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Category Archives: biodiversity
Self-willed Land and the Conservation Prison
This morning, I enjoyed once again reading George Monbiot on what’s wrong with UK nature conservation – this time on Martin Harper’s blog. George as you would expect barred no holds, and laid into RSPB for culling buzzards, and promoting … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, animism, biodiversity, churches, environmental policy, George Monbiot, rewilding, self-willed land
Tagged re-wilding
12 Comments
Who Owns Nature?
“Possession is nine tenths of the law” is a truism – and one which multinational fishing corporations must have felt applied to them. They possessed Common Fisheries Policy fishing quota, and that meant, as far as they were concerned, that … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, carbon storage, climate change, ecosystem services, fishing, regulatory reform, soils
Tagged carbon, Climate Change Committee, Common Fisheries Policy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, ecosystem services, Fish, Greenpeace, High Court, Richard Benyon
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All creatures great and smelly
A fundamental question that conservation keeps returning to is share or spare? Should we create spaces where nature is predominant – for example, nature reserves and at the extreme end “self willed” land. Or should we promote a harmonious interplay … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, bats, biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, churches, deregulation, ecosystem services, environmental policy, European environment policy, farming, greenspace, Owen Paterson
Tagged Anne McIntosh, Bat, Bat Conservation Trust, bats, Church, Church Commissioners, Ellerburn, habitats directive, Tony Baldry, Westminster Hall
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What do Pollinators need?
Last week, after a long time coming, The Government announced at a Bee Summit, that it would prepare a national pollinator strategy, to be published this November. This is thanks mainly to the efforts of Friends of the Earth, who … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, bees, biodiversity, ecosystem services, environmental policy, farming, Forestry Commission, grazing, greenspace, housing, meadows, public land, regulatory reform, road verges
Tagged Bee, Bee Summit, Environment, Friends of the Earth, Government, National Farmers' Union, National Pollinator Strategy, Pollinator, public land, State of Nature, wildflowers, wildlife-rich habitat
4 Comments
A profound Sense of Anxiety updated
As someone who suffers from anxiety from time to time, I know what the warning signs are. And the last week of political activity has definitely left me with a sense of almost dread about what is happening to our … Continue reading
Victory at Lodge Hill raises questions about brownfield first and sale of public land
It’s always good to write about a victory for the environment, especially these days. I was frankly amazed to read on Martin Harpers blog that the Planning Inspector had concluded that Medway Council’s core strategy was unsound because they had … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, biodiversity offsetting, deregulation, environmental policy, housing, meadows, public land, regulatory reform
Tagged Land Securities, Lodge Hill, Medway, Medway Council, Natural England, Planning Inspectorate, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Site of Special Scientific Interest
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Honeybees are livestock just like cows
Honeybees have had a terrible time. Many hives have lost their bees over the past 12 months because of the very cold wet summer of 2012 and the long cold spring of 2013. Honey prices will no doubt shoot up … Continue reading
Back to the future farming
Relatively new Farming Minister and Lib Dem David Heath is making an impression in the farming world, with a couple of policy shifts which I think it’s worth drawing to your attention. Heath likes making use of the pages of … Continue reading
Posted in anti-environmental rhetoric, biodiversity, climate change, David Heath, deregulation, Dredging, farming, GMOs, Owen Paterson, Stubble burning
Tagged Agriculture, David Heath, European Union, Genetically modified organism, GMO, Internal drainage board, James Delingpole, river dredging, Somerset Levels, Stubble burning, Water Framework Directive
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Sustainable meat: Keeping the hills bald for red meat
The inevitable farming backlash has started, against George Monbiot’s ideas of restoring more natural ecosystems in Britain in his new book Feral. In an article in Farmers Weekly (where else?) on tuesday a Farmers Union of Wales spokesman drew comparisons … Continue reading
One man went to mow….managing public space for wildflowers
Have you ever been stunned that a nice patch of wildflowers on a road verge, village green or park gets mown down just when it’s at its peak of beauty and utility? Me too. So I was delighted to see … Continue reading
Posted in bees, biodiversity, greenspace, management, meadows, public land, road verges
Tagged management, Maumbury Rings, meadows, Neolithic, Plantlife, public land, Wildflower, Wildlife
5 Comments
a new nature blog 