Some holiday reading

By the time you read this I shall be safely ensconced in our hut (probably sheltering from the rain) on the Northumberland coast. For company, as well as my wife and children, I shall take Mike Pratt’s new book Wild Northumbria. It will inspire me to explore more of the best county in England.

Before I run away on leave, there are few things to note.

First, I was delighted that our campaign to defend the nature directives reached a remarkable milestone over the weekend with half a million standing up for nature by responding to the European Consultation on the future of the EU Nature Directives. The weight of response to the public consultation from European citizens surely will make the Commission think twice before weakening the Directives. And, it has been inspiring to be part of a strong and powerful NGO coalition across Europe as well as across the UK.

Second, the latest set of indicators about the state of Natural Environment in England were released, rather quietly, on Thursday. Have a look of them, they don’t make palatable reading for anyone interested in nature. They provide further evidence that we are collectively failing nature. Given the free services that nature gives us, in turn, this undermines our own prosperity. Last week’s announcement of further cuts in public spending clearly will not help. Yet, through our own practical conservation we know what needs to be done and we need political will to reboot conservation efforts. Let’s begin by properly implementing wildlife laws, bolstering our nature conservation agencies, support local communities who want to give nature a home and ensure that existing budgets, like those for farming, work harder for nature.

Third, I was dismayed by the process which led to the decision to grant an 'emergency authorisation' to allow the use of neonicotinoids (see my colleague Ellie Crane's blog here).  Thus is a highly emotive subject and we expect much higher standards of transparency I the decision-making process.

Finally, for the first time in years, I shall miss Game Fair. This will be the latest opportunity for us to reach out to those in the shooting community that want to work with us to restore our uplands, address burning on peatlands and protect threatened species such as hen harrier and curlew. My boss Mike Clarke and our Scottish Director Stuart Housden, will be leading our conversations and if you are attending, please do pop by our stand for a chat.

By then, my predecessor’s book Inglorious will be published making the case for a ban on grouse shooting. Mark Avery has also now launched a new petition to support his campaign (see here). As a result, I have received calls on the RSPB to support this petition. Given the damage caused by intensive driven grouse shooting, I understand the support for such a petition. But the RSPB continues to focus on improving enforcement of the law and we believe licensing grouse shoots is one potential way of helping this while vicarious liability is another.  Our full position can be read here.  We think it is really important that the grouse industry gets its house in order or calls for a ban will only grow.

My colleague, Jeff Knott, will be talking more on our commitment to saving hen harriers at Hen Harrier Day (which I shall once again miss because of the timing of my leave).  I would encourage anyone who cares about hen harriers to attend the event in the Goyt Valley (see here)

Please do keep an eye on this blog while I am away. I have arranged for a few guest blogs including a series focusing our attempts to ‘unlock wonderfulness’ through our nature reserves.

Have a wonderful few weeks and I look forward to seeing some of you at Bird Fair next month.