Tag Archives: Owen Paterson
A Lenten Story: The Gamekeeper’s Gibbet, Biodiversity Onsetting and Confirmation Bias
spot the badger The Gamekeeper’s Gibbet Not so long ago, a walk in the country would entail this scene – a gamekeeper’s gibbet. Vermin would be presented by the estate gamekeeper, neatly strung on fences or hung from trees, as … Continue reading
Defra publish correct Bovine TB herd breakdown data – previous figures were inflated by one third
The Badger Cull has been found to be ineffective and inhumane according to Defra’s own expert panel looking at the Pilot areas in Somerset and Gloucestershire. The BBC report Prof Rosie Woodroffe, a scientist at the Zoological Society of London, … Continue reading
Keeping a Level Head
A Somerset Levels Wet Meadow (c) Miles King I feel almost reluctant to put pen to paper (metaphorically) on the issue of the floods and the Somerset Levels, because so much has been written or spoken in recent days fromn … Continue reading
Lost in the drainage Maize
I wrote this blog twice yesterday but both times wordpress refused to publish it. I’m trying again – third time lucky. I now know the reason it crashed. I was trying to copy a map from a pdf and upload … Continue reading
Planting Trees in the Uplands? There’s an idea….
I was so excited at the thought of OPatz going to live in the woods, foraging for mushrooms and curing badger hams , that I forgot to check what was actually said earlier this week, in relation to flooding and … Continue reading
Owen Paterson embraces Re-wilding.
Thanks to Phil Brewin (@waterlevels) for the photo of flooding on the Somerset Levels. It was only a couple of months ago, that Owen Paterson gave his most significant speech since he became Environment Secretary, to the Tory’s favourite Think … Continue reading
Paterson latest: Badgers stole my bovine TB data
Owen “goalposts” Paterson. (photo by US Department of State [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons) Here’s an interesting take on the latest Badger Killing machinations from The Ecologist (is it owned by Zac Goldsmith?). They suggest Owen “Goalposts” Paterson may be … Continue reading
Welcome to your new job Mr Sells
Andrew Sells starts as Chairman of Natural England on Monday (20th). If we could wave our magic wands and appear in his office that morning, what would we suggest to him as his top priorities? Some might suggest the Badger … Continue reading
Floods and SUDS
As the flood waters recede they reveal that the “Greenest Government Ever”‘s environmental credentials have finally all been washed away. The idea of Sustainable (Urban) Drainage Schemes, or SUDS has been around for a long time. I can remember arguing … Continue reading
Have we reached Peak Paterson?
is the sun setting on Owen Paterson? ((c) Miles King) Some say we have seen Peak Oil, but are now witnessing Peak “Owen Paterson”? After yesterday’s performance in the Commons, where Paterson repeatedly failed to respond to questioning on his … Continue reading
a new nature blog 