Category Archives: Natural England
New Board members for Natural England: the banker, the mandarin, the natural capitalist and the media exec.
An image speaks a thousand words, doesn’t it. Imagine being the person at Defra who decides which image to use for each story. “Natural England board members appointed.” Natural. England. Something natural perhaps. Hmm – perhaps a … Continue reading
Another top wildlife site trashed – landowner given paltry fine and let off costs
News has been dripping out, about a significant incident of damage to an SSSI in North Yorkshire. The first we heard was on 21st August, when Defra announced a successful prosecution of a SSSI owner in North Yorkshire. The owner … Continue reading
Shooting Birds and Biased Reporting – a tale of two BBC presenters
I can’t honestly remember a time when environmental stories have been so high up the news agenda- and for such a long period. Perhaps, it’s a reaction to the never-ending and increasingly tedious coverage of Brexit – which suddenly disappeared … Continue reading
Why EU laws to stop pets chasing wildlife (and livestock) are not comical.
It’s always tempting, when writing a weekly column, to return over and over again to a well chewed bone called Brexit. And despite Westminster having descended into full-blown Whitehall Farce territory last week, I am going to resist the temptation … Continue reading
Time in Nature helps our children’s mental health & wellbeing
It’s fair to say that as a society we are only just waking up to the problems our children and young adults face. To what extent the mental health crisis facing children is linked to increasing social media use is … Continue reading
Natural England uses its legal powers to protect our best grasslands
This Natural England press release has just been published: Some of the country’s rarest and most threatened fungi will be better protected after Natural England announced the notification of two Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). 2019 marks the … Continue reading
Lodge Hill Saved
There was some very unusual good news late last week as Homes England announced that it was no longer pushing for housing development on the protected areas of Lodge Hill – the former military training ground (and munitions works) on … Continue reading
Chronicling the Sad Demise of Natural England
One of the more interesting consequences of having written a blog about Nature and politics for eight years, (aside from a short break between July 2012 and May 2013), is that you can look back at earlier ramblings, thoughts and … Continue reading
Unicorns in Brexitland: Panto seasons starts early this year
What does Christmas mean to you? John Lewis adverts? An excuse for some retail therapy? Religion? Or Pantomimes? It’s a long time since I went to a Christmas pantomime, but they seem to continue to be very popular. This year, … Continue reading
Evicting feral ponies, trophy-hunting feral goats. Who decides what goes where?
What should we be conserving? Which animals should be free to roam the British countryside; free to behave as naturally as they can. And who gets to decide? These questions have come to the fore once again in recent weeks, … Continue reading
