Environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion is mobilising supporters to trespass on private land to protest against being denied access to “92% of the land in England” which they claim “is being criminally misused.” It is scheduled for Saturday 24th April and participants are being encouraged to: “Peacefully climb over no…
Conservation
Why has Natural England introduced new controls for corvids?
Things had calmed down after Natural England helped stoke anger over the general licences two years ago, but it has heaped coal back on the fire. Back then it was Wild Justice that threw a spanner in the works, helping to strip vital protection from endangered curlew, lapwing and other…
Outstanding contribution to conservation – Duke of Northumberland
Outstanding contribution to conservation – Duke of Northumberland The Duke of Northumberland has undertaken a number of projects on the Northumberland estate. In 2012, together with the Environment Agency, six new fish passes were installed on the river Aln, significantly improving breeding opportunities for salmon, sea trout and eels. Other…
Schöffel pledges 1% of new fly-fishing clothing sales to salmon conservation charity
Schöffel has pledged to donate one percent of turnover from the company’s new fly-fishing clothing range to the Atlantic Salmon Trust, a charity dedicated to the conservation of wild salmon and sea trout at sea and in fresh water environments. Says Marcus Janssen, Brand Director at Schoffel: “The Atlantic Salmon’s…
How to avoid 2021’s corvid control trap
With the season all but over, my mind as usual turns to planning for the next. In just a few weeks, the pheasants will be setting up their territories, strutting their stuff and doing everything they can to keep their harems together. The corvids will be getting frolicsome too. Rooks…
Conservation projects to carry out during lockdown
If you are involved in shoot management in any way, do consider the following. Is there still a decent shrub layer, or has canopy closure started to starve out the sunlight that is so essential to woodland floor habitat? Aside from a few very early starters such as ravens and…
How we can help nurture our wonderful woodcock
Woodcock have a reputation of being unpredictable in their movements, here today and gone tomorrow. So you could be forgiven for feeling that whether or not you shoot them makes little difference to numbers in the long-term. To the Victorian sportsman, a ‘fall’ was not to be missed. If the…
Prince William’s new patronage of British Trust for Ornithology ruffles feathers
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has appointed HRH The Duke of Cambridge as its new patron, in a move that has sparked disquiet in some quarters. Prince William is a keen shooter and attracted criticism in August for taking his son Prince George on a Scottish grouse shoot. However,…
Pheasant releases ‘could wipe out adders in most of Britain’
A recent article in The Guardian stating that adders are endangered due to “uncontrolled release of millions of game birds” is incorrect say the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and the National Gamekeepers Organisation (NGO). The piece highlights the claim of Nigel Hand, a trustee of Amphibian and Reptile…
New Natural History GCSE to help young understand natural world
Cambridge Assessment has confirmed that its UK exam board OCR is developing a new GCSE in Natural History, following a consultation open to all parties. The idea was proposed by conservationist Mary Colwell, who wants “to make nature part of British society again”. She was concerned that young people were…
The man-made idyll of grouse moors
Coming from the soft south, I didn’t see a live grouse until I was 19. That was in the summer of 1974, when I took off to the Cairngorms for a couple of weeks to go youth hostelling with a friend. There were new sights around every corner, with dotterel,…
Just how many songbirds do domestic cats kill every year?
At Flea Barn, I have developed a now cherished routine. First, I check the grey partridges nesting in their pens and then the traps. After that, I take a stroll around the margins, trying to do my best impression of a keeper, peering at tracks and studying feathers I find…
Volunteers needed to monitor mink rafts in Scotland
A major Scottish project to remove American mink is looking for volunteers to help run mink rafts. Ben Seaman, with the Cromarty Firth Fishery Trust, said: “We monitor for mink presence using a network of mink rafts which are looked after by volunteers….we have gaps in the network we’d like…
Why biodegradable shot cups are the way ahead for shooting
As we move inexorably towards a brave new world of shooting without lead or single-use plastic, I wonder how we will look back. I shall keep my powder dry on the lead issue. I have written before about my own positive experience of using steel for game shooting in my…
Is the capercaillie slipping out of our grasp forever?
Something is stirring in the depths of the ancient pine forest. As spring creeps north, creatures are emerging from the trees to strut and prowl. Capercaillie are substantial birds; the males can stand as tall as a traffic cone and it’s hard to imagine how they could ever be overlooked.…
Conservation in the age of coronavirus
I write this at a time of uncertainty and trepidation for all. COVID-19 has utterly changed our lives in a few short weeks. What the ramifications will be, both financial and physical, in the medium to long-term are topics of much concern and speculation. Those of us who live and…
The Bolton Estate, North Yorkshire. Where gameshooting and conservation work together …
You will probably need to visit Bolton Estate more than once to fully appreciate just how important its 12,000 acres are to the fabric and ecology of the Yorkshire Dales. Many of the more than 60,000 visitors from across the world with any number of agendas will probably know the…
Shooters need to try harder to improve biodiversity credentials
Shooting is good for conservation, right? Yes it is, and if I were not convinced of that, I would not still be part of the GWCT advisory service. Helping shoots to deliver better conservation and biodiversity from shooting is what drives me after almost 40 years in this business. But…
Staggering ignorance
Deer management, an activity undertaken quietly and in solitude, enjoyed — or perhaps more accurately endured — a brief moment of national attention here in Ireland. An incident in Kerry raised questions regarding the management of red deer in the county. In late October a red stag was observed by…
How civil servants affect our protected bird numbers
Despite what some may think it gives me little pleasure to once more take our civil servants to task for their decisions. However, as long as they continue to make glaring errors that is what will happen. You may recall in a previous piece I noted that anyone who manages…