Stop wishing. Start doing.

Tags

birds, Birds of prey, conservation, environment, George Monbiot, Hen Harrier, nature, persecution, photography, wildlife crime

When we think of corruption it’s often in terms of somewhere abroad. Somewhere in Africa, maybe, or perhaps southern Europe. It’s not usually about something on our own doorstep, but, as George Monbiot writes, that’s because we’re not looking hard enough. ‘Would there still be a commercial banking sector in Britain if it weren’t for corruption? Think of the list of scandals: pension mis-selling, endowment mortgage fraud, the payment protection insurance scam, Libor rigging, insider trading and all the rest.’ (1) Corruption occurs everywhere.

And so it is with wildlife crime. We might think it’s ‘over there’ somewhere, and indeed it often is, with ivory poaching and rhino killing in Africa, industrial scale songbird slaughter all around the Med and commercial whaling in all but name from Japan, Iceland and Norway. And it’s not difficult to find lots of other instances around the world. But, just as with corruption, there’s plenty of wildlife crime on British soil. Take the Ministry of Defence’s bases on Cyprus for a start. Although the trapping of songbirds was made illegal 40 years ago, last year saw 900 000 birds trapped and killed there – on British soil. I’ll just say that again – just short of a million birds were trapped and killed on British soil in 2014 alone. And what’s more, the situation is getting worse, with 2014 being the worst year on record.

So, why is this happening? Graham Madge of the RSPB said, back in 2012, “This isn’t just a few guys trapping on a Sunday morning with a few nets, this is almost getting into the realms of organised crime. There are massive operations at some locations, to the point where shrubbery is planted across hillsides to attract the birds, irrigation systems are put in to water the bushes to make them attractive to insects and therefore to birds, sound systems are put in. They play the bird song at night as the birds are migrating over the island in an attempt to try and pull them in to trap them.” (2) And all this is just so the local dish of ‘ambelopoulia’ – grilled Blackcaps, Robins and warblers eaten whole – can be brazenly and illegally served in local restaurants. And the Ministry of Defence? Again, back in 2012, it said it took the matter ‘very seriously’. And yet the annual number of birds killed is estimated to have doubled in the two years since.

Although this area is British soil, and thus is our responsibility, it isn’t Britain as such. But wildlife crime is rife here too. We don’t have to go abroad to get a bellyful. We just have to go out into the countryside. Chasing terrified foxes and hares with dogs has hardly gone away despite legislation. Badgers are still ripped apart for fun with incidents on the increase partly, perhaps, as a result of a degree of legitimisation by the government through its non-evidence based scapegoating of the badger and cap-doffing to the National Farmers’ Union. In addition, all manner of animals and birds are exterminated across our uplands in the name of grouse moor ‘management’ on behalf of wealthy landowners. It’s against the law and it all deprives us of having more wildlife encounters, more biodiversity and a richer natural world.

As Monbiot concludes, for many countries the kind of corruption that exists involves paying bribes to officials. But what happens in Britain is much more sophisticated and is carried out by the rich and powerful. Corruption is dressed up as legitimate business.

In the same way that the elite influences what qualifies as being corrupt, and therefore excuses their own practices from inclusion for their own benefit, the same happens with wildlife crime. When it would benefit those with power to alter what is a crime against birds and animals they want to change things. Repealing hunting laws? Killing, sorry ‘culling’, protected badgers? Making it legal with special licenses to kill certain birds of prey? Coming up with a plan to legally remove Hen Harriers? The list goes on… and most of these are being discussed to benefit the elite and their activities. The bottom line?  Anything rather than changing their own ways.

The question is how much do we – you and I –  care? Unless people like us take that extra step then things will just go on, illegally, as before, benefiting the few at the expense of the many and perpetuating animal cruelty.  And that would be criminal.

So, there are plenty of things we can do:

• Report any wildlife crime by ringing 101 or, if the crime is actually taking place, 999. To do so anonymously ring 0800 555111
• Join an organisation, such as the RSPB, League Against Cruel Sports or the Badger Trust
• Write to your MP about strengthening laws to protect our wildlife and to put an end to the disgrace in Cyprus
• Write to your Police and Crime Commissioner about what their force is doing about wildlife crime
• Support those trying to fight wildlife crime here and abroad,  e.g. Fundrazr appeal
• Get your friends and family involved, e.g. raising awareness and family fundraising
• Follow and support like-minded individuals and groups on social media such as Birders Against Wildlife Crime, Wildlife Crime Aware and Mark Avery

It’s time to stop wishing and start doing.

