• Reedbed richness

    Andre Farrar

    I spent an enjoyable day at our Leighton Moss nature reserve in north Lancashire.  It’s a place I know well it’s over thirty years since I first visited this special corner of the world – on a coach trip organised by the Leeds RSPB local group.  I was there to host a roadshow for colleagues on our new campaign, Stepping Up for Nature, but I did get the chance for a pre-breakfast walk around the reserve…

  • It’s Tuesday, it must be another Public Inquiry

    Andre Farrar
    My colleagues at the sharp end of our work to save special places from harm are in the midst of one of the busiest periods we can remember (and some of us can remember quite a long way back).
    I’ve been following the lengthy public inquiry into plans to extend Lydd Airport in Kent (here’s a link to that one) and today we launch into a shorter inquiry concerning plans to build houses at Hurstleigh Park in Berkshire…

  • Fenland Futures

    Andre Farrar
    I promised you I would report after my evening out in Ely.
    Lovely venue (the Maltings in Ely) – filled with an impressive audience of farmers and partner organisations.
    The starting point was our fenland farmland bird recovery project (funded by Natural England) – and we heard from project officer Niki Williamson about the strong partnerships she has formed with fenland farmers.  This particular project just…

  • Saving Spoony’s Chinese Wetlands

    Andre Farrar
    Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 …

  • Tragic consequences of the wreck of MV Oliva

    Andre Farrar
    The implications of the loss of 800 tons of fuel oil from the wrecked freighter MV Oliva off Nightingale Island are becoming clear.
    We’ve just had this update from RSPB’s Katrine Herian, who’s based on Tristan de Cunha.
    Penguin update: 473 penguins here on Tristan in the rehab shed. A team has begun stabilising them with fluid, vitamins and charcoal to absorb ingested oil.
    There are 529 more oiled…

  • A Good Road to Travel

    Andre Farrar
    Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 …

  • Big Steps in the Fens

    Andre Farrar

    I'm off out for the evening.  

    I'm looking forward to a do in Ely at which we will be launching our vision for the Fens. The RSPB Fens project is part of our Futurescapes programme.  At the beginning of March we launched Stepping Up for Nature – our biggest campaign yet - and Futurescapes is a key part of how we, with so many others, are Stepping Up.

    The start of our campaign focussed on the Fens, a place…

  • Bio-fuels policy is crazy – it’s official

    Andre Farrar

    Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 …

  • Passion, Positivity and Penguins

    Andre Farrar

    Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 …

  • Spring arrives on the Dungeness Peninsula

    Sophie McCallum

    As the Lydd Airport Public Inquiry rumbles on, a spring awakening is taking place on the Dungeness Peninsula.

    The first migrants are starting to return from their wintering grounds in the south and there have already been sightings of wheatears and sand martins on the RSPB's nature reserve.

    After the successful breeding of Bitterns last summer and record numbers recorded over the winter (11 pairs), hopes are high that…

  • Stepping up for the Serengeti

    Andre Farrar
    The Serengeti Shall Not Die
    Earlier in the week I brought you the wonderful news that the Gola Forest in Sierra Leone has been given National Park status.  On the other side of Africa, in Tanzania, one of the most iconic National Parks is facing worrying times.  A proposed road across the northern part of the Serengeti threatens to sever the annual migration of 1.8 million wildebeest and antelope.  The ecology of the…

  • Protecting the Gola Forest

    Andre Farrar

    Many years ago, I was interviewed for a job sat between a rather luxuriant potted plant and an inflatable gorilla.  I didn’t get the job. Had I done I would have been on my way to Sierra Leone to work in the Gola Forest.  The timing of the appointment couldn’t have been worse – it coincided with a period of civil unrest in the country, and a time when the Gola project was put on hold.  Our long involvement…

  • Stepping Up for Nature – a look back to the launch

    Andre Farrar

    At last I’ve got a few moments to reflect on yesterday’s hectic activities in London as we launched our new campaign – Stepping Up for Nature

    You can see pictures from yesterday by looking at the earlier posts – it was fun getting impressions of the day out as it happened, it’s the first time we’ve done that.

    In the evening Mike Clarke, our chief executive, Environment Secretary Caroline…

  • We're all in this together - Stepping Up for Nature

    Andre Farrar

    Organised campaigning by passionate people is an unstoppable force - this was a key message put over by Mike Clarke opening our evening launch of our new campaign - Stepping Up for Nature.

    Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman responded - and she is stressing the benefits of partnerships.  The benefits of protecting nature is understood across the world, Nagoya was a political watershed and set a global framework.  She…

  • Launching Stepping Up for Nature - part two

    Andre Farrar

    This afternoon we celebrated our hand in of 355,773 Letters to the Future - Dominik Reynolds helped hand them in to No10 - and he spoke to the audiience this afternoon.  This evening, here he is talking to RSPB president Kate Humble, on the right of the picture is Secretary of State for the Environment, Caroline Spelman and on the left is RSPB Chief Executive, Mike Clarke.

    ,

    More will follow - Mike Clarke is speaking…

  • Launching Stepping up for Nature

    Andre Farrar

    I've just spent and inspiring afternoon at the Commonwealth Club in London with dozens of people who know all about stepping up for nature - we've just finished the event and their is a buzz of conversation behind me as I write.

    Here are some pictures from the day (earlier posts have some more) there will be time to reflect later as we now start preparing for the evening event.

    The audience get ready for a …

  • Communities and Conservation

    Andre Farrar

    Joan and Gill are speaking at the launch of Stepping up for Nature - telling us about the work of Friends of North Kent Marshes - bringing communities and conservation to life,

    And here's Gary Prescott (who visited all RSPB reserves by bike in 2010 - and we managed to add four while he was en route!)

    And finally Dominik Reynolds (10) speaking like a seasoned veteran - fresh from giving the door of No10 the loudest…

  • Letter to the Future - Delivery to Mr Cameron

    Andre Farrar

    Here's Dominik and Charlotte handing in the 355,773 Letters to the Future.

    So many of you helped us do this - thank you.

  • Stepping Up for Nature

    Andre Farrar
    I signed our Letter to the Future – if you did too, thank you, it’s been a successful campaign at a challenging time for the environment in the face of significant budget cuts, we were delighted that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced an 83% increase in the High Level Stewardship Scheme which rewards farmers for wildlife-friendly farming.  This was one of our main advocacy aims…

  • Lydd Airport Public Inquiry

    Samantha Dawes

    A short day - the Inquiry has now been adjourned until tomorrow. Bob Gomes completed his evidence for the RSPB. Giving evidence, in my view, is tougher than any media interview I have ever done! You can feel the weight of the questions and how much hung on every answer. However, Bob 'stepped up for nature', took it in his stride and kept calm throughout. Tomorrow the Inquiry moves on to the Airport witness outlining their…

  • New campaign eve

    Andre Farrar
    Yes, I know it’s Shrove Tuesday – but here at RSPB’s campaign central the pancakes will have to wait.
    We’re readying ourselves for the launch of our next campaign – and the Saving Special Places blog is going to be central to the action – I’ll be updating and tweeting live (or very shortly afterwards) from London tomorrow.
    The press release is out there so I’m not going to tell…

  • Storms and shingle

    Andre Farrar
    As the public inquiry into proposals to develop Lydd Airport continues I’ve set up my online alerts to ping through items to do with the area (I’m getting a lot of mouth-watering recipes for Dungeness crab – but from the west coast of the USA.  I didn’t know there was a Dungeness in Washington State – but it’s got a National Wildlife Refuge and an historic lighthouse.  I feel a twinning…

  • Lydd Airport Public Inquiry – a bit of jargon busting!

    Samantha Dawes
    The goings on in a Public Inquiry (PI) are not quite ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’, but it is still a formal and legal process with all its associated technical terms and references.
    My understanding of the most commonly used terms are:
    Examination-in chief – the witness’s barrister leads him/her through the evidence they wish the PI to hear
    Cross-examination – the witness is then asked questions…

  • Hope on the Humber

    Andre Farrar
    It’s a while since I’ve taken you to the Humber estuary – you can catch up on the background to some of our work here.
    To cut a long story short the conjunction of a major estuary, internationally important for the bird numbers it supports, and an array of development pressure has led to a lot of potential conflict.  Ensuring that the natural world is placed centrally in the decision-making process is…

  • Lydd Airport Public Inquiry – will the expansion impact on the birds at Dungeness?

    Samantha Dawes

    After a lengthy 11 hrs on the witness stand Dr Allen, the bird strike witness, passes the hot seat over to Dr John Day, the RSPB’s bird expert at this Inquiry in Folkestone.

     

    Dr Day is a highly qualified individual. He has a BSc in Biology, a PhD research degree and he is a member of many distinguished institutes such as the Institute of Biology, the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management and is Fellow…