in the know telling them they’re wrong get ignored. A good example is Die Hard. In the 1988 blockbuster, terrorists take over a building in Los Angeles and their leader, Alan Rickman, … Continue reading Shamefully Burning Taxpayers’ Cash

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countryside

The RSPB’s Tragic Decline

BY ALEXIA JAMES It is well worth remembering why the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) was originally set up and by whom: Founded in 1889, the RSPB was incorporated by Royal Charter. Originally granted by King Edward VII in November 1904, the Royal Charter is the legal instrument constituting the RSPB and giving it legal status. Since then, the Charter and Statutes have been … Continue reading The RSPB’s Tragic Decline

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countryside

Crisis-hit Curlews, Cash & The RSPB

BY BERT BURNETT I am reminded of a project to help one of the country’s most threatened breeding bird species, the curlew, which was awarded more than £156,000 from the Scottish Government’s Biodiversity Challenge Fund. This initiative, titled Curlews in Crisis Scotland, aimed to increase breeding areas and reduce predation for Europe’s largest wader and one of its most iconic birds. Scotland is home to … Continue reading Crisis-hit Curlews, Cash & The RSPB

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countryside

A Government Out of Touch with Rural Realities

BY BERT BURNETT The Impact of New Bird Flu Regulations on Rural Practices In a move that has sparked considerable debate among farmers and wildlife enthusiasts alike, the government has announced a directive requiring the registration of live decoy crows in crow-catching cages. These crows, held captive and never to be released, stand as the focal point of a controversial strategy aimed at combating bird … Continue reading A Government Out of Touch with Rural Realities

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countryside

Raptor Persecraption: Heavens to Murgatroyd

BY BEN O’ROURKE Heavens to Murgatroyd! How did a botched bird report become the seminal study on raptor persecution? Most of the tags attached to the birds of prey failed and less than a handful were confirmed illegally killed, yet researchers fiddled the figures to support an agenda. Ruth Tingay sat in her office one morning in March, 2019, clutching a wad of freshly-printed paper, … Continue reading Raptor Persecraption: Heavens to Murgatroyd

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countryside

Capercaillie in Scotland

BY CALUM CAMPBELL I photographed this magnificent cock capercaillie (below) a couple of years ago. I had mixed emotions: excitement and thrill but also sadness at their plight. Currently, the capercaillie population is so low it is hardly sustainable. Their numbers are alarmingly declining due to several reasons. Capercaillie chicks need June to be dry. About three-quarters of their energy is used for rapid growth, … Continue reading Capercaillie in Scotland

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countryside

Notes from the Actual Countryside

BY GARY BAXTER You may think that my Notes from the actual countryside rants are nothing but rants but believe me they convey the true strength of feeling in the British Countryside. We really are getting more than just a little bit pissed off out here in the sticks! We are tired of the townie rabble. Chavs and spivs dressed up as ‘doctors’ or TV … Continue reading Notes from the Actual Countryside

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countryside, Investigation

The Haweswater Report

BY BEN O’ROURKE In the summer of 2023, United Utilities was named one of the country’s top polluters. Newspapers published charts ranking it alongside other water companies. Pubgoers sipped at frothy pints while spewing about scummy spills and angry activists and celebrities took to social media to fume. In days, there were few people in the country who hadn’t heard about the scandal. Not long … Continue reading The Haweswater Report

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Conservation, countryside

RSPB Fails & Anti-Shooting Bluster

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

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countryside

The RSPB Works in Mysterious Ways

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

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countryside

Why Do the RSPB Feel the Need to Lie about Fire Management?

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?

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Conservation

RSPB Might As Well Be Run By Foxes

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

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Conservation, Letters

Investigative Journalists, Where are You?

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?

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Letters

The Hypocrites’ Begging Bowl

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

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environment, Farming

A Country Girl’s Reflections on Environmentalism

BY ROCHELLE BLAKEMAN “Toil mastered everything, relentless toil And the pressure of pinching poverty… Everything by nature’s law Tends to the worse, slips ever backward, backward.” Virgil, the Georgics As a farmer’s daughter, I was blessed with a bucolic childhood. With only 1% of the UK population being farmers, it is a lucky stroke to have lived my younger years with a closeness to the … Continue reading A Country Girl’s Reflections on Environmentalism

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countryside

Hypocrisy or What?

BY MARK BIRD Recently Mark Avery of Lottery-funded Wild Justice alongside the RSPB lost an appeal against Natural England’s “brood meddling scheme” with regards to the Hen Harrier. Translocation a.k.a “brood meddling” is widely used by conservation bodies to bolster the genetic diversity of isolated populations or to reintroduce a species to its historical range. The RSPB have blocked a reintroduction scheme for the Hen … Continue reading Hypocrisy or What?

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Moorlands

Managed Moorlands Wildlife Deserts?

BY MARK BIRD In the second week of June I spent a week on and around The Strathy Estate (unmanaged), RSPB Forsinard and The Auchentoul Estate (managed primarily for stalking). The weather was excellent and below is the list of vertebrate species I either saw or heard over that time period. As impressive as the list may be, what was most notable was the sheer … Continue reading Managed Moorlands Wildlife Deserts?

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Books, countryside

Moorland Matters

BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN Trying to brush up on eco matters in light of recent events, I took it upon myself to read Ian Coghill’s ‘Moorland Matters: The Battle for the Uplands against Authoritarian Conservation’ when the publisher, Quiller, sent through a review copy to the magazine. I chose well. This is a masterful book and it’s written in such a refreshing way. It offers such … Continue reading Moorland Matters

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countryside, shooting

Lead into Darkness?

BY MARK CRUDGINGTON Have the British shooting public been led into a miasma of confusion that may lead to the end of the shooting of live quarry as we know it? In modern cancel culture the opportunity to “ban” time-tested methods to assuage a “green” agenda seems increasingly common. In the case of lead in ammunition there have been reports produced for years on the … Continue reading Lead into Darkness?

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