1 http://www.monbiot.com/2015/03/18/hard-graft/
2 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/political-row-flares-over-brutal-slaughter-of-three-million-birds-a-year-in-cyprus-8181671.html

A toxic waste

Tags

birds, Birds of prey, conservation, environment, nature, persecution, photography, Vultures, wildlife crime

In the last few years we have increasingly come to realise just how much the migrant birds of the Eastern Mediterranean are under intense pressure. Every year, hundreds of millions of birds make the twice yearly trip between Europe and Africa. Unlike birds that stick to one area for the whole of their lives, the vast movements of migrants mean they encounter many more dangers as they go about their usual year. Not only do most of these migrants have to to cross the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea each spring and autumn and deal with all kinds of weather conditions, humans also are responsible for incredible hazards they must overcome. A staggering number of birds do not make it.

Huge numbers are being slaughtered as they make their journeys. Millions are shot each year en route by people who consider killing a sport. Vast numbers of birds are caught in nets in northern Africa, the Middle East and Southern Europe – it is estimated that the length of the nets laid out each spring and autumn to catch desperately tired migrants totals over 700 km in Egypt alone!!! [1] Then there are overhead power cables that birds fly into, together with an increasing number of wind farms that large birds are not evolutionarily adapted to avoiding.

It’s a wonder any birds make it! Sadly fewer and fewer do.

For those birds that do manage to successfully cross into Europe, even when they arrive at their breeding grounds the dangers are still there. Take Lazarus, an Egyptian Vulture nursed back to health from poisoning and fitted with a satellite transmitter. He left Greece in 2012, spent the winter in Africa and headed home in 2013. His journey took him over Egypt, Israel, war-torn Syria and Turkey, but two days after crossing the Greek border, only 200km from home, he swallowed poisoned bait and died.

Now all this makes me angry. Really bloody angry.

But what can we do? Well, if it makes you angry perhaps you would consider this.  A fundraising appeal has been made by Birdwing (a conservation organisation set up by my wife and me several years ago – see birdwing.eu) to raise money to help prevent the extinction of Egyptian Vultures from Greece. 

As part of an ongoing project anti-poison sniffer dogs are working in the breeding territories. They sniff out poison baits before they can do their killing.

Here’s the link.

It is vital work and every small donation can have a massive impact on the future of this species in Greece. It’s a chance to make a difference. Will you help?

http://fnd.us/c/7wpfa

[1] www.unep-aewa.org

The neatness obsession

Tags

birds, conservation, environment, Farming, hedge, nature, neatness, photography, Verges

I hear it a lot – ‘It’ll just be kicked into the long grass’ – but whether it’s the government who’s doing the kicking or some other decision-making body, an awful lot of things end up in the long grass. Well, what I want to know is this – where is all this long grass? Because there’s precious little of it around my way. I live surrounded by fields, yes, lucky I know, but there isn’t a square metre of long grass in any of them. Not as far as the eye can see. Even when the field is grass it definitely isn’t long. There isn’t a strip of long grass anywhere, not edging an arable field or running alongside a hedge. There are no rough field margins at all. The fields around me are farmed to within an inch of their lives. Maybe I’m unlucky here, perhaps that’s not typical everywhere, but it certainly is in my area of North Yorkshire. As a result there’s no hunting habitat for owls or kestrels and hardly any farmland birds in the hedgerows.

And then there are the hedges themselves. Tall, bushy, vibrant with life? Not exactly. Most of them are sacrificed on the altar of neatness. Is it a question of simply having nothing to do that brings legions of farmers out in their tractors flaying and slashing? Around me so many hedges – potential blossom and berry-producing nesting sites – are brought to their knees each year. It’s not a question of cutting to thicken the hedge or anything like that, it’s simply vandalism. Usually vandalism moves things from the tidy to the untidy but here this form of ‘natural vandalism’ goes the other way, where the untidy becomes tidy. It’s wanton, ignorant vandalism for the sake of neatness. Look at these examples – these sad hawthorns are reduced to this every single year. Squared off, neat and absolutely pointless. They don’t produce berries anymore or even function as a hedge, but they still have to be controlled, still have to be slashed lest they run amok in a berry-producing frenzy.

