Returning to work after an excellent fortnight in Catalonia (wonderful trip and I'd recommend the train journey), it takes a little while to readjust to 'normal' life and to the noise that surrounds environmental debate.  For example, I have been struck by the reaction to the news that the RSPB has objected to two fracking proposals.   While we have received many supportive comments about our position, which aligns…

I'm still on annual leave this week so here's another guest post. This one's from our Head of Climate Change Policy, Harry Huyton.

The debate over fracking for shale gas has taken over the environmental agenda in the past two weeks and voices on both sides are getting more and more shrill by the day. You can learn more about our position here.

RSPB submitted its first objections to two fracking sites last…

I'm on holiday this week so I've lined up my colleague, Jude Lane, to post on my behalf. You might remember Jude from the end of last year when she posted about the death of a hen harrier, Bowland Betty. Jude is our Bowland Project Officer, monitoring the breeding attempts of hen harriers on the United Utilities estate within the Forest of Bowland.

With the news officially out last week that no hen harriers bred…

This weekend, we're encouraging people to get out their tents and sleep in their garden, wild place or even RSPB nature reserve.  We're calling this our Big Wild Sleepout.  

I am heading off with the family by train to the Pyrenees this weekend for a couple of weeks so won't be around.   But I didn't want to miss the fun, so, last weekend, up at our hut on the Northumberland Coast I thought that our tent deserved…

Many of you may have been following the Radio 4 Shared Planet series.  If you are still looking for answers, here is Hans Rosling providing the clearest explanation (and the most creative presentation) I have seen about what is happening to the world's population.  If anything, it reinforces my view that consumption is the issue to focus on - as I outlined in my previous blog here. 

So get a cup of tea/coffee, put your…

From Chaucer and Shakespeare to folklore and the Bible the turtle dove is a symbol of love. But reports from recorders suggest that it may soon be the symbol of lost love.

Its plight was highlighted in the State of Nature report launched by Sir David Attenborough in May. A campaign involving farmers and conservationists, Operation Turtle Dove, has been launched. Food producers like Allinsons bread and Jordan’s Cereals…

In early April, Professor Sir John Lawton chaired a panel of experts who reviewed RSPB’s scientific programme. I was fortunate to observe the review and it was one of the most inspirational 24 hours I have spent at the RSPB, hearing about the breadth and depth of our science designed to find solutions to the plethora of conservation problems that nature faces.  Sir John has taken over my blog for the day, and kindly…