Party Conference season ended with the SNP conference in Aberdeen last weekend.  So I am delighted to welcome back Paul McNamee from our Parliamentary team to give his reflections on his foray north.

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Five hours in to my train journey to Aberdeen (with a further two hours to go), the dark edges of my mind started to feel jealous of the people who had chosen a 90 minute flight from London…

To all those Scottish rugby fans mourning your departure from the World Cup (in such cruel circumstances) here's something to bring you cheer - a reminder of some extraordinary nature reserves in your country.  Why not pay one a visit. It will make you feel better, I promise.

I have spent the past couple of days in the home of the Quakers in Birmingham chairing the 2015 Wetlands Futures conference organised by WWT.  It was hugely enjoyable and instructive.  And while this meant I was unable to participate in Defra’s launch of its big conversation about the promised 25 year plan for the environment, much of what we discussed was apposite.

The focus of our conference was on how to improve…

Last night at the London launch of the Response for Nature, Environment Minister Rory Stewart apologised for being boring after two inspirational speeches from Steve Backshall (see video here) and 17 year old Josie Hewitt.

Steve and Josie had provided the compelling case for action and the prize if we do what it takes to recover our threatened natural environment.  The Minister (pictured) was there to pick up the civil…

Today, civil society lays down a gauntlet to each of the four UK administrations to encourage them to do more to improve the state of nature. 

We are launching four country Response for Nature reports (pictured) to highlight the priority actions that governments need to take to respond to the parlous state of our wildlife as identified in the State of Nature report.

There will be events in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Belfast…

The highlight of this year's RSPB AGM was Stanley Johnson receiving the RSPB medal for his contribution to nature conservation.  I have known Stanley for nearly twenty years and he has always been passionate, committed and very, very funny.  His acceptance speech did not disappoint as he entertained us with images and stories from his recent trip to Australia.  The images were a bit blurred, the anecdotes not always…

In the run up to our AGM tomorrow, there has been some debate about the RSPB’s position on driven grouse shooting.  I am not surprised - this is a high profile issue and everyone has a right to have an opinion.  However, I thought it would be useful to re-articulate our position.

In theory, grouse moors, in conservation terms, are not inherently a bad thing. A well managed moor could offer help for curlews, golden…

If your Nature's Home magazine has arrived, you may have seen an eight-page article highlighting the role that the EU Nature Directives (Birds and Species and Habitats Directives) have played in saving some of our most iconic wildlife places: including the Dorset heathlands, Ramsey Island, the Cairngorms and Rathlin Island.  These laws have protected nature across the EU for over 35 years.  Through them, more than 27…

Just in case you are not a member of the RSPB (heaven forbid) or do not read your Nature's Home magazine (outrageous), I thought I'd share with you the article I wrote in the latest issue which lands on doormats this week in time for our AGM on Saturday.  In 350 words I have tried to capture our current position about the forthcoming EU referendum. We are doing more thinking about this and I shall say more in due…

I am sadly not in Manchester for the Conservative Party Conference this week, but our hard-working parliamentary team remains on the road - this time with RSPB Chief Executive, Mike Clarke.  So, I have asked one of our team, Paul McNamee, to shares his reflections below.

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We are now well into conference season with week three finding us in Manchester for Conservative Party Conference. October…

All was calm and still for my trip to the Forest of Bowland of Friday.  The sky was blue, the heather showing off its purple best while northern wheatear refused to start their migration and peacock butterflies enjoyed the late summer sun.

It was hard to reconcile this serene landscape with the turmoil and conflict that had surrounded the moor earlier this summer.  A plume of smoke on the horizon (from a moor burn) was…

Defra will start a conversation about the content of its 25 year plan for nature on 14 October.  The day before, a coalition of NGOs will launch a ten-point plan to restore nature in England (and separate plans for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales).  These serve as the civil society challenge to governments across the UK about their role in responding to the State of Nature report which we published in 2013. 

I don…

Last week, former US Vice President Al Gore was the latest (here) to question the wisdom of fracking in our finest wildlife sites yet in my discussions at Labour and Lib Dem conferences over the past couple of weeks there seems to be some confusion about what is actually happening.