I’ve spoken to the farmer. I’ve asked why they can’t be allowed to grow, ‘Wouldn’t look neat’ was the simple response, as I gazed across his yard at the remains of various bits of rusting farm machinery in a heap in the corner, next to the pile of tyres. And, for God’s sake, farmers can get money for not cutting their hedges. For not cutting them. So what is this obsession with neatness? And why is it only applied to living things? Why doesn’t a pile of old junk qualify but a hedge of blossom, berries and nesting sites does?

Last year I wrote to my local council asking whether they might ease back on the frequency of cutting on some of the town’s grass verges. I suggested that the council could do its bit for bees and butterflies and save money in doing so. More wildlife at less cost. I mean, councils are not exactly awash with cash these days. Two big boxes ticked and a bit more money to be spent elsewhere. What’s not to like? But – and I think you know what’s coming – I had, of course, completely underestimated the power of the neatness obsession.  I was told that a significant number of residents preferred the ‘manicured look’ and the council therefore had no plans to save money and do anything at all for nature. Okay, they didn’t put it exactly like that but that’s what they meant. [1]

Are we, as humans, predisposed towards a desire for neatness? There’s no doubt a picture can be enhanced by being framed and a show lawn can look neater when it’s cleanly edged. Are these anti-nature activities by some farmers simply an extension of this? Do they see their fields as works of art to be encircled by a neat frame? Is this why my local farmer won’t consider a skylark plot amongst his wheat, because the neatness mantra was invoked here, too. Rough margins and skylark plots can be funded by agri-environment schemes but is the neatness obsession one of the reasons why the take-up of the Environmental Stewardship scheme hasn’t been higher? I’m sure the form-filling can be a pain, but, however easy it was made to be, would it founder on the altar of neatness? From my conversations with farmers and the council it certainly seems so round these parts.

Failing the neatness test?

Now it may be that anyone who has read this far is nodding in agreement while looking out at a tidy, manicured garden. Hmmm. We know, in the face of the assault on the countryside, that gardens are increasingly important to our wildlife but how many of us disapprove of the farmers’ neatness obsession whilst succumbing to it ourselves?

I must plead guilty to having had a Damascene moment of my own some years ago, when I suddenly realised how this subconscious pull towards neatness was meaning that my garden was, when I stood and really looked at it, largely ornamental. Neat lawns and flowerbeds. Pretty and nice to look at, all trim and ordered – and time-consuming. But of vanishingly little value to anything at all. So, buoyed by a sudden sense of wild abandon, I stopped mowing part of the lawn and left the hedge alone. I didn’t get any money for doing this but what the hell. I chucked some wildflower seeds in and built a bughouse. Result? Less effort for me and an influx of life. So many birds use the hedge, the long grass is full of moths in the summer as well as birds foraging for insects and grubs for their chicks. Bees and butterflies feast on the wildflowers and a wren has staked a claim to the logpile. If you’ve got a garden – big or small – just do it. It all adds up to making such a difference – and what’s more it frees up time, so everyone’s a winner. So let’s lighten up on the tidiness and embrace some messiness – and see whether you can get a farmer and your council to do the same because the difference each one of us – and them – can make by embracing just a little entropy is enormous.

Before

After

Britain’s deserts

Tags

birds, Birds of prey, environment, George Monbiot, Hen Harrier, moorland, nature, photography

So, Hen Harrier Day is over. It was uplifting, and those of us who were there, dripping and paddling, felt a sense of cohesion and inspiration from being with a group of committed, like-minded people who have simply had enough of the illegal persecution of birds of prey. And it’s now so important that this momentum builds.

The fact that the likes of the Daily Telegraph is writing such tendentious, scurrilous, ill-informed pieces show that some people, somewhere, are running scared. Maybe in the future we will see Hen Harriers and other raptors living unmolested on our grouse moors. Let’s hope so, but it could be some time in coming. Nevertheless, I’m in it for the long haul.

