Last week the UK Government made the welcome announcement that it has set a target of net zero emissions, to be enshrined in law. This is a big step forward in the ambition needed to tackle the climate crisis and the focus is now shifting to how that ambition can be secured. How can we ensure nature plays a critical role in climate change mitigation in a way that secures benefits for the climate and for biodiversity?…

Friday was a very good day.

I was in the Broads helping to celebrate the launch of the Halvergate Marshes Freshwater Project.  The weather was kind and it was great opportunity to see the potential of a new £2m scheme designed to keep get more freshwater onto the second largest area of wet grassland in the UK (behind the Somerset Levels) .  This is one of those projects that demonstrate what can be achieved when people…

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the situation that has developed over the last couple of months concerning General Licences, which I have blogged about here, here and here. There has been a further development so here is an update as to what has happened and what we think about the news.

After a drawn out and a poorly handled process Defra has finally issued three new General Licences to directly replace…

There is growing political consensus that we face an ecological and climate emergency.  This is the lens through which we should assess every decision governments make.  Below, my colleague Dr Euan Dunn (who leads our work on fisheries) puts the spotlight on one action that runs counter to ambitions to restore nature in a generation and what is being done about it. 

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The EU legislation obliges…

This week, three stories illustrate the continued work that the RSPB is doing to stop the rot, protect the best and restore the rest.  All these projects have been done in partnership and are the result of years of planning, expertise and dedication. 

First, we reported that the RSPB had used its first loan of £710,000 from Triodos Bank to install renewable energy technology (solar panels and a biomass boiler) on…

Our scientists have an excellent track record in finding solutions to 21st century conservation problems and today we publish new information which could help tackle the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss.  

Our "carbon in nature rich areas" story map highlights that the best places for nature across the UK also hold massive amounts of carbon. If lost to the atmosphere, this carbon would equate…

Guest blog by Gareth Cunningham, RSPB Head of Nature Policy.

Britain is home to over 8 million seabirds and holds globally important populations of species such as puffins, Manx shearwaters and gannets, its waters providing rich feeding grounds for their hungry chicks. Back in 2016 we called on the UK Government to protect some of England’s most important areas for seabirds.

Today, Environment Secretary Michael Gove…

A guest blog from Gareth Cunningham, the RSPB's Head of Nature Policy.

On the 9^th of May, the UK’s four administrations published their joint report on progress towards their shared ambition of achieving “clean, healthy, safe, productive, biologically diverse oceans and seas”, a laudable goal they have been working towards since 2012.

However, the results of the last 6 years, summarised here, demonstrate…

This week, over 350 million citizens from across Europe will have the chance to go to the polls to elect the next European Parliament. Much to everyone's surprise, the UK will take part in this election.  This is because Theresa May secured an extension to the terms of Article 50.  That said, it is currently uncertain if, and for how long, newly elected UK MEPs will be present in the European Parliament.

Whatever you…

As a user of the General Licence, we took the decision some years ago to be open about the RSPB's occasional use of lethal control for some species and the reasons we sometimes find it necessary to carry this work out (for example see here).

I reported at the beginning of the month, that Defra had issued a call for evidence about how the General License should operate in the future. In the interests of continuing transparency…

Yesterday UK Government published the first report on progress made in delivering their 25 Year Environment Plan. The Plan, published in January 2018, sets out how Government intend to achieve their ambition to pass on a healthier environment to the next generation. Today’s report, which you can read in full here, describes how well they’re doing one year on.  Below, I have asked my colleague, Jess Chappell…

Today sees the release of the largest and most comprehensive attempt to assess the state of our living planet and humanity’s place in it. At its launch in France, governments and scientists have come together to agree that we are exploiting nature faster than it can renew itself. By its very nature it is a detailed and complex document, but at its heart the message is simple.

We are changing our planet beyond recognition…

This morning, Defra has published an exchange of letters between the new chair of Natural England and Environment Secretary Michael Gove regarding the General License.  In short, Mr Gove will take control of General License decision-making for now and he has issued a call for evidence to review how the General License should operate in the future.

