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Category Archives: regulatory reform
NFU special pleading knows no bounds
NFU President Meurig Raymond’s image is front and centre of the new NFU 2014 manifesto. He appears to have popped up from a hole, perhaps arising from an underground chamber: is this is satirical take on NFU’s relationship with badgers? … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, deregulation, Neonicotinoids, NFU, regulatory reform
Tagged deregulation, Intensive Farming, Meurig Raymond, National Farmers' Union, NFU
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Biodiversity Challenge 3: Habitats
Continuing my series to celebrate 20 years since the launch of Biodiversity Challenge: an Agenda for Conservation in the UK (yes I had a hand in the hubristic title), today I look at Habitats. Derek Ratcliffe had developed the criteria … Continue reading
Conservation needs Change
This a continuation of the series of blogs stimulated by the re-wilding and conservation debate at the Linnean Society on Wednesday. I looked at how people’s relationship with nature has evolved to the point now where we can more or … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, animism, Beavers, biodiversity, Common Agricultural Policy, conservation, ecosystem services, environmental policy, European environment policy, farming, Floodplains, Forestry, Forestry Commission, greenspace, housing, management, neoliberalism, NFU, Owen Paterson, public goods, public land, regulatory reform, semi-natural
Tagged Agriculture, biodiversity, Britain, common agricultural policy, Conservation, ecosystem services, England, George Monbiot, greenspace, Inheritance tax, land reform, Mark Avery, re-wilding, Semi-Natural
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The fallacy at the heart of the Governments biodiversity offsetting proposals
I have been thinking a bit more about last week’s Biodiversity Offsetting debate at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Biodiversity, which I blogged about here. Something was niggling away at the back of my mind and I couldn’t quite … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, biodiversity, Biodiversity APPG, biodiversity offsetting, EIA, farming, housing, meadows, Owen Paterson, regulatory reform
Tagged All Party Parliamentary Group, biodiversity, Biodiversity action plan, biodiversity offsets, Defra, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, EIA, Environment, nature after minerals
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Goodbye Peter Kendall
Peter Kendall, President of the National Farmers Union, has announced his intention to retire from the role next February. I for one, will miss him – simply because he provides me with so many easy blogs to write. Peter is … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, anti conservation rhetoric, anti-environmental rhetoric, badgers, bees, biodiversity, Common Agricultural Policy, deregulation, environmental policy, farming, NFU, Peter Kendall, public goods, regulatory reform
Tagged Agriculture, Bedfordshire, common agricultural policy, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, deregulation, Intensive Farming, National Farmers' Union, NFU, Peter Kendall, Whitehall
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Dams and Dredging Update
Coincidentally, following Monday’s blog I received an email from Natural England yesterday. They informed me that “A member of our Land Management Team has investigation the situation and we appreciate your concerns about the work undertaken. The farmer was … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, Beavers, deregulation, Dredging, ecosystem services, Environment Agency, environmental policy, farming, Floodplains, management, Natural England, regulatory reform
Tagged beavers, Business, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, deregulation, dredging, ecosystem services, Environment, Environment Agency, Governmental, Natural England, Organizations, Water Framework Directive
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On Dams and Dredging
Dredging a main river in May On May day this year, it was a lovely morning, and being between jobs, I decided to go out for a walk along a local river flooplain. The hedges were alive … Continue reading
From Prosperity to Action in 25 years
In 1989 Margaret Thatcher’s Government published Roads for Prosperity. This White Paper set out plans for “The largest road building programme since the Romans” with plans for a 12 lane M25, an outer M25 from Harwich to the M4 near … Continue reading
Posted in biodiversity, climate change, deregulation, Forestry Commission, public land, regulatory reform, road verges, transport
Tagged Department for Transport, Government, Highways Agency, Margaret Thatcher, Patrick McLoughlin, privatisation, public land, Reclaim The Streets, Road, Twyford Down
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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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a new nature blog 