In the meantime, with our attention focused on driven grouse moors, let’s not forget all the other areas of our uplands that are also harrier – and raptor – free. In fact many of them are pretty much bird free altogether. In April I spent a day in Snowdonia – one of our national park ‘jewels’. After 8 hours of walking my birdlist was……… five. Five species – in a national park for God’s sake. If it hadn’t been for half a dozen Herring Gulls scavenging sandwiches at the summit of Snowdon the total of individual birds seen wouldn’t have been much more than five. A few Ravens, a singing wren, two Meadow Pipits and a Pied Wagtail in the car park completed the list. After eight hours in a National Park in April. Wow.

Raptors? Don’t be silly, there wasn’t a single one. Why would there be raptors? There was absolutely nothing for them to eat. I say it again – in a national park in April.

Bird, mammal and insect free

George Monbiot’s term for these uplands is the most apt – they are ‘sheepwrecked’. (1) They are a barren, green, short-cropped desert, the result of subsidised overgrazing that we – you and I – pay for. It seems that, in 2010, the average Welsh sheep farm on the hills received £53 000 in subsidies. The average net income per farm was £33 000. Hang on, that’s a deficit of      £20 000 per farm. That’s right, in creating a green desert each farm incurred a loss of £20 000. So, we pay £53 grand a year to each farm to encourage them to, in effect, remove wildlife and wildlife habitat from the hills. So no harriers there either, then. And this is considered normal in our national parks. Let’s just do that again. We – you and I – pay £53 000 per farm to create an upland desert.

And it’s not just in Wales that these green deserts proliferate. There are huge swathes of English and Scottish uplands, much of which is in national parks, where birdlists would stay well inside single figures. To quote Monbiot,

Sheep farming in this country is a slow-burning ecological disaster, which has done more damage to the living systems of this country than either climate change or industrial pollution.(2)

And it gets worse. Before 2004, subsidies were paid to farmers according to how many animals they had, but since then they have been paid in accordance with how much land is farmed. This has made it financially advantageous for hill farmers to remove any remaining scrub etc. on their land to increase their eligibility for subsidies and, in so doing, further reduce its wildlife potential. It’s clearly a nonsensical way to go about things.

One of the traps that we, as humans, often fall into is believing that things have always been as they are now. In the case of our uplands they haven’t always been as they are now. Grazing by sheep has created the current lifeless state of much of them. Hardly anything survives their relentless molars. But, when any change is mooted, the prophecies of doom come thick and fast, e.g. Will Cockbain, until 2012 the National Farmers’ Union spokesman on hill farming, ‘If the hills are not grazed, they will turn to scrub and trees, which may look scenic but will decrease biodiversity.’ (3) Good God! Less biodiversity? Could that be possible? Could we be heading for a birdlist of zero? You simply couldn’t make such nonsense up.

Beautiful, but empty

Sheep farming is a particularly unproductive and damaging use of our uplands and it’s about time that we, in Britain, had a look at the whole issue of our upland areas. Their current state is an economic and environmental disaster. And that’s not to even mention the rain that now streams straight off the scoured hills to create flooding misery downstream. Let’s think beyond the constraining prism of the present. We need to get past all this trotted-out nonsense about sheep farming being vital in maintaining the land as it always has been. It isn’t and it hasn’t. It used to be richer, more diverse and much more full of life. We need to develop a vision of what these areas could be. We need to discuss what we think the uplands are for and then find a way of changing them for the better, both for wildlife – harriers included – and, as a result, for us and our experiences of being in them.

Your right to write

Tags

birds, conservation, diclofenac, environment, nature, photography, politics

In recent weeks I’ve blogged about the madness of allowing veterinary Diclofenac in Europe, tax-payer subsidies for grouse moor owners and the enforced disappearance of the Hen Harrier and other birds of prey from our countryside. Positive responses to these came in from many sources: people liked, favourited, commented, followed, retweeted and shared. That’s great and thanks. These all show how many people care about nature and wildlife.

But do our politicians know this? Do they really have a sense of the number of people who care about nature – and the strength of their feelings? I wonder. When was the last time you personally expressed your desire to protect wildlife to your MEP or to your local politician? How many people wrote an email or a letter to their MEP showing their outrage over the licensing of Diclofenac? Yes, some of us will have signed e-petitions but does this really get under the skin of a politician? Does it counterbalance the number of friends and associates he or she may have who favour a more ‘gun-toting/kill them/cull them’ approach to the natural world?