We shall clearly engage with this review.  But I have two immediate thoughts…

Today, the Committee on Climate Change publishes its advice to the governments across the UK on the long-term targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the UK’s transition to a net zero-carbon economy.  Below, my colleague Melanie Coath (who is the RSPB lead on climate change policy) offers her verdict on the report.  At the end, I outline how the RSPB is responding.

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Finally…

Like everyone, I was surprised by Natural England’s decision to revoke the General Licence at such short notice after the legal proceedings by Wild Justice. The following media and online frenzy has thrown up so much misinformation and inaccuracies that it is hard for those not immersed in this stuff to really know what’s going on.

As you probably know, the RSPB uses the general licence. We are upfront and open…

This evening Berkeley Square in London will once again be filled with the song of the nightingale. 

In homage to much covered song ‘A nightingale sang in Berkley Square’, a partnership between folk musician Sam Lee’s Nest Collective and Extinction Rebellion aims to re-wild Berkeley Square and play nightingale song.

This unusual rewilding aims to highlight the plight of nightingales which have decreased…

We live in amazing times. 

In the week of mass demonstrations by Extinction Rebellion in London, the incredible life-force that is Greta Thunberg gave her blunt assessment of the UK’s track record on tackling climate change (“beyond absurd”) and laid a gauntlet to build climate change thinking into all parts of decision-making.

Her own Friday-school strike was the catalyst for an estimated 1.6 million…

A week is a long time in Norfolk.  

There was a public outcry when a video appeared last Friday of a sand martin returning from migration and failing to access a nesting burrow because nets had been laid over a 1.3km stretch of Bacton cliffs on the Norfolk coast.  This was just one example of hundreds of images and videos of netting that have been shared this spring.  It has led to two petitions on the Number 10 website, an int…

There is a new book out tomorrow that captures the current zeitgeist to drive nature’s recovery.

It’s called Rebirding and it is written by wildlife television field director, conservation writer and lifelong birder Ben MacDonald.

It is a beautifully written, thoughtful and, yes, provocative book.

First documenting and diagnosing the decline of our wild birds, Ben then offers an ambitious and alternative…

@Nicky13Johnson posted this delightful tweet yesterday accompanied by a video of a robin singing:

“If you could listen to just one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?  I choose birdsong.”

I know that Nicky is not alone. 

Today, we report that almost half a million people across the UK took part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch this year counting more than 7.5 million birds in total.  House…

I am an unapologetic optimist, but it can be hard to be upbeat with the current political turmoil and intensely challenging messages on climate change, plastic pollution and “insectmageddon”.

Amid the gloom, we need reasons to be cheerful, so I’m delighted to have one to share with you today: an exciting global call to action for Natural Climate Solutions.

I know, more jargon, but Natural Climate Solutions…

When the RSPB launched its Energy Futures report in 2016, we offered a vision for how we could tackle climate change by driving the much needed energy revolution in harmony with nature. 

We demonstrated that it was possible to generate up to four times the UK’s current energy consumption through low ecological risk renewables.  What’s more, we offered three scenarios as to how this could be achieved including what…

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the disappointing news that we had lost our legal challenge of Natural England’s decision to issue licences to trial the so-called brood management scheme for hen harriers. I said then that we would take time to assess the judgement before determining next steps.

As a charity, we need to weigh up the pros and cons of any course of action and make sure that we are using our funds…

I was reminded this week, via the curious medium of LinkedIn, that I have now been at the RSPB for 15 years.  My mind went immediately went back to March 2004 and I reflected on what’s changed and what has, for better or worse, stayed the same.

Back then, I had no children, lived in London, was enjoying watching my football team become invincible* and had just bid fond farewell to my former employer, Plantlife International…

This morning Mrs Justice Lang handed down her judgment on the legal challenges that the RSPB and Dr Mark Avery had taken against Natural England and the decision to issue licences to trial the so-called brood management scheme for hen harriers.

I’m sorry to say that the ruling was not in our favour - we lost the case.

This is bitterly disappointing for all those who have worked tirelessly on this case and for all…