BY ALEC SWAN There comes a time, usually when the first frost bites hard and the last curlew’s call fades across a barren moor, when one must ask serious questions of those entrusted with the guardianship of our natural world. Are they merely incompetent, or have they, in the words of a more cynical age, simply come to see the public as an endless cash … Continue reading Hoarding, Hypocrisy, Hollow Promises
BY CALUM CAMPBELL Let’s cut straight to it. The Cairngorms National Park is shouting from the rooftops about a 30% increase in capercaillie numbers this year. They’re claiming their £12-13m Emergency Plan is working. But scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find something rather inconvenient. Kinveachy Estate – which is part of Seafield and Strathspey estates – saw their capercaillie numbers leap from 25 to … Continue reading Greenwashing Lek Counts?
BY CALUM CAMPBELL Last week, we examined the RSPB’s catastrophic mismanagement of the Abernethy reserve and their shameful treatment of experienced gamekeepers who turned up to help fight the wildfires ravaging the Cairngorms. In the interests of balance, the RSPB were given the opportunity to air their response through their official channels. They have since published an article titled “Wildfires and Conservation”, promising to “separate … Continue reading The Welcome That Says it All
BY BERT BURNETT RSPB, We Warned You As the smoke continues to drift across the A9 and the acrid smell of scorched Caledonian pinewood lingers in the glens, we must take stock of the reality that has unfolded in the Cairngorms over the past week. Over 10 square kilometres of one of our most fragile and treasured habitats has been reduced to ash. More than … Continue reading Burning Questions
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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 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