The recent European elections put brand new politicians into the European Parliament. They are – hopefully – keen to represent the opinions of the nation. Our MPs, in whatever country we live, also, we hope, aim to stand up for the electorate’s views. But the question is this – where do they get their ideas of what these views are? Are they based on a general sense of what the people around them believe; their friends and other party politicians and the like? In what other ways are they forming their ideas about the electorate’s opinions?

Well, we know that e-petitions, like this one (which I hope you have already signed), must be responded to by politicians if 10 000 people sign them. It is a way of expressing your view and – if the magic number is reached – of at least forcing a response. That has to be a good thing, even if a large dose of fobbing off can be the result.

But is that it? Is that enough? Should we stop there? We all know that we probably shouldn’t but it always seems such a lot of effort to do more. The bottom line, so to speak, is this – can we really criticise our politicians for some of their decisions when we can’t even be arsed to write to them?

So, what stops us from telling our politicians what we think? Is it:

1.  Who to write to?
2.  What to say?
3.  The time it will take?

In turn: 1. Who to write to? For UK readers, type your postcode into the search at this website writetothem.com and select the recipient of your choice. You can choose your district councillor, county councillor, MP, any of the Lords and, once they take up their positions in early July, the MEPs representing your local area. It takes just seconds to do this! Alternatively find the email or postal addresses of the MEPs for your region at: www.europarl.org.uk.

2. What to say? The trick is to keep it simple. State the issue you feel strongly about and explain what you want your MEP etc. to do about it. Then ask for their opinion and, if you are asking about a forthcoming vote or report, request that they explain how they plan to vote and their reasons. That’s it. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.* Then give your full name and address. If they don’t think you’re a constituent of theirs, your message may be binned. This is not to say that other politicians can’t be contacted, even those in other countries where your concern may be.  For example, I have written and received replies from a range of politicians and organisations in Greece as part of conservation work there.

3. And finally the time issue. The biggie. How long does it take to fire off an email? How many emails, status posts, tweets etc. do you send out each week? Is one more message really too much? Ok, so some extra time may be required (more than posting a comment about Coronation Street on Facebook perhaps), but do you care enough to do it? The time issue really is more about motivation – the ‘can I really be arsed’ factor. Why not write just one letter as a start and see how long it really takes? And see how you feel having done it.

Do we care enough about the loss of diversity in our countryside?

Wildlife needs our help more than ever. Whether it’s an email to an MEP about killing vultures with diclofenac, to an MP about the rich and powerful using our uplands as a personal playground or perhaps to a local councillor about allowing wildflowers to grow on our roadside verges, it’s worth it.

So, well done for reaching the end of this post. I hope you’re challenged to write. If you do, please leave a comment and let me know. Someone once said ‘We get the politicians we deserve’. I’d like to think a few more of them will discover that there are lots of us out here who love and want to preserve the natural world. If you’re one of them then we simply have to do just a little more. Give it a go.

Do we care enough that these are poisoned?

Do we care enough that these will be legally trapped – endorsed by the EU?

Do we care enough that these are shot illegally?

Do we care enough about wildlife crime?

* It’s worth saying that it can be more effective if a specific politician is targeted at the right time, such as when specific organisations appeal for you to write to a particular person at a particular time. Your message may then have even more influence. But don’t let this stop you from writing to your own representative on your own about the issues you care about. Ultimately, the more you write to a politician the more you will be able to build a relationship with them. This is your right – so get writing!

And lastly, if you can recommend anything further about writing in this way please add your comments. The more we can learn how to use our influence the better.

A site for sore eyes

Tags

birds, conservation, environment, Greece, Lake Kerkini, nature, photography

It’s easy to get disheartened in this world we’ve made, where wild things are of so little importance to so many people, where they are shot for fun and their habitats are trashed in the name of ‘progress’. However, there are still places where people are working hard to preserve the wild things and their habitats. Lake Kerkini, in Northern Greece, is a case in point.