With a string of Westminster Government announcements and consultations in recent months, as well as a u-turn or two to boot, the situation…

Week two of party conference season and we're now in sunny Brighton with the Labour Party.  Last night, it was my pleasure to introduce Rt Hon Hilary Benn at a reception organised by WWF, The Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB.  Mr Benn is now Shadow Foreign Secretary but was, of course, Environment Secretary during the last Labour Government.

The Coalition Government inherited and respected much of Mr Benn’s legacy...…

We covered a lot of ground at a well attended fringe event with the Liberal Democrats yesterday - from fracking on SSSIs, to housing policy, spending cuts and Europe.  As a party they are clearly finding their road to recovery, but they have a stake in many of the issues that are relevant today not least because they were live when they were part of the coalition government.

For example, the Natural Capital Committee…

The party conference season has started and so I am in Bournemouth with the Liberal Democrats. Over the next month, starting here in Bournemouth, and then in Brighton with Labour, Manchester with the Conservatives and Aberdeen with SNP, RSPB staff will be encouraging politicians to use their voice for nature, defend the EU Nature Directives and ensure that there is sufficient resource available to restore landscapes for…

As the hen harrier season comes to an end, I thought I'd welcome Bea Ayling, the RSPB's hen harrier officer, to give her reflections on the season.

Whilst hiking in the Pentland Hills last weekend, enjoying the fresh smell of the blooming heather after the rain and the stunning views over Edinburgh, I couldn’t help but feel sad. Not because the summer is coming to an end, but because I knew, yet again hen harriers…

I’ve spent the last few days focussing on the relationship between the European Union and the future of our wildlife and the special places that they call home here in the UK.

Last week European Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella and Biodiversity Minister Rory Stewart helped us to celebrate a significant milestone in our Wallasea Island Wild Coast project in Essex. This event marked the completion of the first…

I attended the excellent launch of the Wildlife and Countryside Link visions for food and farming and for water today.

Secretary of State, Liz Truss, offered a response and I was again struck by the emphasis that she placed on data and the importance of volunteers to both collect the data and be empowered it use it to act for conservation.

We are a nation of naturalists and we should be proud of the quality of the datasets…

On Friday, Matt Shardlow, Chief Executive of Buglife, visited our Headquarters at the Lodge.  We went for a walk about the reserve, saw a pair of Hobbies enjoyed the sunshine and put in the world to rights.  In passing, we discussed imminent changes to the Judicial Review system - the very system that we used to overturn the Government's decision to cull up to a fifth of Lesser Black Backed Gull population on the Ribble…

Late yesterday afternoon, I was walking with a colleague, Matt Williams, very quickly along the banks of the Thames.  I had just left the RSPB's Parliamentary Reception and was due to talk to our Central London Members' Group but it had been suggested that I visit a new sculpture on the Thames.  I was a bit worried about the time, late as I always was for the evening talk, so we walked a bit quicker. As we approached…

Further to my blog on Monday (here) where I referenced recent debates about how best to inspire action for nature, here are some thoughts from the RSPB's Chief Executive Mike Clarke

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Chris Packham’s piece in the most recent issue of BBC Wildlife Magazine, in which he challenges a number of nature conservation organisations, including the RSPB…

Murray Edwards College Cambridge last week hosted the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment (ASLE).  My grapevine* tells me it was a lively event, bringing together academics and others in the relatively new field of the 'environmental humanities' (such as the Open University's 'Stories of Change' project).  BBC Environment Analyst Roger Harrabin's closing…

While some of us have been off on our summer holidays, spare a thought for those civil servants that were tasked with developing departmental spending bids over the past six weeks.

In late July, the Chancellor George Osborne charged non-protected departments with producing plans for 25% and 40% cuts in their resource budgets and that these plans should be submitted by 4 September ie today!

Defra is one such department…

After the wet Bank Holiday weekend I am looking forward to going to Hope Farm tomorrow.  It will be good to catch up with our farm manager, Ian Dillon, to hear about harvest and results from this year’s breeding season.  Together we’ll be hosting some new visitors and, as ever, it will be interesting to see how they respond to what we have achieved over the past 15 years or so.

Arable flowers at Hope Farm…