Natural England has been seeking 400 voluntary redundancies and early retirements amongst its staff - and has had, in round terms, about 300 offers. So it is looking for another 100 non-voluntary job cuts.
This is from a staff of about 2400. And the next few years will see another 400 jobs go - the consequences of c30% cuts in money from government.
No-one has suggested chopping down 30% of England's forests - it's just not on the cards.
Are the cuts at NE just dead wood? - I don't think so, and anyway, dead wood is valuable ecologically.
A love of the natural world demonstrates that a person is a cultured inhabitant of planet Earth.
Know you consider me cynical Mark and cannot disagree but while sympathetic to people who want to be employed but lose their jobs find it strange that N E has 300 cannot get off the ship fast enough,something funny there can feel it in my bones.
Think birds much prefer people keep out.
Its difficult to comment on loss of jobs but BBCS who's land is it anyway campaign seems to imply there is still tine to influence our political masters. It might be an idea to get across how valuable access to forestry commission land is to birders.
DC
Don't worry they will all get jobs with wind farm companies!! Even though the final report written by the wind farm company is nothing what these experts would have found. A great example came from Scotland recently where Golden Eagles were being killed by shooting estates. When the wind farm was granted permission the report claimed that due to no breeding Golden eagles in the area there was no threat to the species!!
As a mentioned previously, with such high levels of redundancies it is the loss of the valuable experience and expertise that is so damaging. On top of that, Natural England is the one and only organisation that has the legal powers to properly enforce protection of our Sites of Speciel Scientific Interest (SSSIs). The likely hood, perhaps a certainty, is that due to sheer lack of personnel they will effectively become increasingly impotent in being able to enforce that protection. Unscrupulous people will be quick to "cotton on" to this situation and exploit it. In other words it seems to me that it is very likely we will soon start to see a rise in damage to our SSSIs and "death by a thousand cuts" seems quite likely in every way.
redkite