This place is simply a bird wonderland. Just an hour’s drive north of Thessaloniki, nothing can quite prepare you for sheer number of birds on and around the lake. It’s nearly 20 years since my first visit and each time is as magical as the first. And so it proved once again last week. I was there to discuss habitat improvement projects with the management staff on behalf of the conservation organisation, Birdwing (www.birdwing.eu) my wife and I run out here in Greece.

The lake, created by the damming of the Strimonas River in 1932, is used primarily as a reservoir for the irrigation of the fertile Serres plain to the south. Its depth changes by several metres during the course of the year as the winter rains are gradually fed out to the farmland below. The surface area increases from about 54 square kilometres in autumn to a brimming 72 square kilometres in June. This means that, for the visitor, the scene is always changing and, of course, the same is true for the birds.

As we walked towards the lake last week the air was full of the songs of nightingales, golden orioles, purring turtle doves, the harsh chatter of the great reed warbler, the mechanical olivaceous warbler, cuckoos and the explosive Cetti’s warbler. Bee-eaters were everywhere, burrowing furiously into the sandy embankments, arrowing into the air as we approached. All this is standard fare for Kerkini and is a banquet in itself, but the quality was turned up a notch by visitors from the east. On the Sunday of our visit there weren’t any, Monday saw a few but by Tuesday there were large flocks all around the lake. Rosy starlings were everywhere! It seemed that every mulberry tree was alive with their movement and chatter.

There is an area of trees to the north of the lake that, as the water level rises in spring, becomes a ‘drowned forest’ as it stands in over a metre of water. This provides a perfect nest site for thousands of water birds, including cormorants, herons and egrets.

A grey heron, wrestling with a very alive, very large snake, reluctantly took to the air as we reached the embankment. At this time of year, along the shore, there are lots of dead branches protruding from the water and almost every one had a heron of some sort on it, often a night heron or a gorgeous squacco.

In the wet meadows opposite, numerous little egrets, a single purple heron, a couple of great white egrets together with glossy ibises probed for food. There were spoonbills with their scything feeding action and several cattle egrets scampering between the plodding feet of the water buffaloes. A lone spur-winged plover waited hopefully for a partner.

Hundreds of great crested grebes were busy on family business, many with nests and some with their stripy young riding on their backs. In the distance black-necked grebes were busy arranging nests out of floating vegetation in amongst the whiskered terns. In the distance we could clearly see the three pelican platforms, each packed full of Dalmatian pelicans.

This bird, one of the largest in Europe, is globally endangered, with a world population estimated at fewer than 14 000. It has undergone massive global declines over the past couple of centuries, a result of wetland drainage, persecution and disturbance during the breeding season. Here at Kerkini, through conservation efforts, artificial nesting sites have allowed over 200 young to fledge this year alone.

Suddenly there was a movement of spawning fish in the shallows in front of us. Within seconds thousands of cormorants and pelicans were thrashing their way across the lake to join the feast. The lake surface was boiling with splashing, diving and gulping birds. Egrets gobbled up fish that had jumped out of the frying pan onto the shore. Within seconds there was quiet as the fish sank deeper. The birds sat, watchful, waiting, knowing that within minutes another shoal would be spotted and the thrashing, squawking and feasting would begin again.

A masked shrike leapt up from the track. A hoopoe flew over with its ‘butterfly’ flight. A lesser spotted eagle rose from a field of poppies. Penduline tits called their mournful ‘siuu’. A tortoise ambled past and a black kite scooped a fish from the lake surface.

 

Kerkini had once again worked its magic – on such a day it’s difficult to think of a better place to be.

 

 

If you’re interested in learning more about Kerkini and other wetlands of Greece, seeing more photos of the birds there and finding out ways you can help preserve and protect them, go to birdwing.eu

Let’s do what we can to keep these places special.

The rich man’s playground – at our expense

Tags

birds, Birds of prey, moorland, nature, persecution, photography

More than 10,000 people supported a recent petition regarding the licensing of grouse moors in the UK (1). This petition asked that those moors on which there was proven evidence of criminal activity against wildlife – often involving birds of prey – would lose their licence for a period of time. Thus the owner would be deprived of income as a result of their involvement in criminal activity and would have every incentive to get their house in order. Surely this would be a sound piece of legislation. What is there to object to? It makes perfect sense. After all, if there is no criminal activity there’s no problem.

