Blogs

Hi Claire You are indeed correct, DEFRA have been asked to review the English Habitats Regulations to assess whether they are 'gold plating' of the EU Habitats Directive. We are confident that the legislation will stand up to such scrutiny as it has done so before so we are not against the...

Climate check – It’s report time for the Coalition The RSPB has been working on a Green Alliance-led project with fellow NGOs WWF, Christian Aid and Greenpeace to carry out a rigorous assessment of the Coalition Government’s performance on climate change, 16 months on from when it...

Firstly I hope this is the right place for this.. if not... move away. This was announced a few days ago and I thought some peeps might be interested. First link is the DEFRA info bit.. http://www. defra .gov. uk /environment/natural/biodiversity/ uk /wildlife-garden-competition/ Second...

Firstly I hope this is the right place for this.. if not... move away. This was announced a few days ago and I thought some peeps might be interested. First link is the DEFRA info bit.. http://www. defra .gov. uk /environment/natural/biodiversity/ uk /wildlife-garden-competition/ Second...

Hi Morsey Thanks for your post and welcome to the forum. We fully understand your concerns and we are involved with the review process and will be doing all we can to ensure the legal protection status of these species is not weakened. Please be aware that a national cull is not being discussed...

Have a look here at the latest RSPB view on the news today regarding the governments announcement on a badger cull.

The UK National Ecosystem Assessment is not going to disappoint. I promise you. But you'll have to wait a little longer - 'til the launch on Thursday 2 June - to get the full picture. Bob Watson - Defra's Chief Scientist - posed a fascinatig question today. Can you think of any major enviromental...

As you will know by now (we hope!), the RSPB has been campaigning hard these past few months to get Government to phase out the use of peat in horticulture. Why? Because extracting peat destroys vital wildlife habitats and is responsible for loads of greenhouse gas emissions. What’s more, there...

Saturday 14 May is the anniversary of when David Cameron visited the Department for Energy and Climate Change and said "I don't want to hear warm words on the environment, I want real action. I want this to be the Greenest Government Ever". People wll have their own opinion about whether...

Defra’s consultation on ending peat use in horticulture is very welcome, even if we’d like to see an end to peat use in gardens and horticulture much sooner than proposed. It’s interesting how climate change has brought new focus to the archaic practice of using peat in our gardens...

Essential surveys are a big part of the RSPB's management of the Defra marsh.

We have been managing Defra’s compensatory inter-tidal habitat scheme on Wallasea Island since March 2007. With the site being tidal habitats, physical habitat management opportunities are rare. The most enjoyable and challenging management task is vegetation management on the roosting islands...

Yesterday saw the publication of an important and independent review of England’s wildlife sites authored by Sir John Lawton. The report concludes that our protected areas are too small and too isolated and that this is leading to the loss of the wildlife that makes these areas special. Climate...