Unfortunately DEFRA (the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) didn’t see it that way. Passing the 10,000 signature threshold, the petition triggered a required response. This duly came and not only failed to support the idea but virtually ignored the whole issue of grouse shooting, instead offering platitudes and waffling on about the economic benefits of shooting in general (2). However, despite the government’s unwillingness to engage with the issue, one would have thought that they would at least have been aware of a strength of feeling about this matter and perhaps trodden a little more carefully as a result.

Not a chance. Instead the government has looked at the subsidy it pays to grouse moor owners (- you mean there’s a subsidy?) and decided that it’s not enough. So now it’s been increased from £30 per hectare to £56 (3). Whoa, hold on a minute. First of all it seems that the government, as part of subsidies given to upland ‘farmers’, pays wealthy owners of grouse moors regular money from us UK taxpayers and now – following public concern about abuses in grouse moor management, for heaven’s sake – is virtually doubling this subsidy. Why? Why do these owners receive any such subsidy in the first place? We know that grouse moors depend on criminal activity in the form of the illegal killing of all kinds of wildlife – from hares to foxes to Hen Harriers – anything that might reduce the number of grouse that can be blasted from the sky. It’s been well documented (4) (5). And now the government is sticking two fingers up at anyone who is concerned about how these vast tracts of our uplands are ‘managed’. Of course, for ‘managed’ read, in many cases, ‘illegally cleared of birds of prey’.

We’re paying to keep this wildlife-free!

In not doing more than simply acknowledging this widely-supported petition the government is, in effect, saying that the leisure pursuits of a small, elite club are simply not to be interfered with. And, what’s more, they’re saying they’re going to pay them more of your money to help them enjoy themselves. So there. Stuff your petition and say goodbye to a bit more of your hard-earned cash.

In the meantime we are deprived of seeing Hen Harriers, Peregrines, Goshawks, Golden Eagles etc. soaring over the hills. And now – you just couldn’t make it up – we’re paying double for the privilege.

Enough is enough. It’s about time we stopped pussy-footing around this issue and stood up to be counted. If you’re interested in joining a peaceful protest about the illegal killing of our birds of prey, organised for August 10th at various venues, see http://birdersagainst.org/projects/hen-harrier-day

Hen Harrier – photo not taken in the UK!

Moor than meets the eye?

Tags

birds, Birds of prey, environment, moorland, nature, persecution, photography

Now I’ve heard it all. The Moorland Association is putting itself forward as the champion of a bird of prey! This organisation is the representative body of grouse moor owners in England and Wales. It says, ‘Britain’s smallest birds of prey are flying in to nest on English grouse moors which have helped stave off their downfall.’ A new report, commissioned by the Association themselves, states that numbers of Merlin have increased on moorland that is being intensively ‘managed’ for grouse shooting (1). Many newspapers have picked this up and run the story, giving the Moorland Association a pat on the back in the process. The Merlin does indeed seem to be doing well on some grouse moors and seeing one of these beautiful little falcons on the moors enhances any upland walk. So that’s great.

But, wait a minute, isn’t there another question waiting to be asked here? What about all the other raptors on moorland in the north of England? Where are the Buzzards, the Peregrines, the Goshawks and the Hen Harriers? Also doing well? I’m afraid not. Pretty much absent, in fact, even though there’s plenty of available habitat. It’s been estimated there are sufficient territories for around 300 pairs of Hen Harriers to live in England’s uplands. How many successfully did so last year? None. Not a single chick was raised.

Where are you?

Now, why on earth could that be, given that the management of our moors is in such caring, raptor-loving hands? Relentless, illegal persecution year after year is cited in numerous scientific reports as a major reason for their absence. The same is happening in central and eastern Scotland where there are also eagles to be exterminated. The Golden Eagle, that Scottish icon, would be soaring over many more Scottish uplands if they were allowed to do so (2). So many of these incidents occur on or near managed grouse moors. (3) Coincidence? Hardly. Nothing stops those with a vested interest in ‘grouse production’. Not even the law. Poisoning, trapping, shooting – you name it – of anything that might possibly threaten a grouse chick. They must all be destroyed. It’s illegal killing that is cited again and again. It’s no coincidence that the Merlin happens to be our smallest raptor and not considered a threat by the moorland ‘managers’.

For the Moorland Association to be making capital out of – and seeking credit for – not killing Merlins is rich indeed. There’s no ‘protection’ of raptors on managed grouse moors. As far as birds of prey are concerned, the word doesn’t seem to exist in the moorland managers’ dictionary, which goes straight from ‘persecution’ to ‘public relations’. The bottom line, and there’s no getting away from it, is that grouse shooting depends on widespread criminality. And those responsible are simply stealing our nature. Over and over again.

Where are you?

And where are you?

If you’re interested in getting details about a peaceful protest against Hen Harrier persecution click here.

Collateral damage?

Tags

birds, diclofenac, environment, nature, photography, science, Vultures

Imagine this scenario – 99% of all cars have malfunctioned, causing certain death to the driver. Now, after much testing, the part responsible has been identified. And what’s more, there’s an alternative already available. What would be the logical thing to do? Should we change the part in all cars? Or should we just stop using the faulty part in cars in some places but not in others even though we know it will continue to cause cars to fail and drivers to die? Why am I asking such a nonsensical question? Clearly no-one in their right mind would sanction the use of the faulty part somewhere else. But that’s exactly what the European Union has done. The EU has, in effect, agreed to allow the part to be fitted to cars elsewhere, guaranteeing certain death. Only we’re not talking about cars, but vultures.

Let’s pick a vulture species, say the White-rumped Vulture. These were present in large numbers in the Indian sub-continent until the 1990s and were once described as perhaps the most numerous large bird of prey in the world. Since then 999 out of every 1000 White-rumped Vultures have gone. For every thousand there is now one. That’s right, numbers have fallen by a staggering 99.9%.(1)

Various groups tried to find the cause (2) without success until the culprit was discovered, an anti-inflammatory drug given to cattle called diclofenac. Traces remaining in dead cattle, eaten by the birds, caused rapid kidney failure. Now that in itself is bad enough but, in this world of ours where every natural process is linked to others, this was only the beginning. Vultures, as we know, get rid of dead livestock. As a result of no vultures, hundreds of thousands of dead animals have gone uneaten, creating breeding grounds for numerous infectious diseases, including anthrax.

And it gets worse – the loss of vultures has resulted in an increase in the number of feral dogs because there’s more for them to eat, as mammals are unaffected by diclofenac. The bites of dogs are the most common cause of human rabies. A recent study estimates that, during the period in question, there has been an increase in the feral dog population of at least 5 million. It is calculated that this has resulted in 40 million additional dog bites and nearly 50 000 extra deaths from rabies. And it is estimated that the increased number of rabies victims may have cost the Indian economy $34 billion. (3) Thirty four billion! Now the good news – an alternative medication – meloxicam – has been found to be both effective on livestock and safe for vultures.

So, this is where we are – the culprit has been identified, an effective alternative has been found, the huge economic costs are understood and the situation in India and southern Asia in general is one of slow but encouraging progress. Good stuff. Clearly, to any sane mind, all this points irrevocably towards a ban on the use of diclofenac on livestock. And that’s what has happened in India and southern Asia. A vital link in the ecological chain is slowly restoring itself. So we can relax. But, wait a moment, what’s this? It can’t be the EU allowing the faulty car part to be used in Europe, can it? Not with all those deaths elsewhere? Oh yes it can. Believe it or not it has been discovered that diclofenac has been authorised for manufacture and veterinary use in Italy and it has been distributed to other European countries. (4)

It’s been authorised for use in cattle, horses and pigs in a medication called Reuflogin. It seems that it’s been exported to the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, Serbia and Turkey. And, to top it all, last year the manufacture and veterinary use of diclofenac was approved in Spain, the vulture stronghold of Europe. And how long before it rears its head in Greece, home of most of Eastern Europe’s remaining vultures? After all the efforts to stamp out illegal poisoning the idea of legal poisoning just beggars belief.

It’s hard to get one’s head around this. Are the farming and pharmaceutical lobbies so powerful that they just get what they want? Or, alternatively, does nobody in the corridors of power care, because it’s hard to believe that this can have been done out of ignorance alone? People must have known about the veterinary history of diclofenac so, somewhere along the line, it seems that vultures in Europe are expendable. Collateral damage, as they say.

If you’re interested in doing something about it sign here.

Here today, gone tomorrow?