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Magnus Linklater today writes another anti-raptor article in The Times, which excuses the illegal killing of birds of prey. He has written many such pieces before. Has Mr Linklater himself any personal connection with grouse moors we wonder? Is there any interest that he should be declaring?
 
The RSPB believes that illegal shooting, poisoning and trapping of birds of prey is rife in the UK uplands. We are told by grouse moor interests that it is only a small minority of moors where such illegal activity occurs but there are many black holes in the distributions of birds of prey - places from where they are inexplicably absent. The RSPB has put the focus on one of these areas - in The Peak District.
 
A large part of the Peak District - our most popular national park - has been all but emptied of birds of prey following a catalogue of incidents in which persecution is suspected.
 
By 2006, goshawks and peregrines were extinct as breeding species in much of the park. In the previous ten years, goshawk numbers had plummeted while elsewhere this noble but elusive bird was beginning to do quite well. Peregrines have been shot and ravens poisoned; goshawk chicks have disappeared from nests and adult birds have vanished altogether.

It is time more was done to protect these hounded birds, in the Peaks, the North York Moors and in Scotland where persecution is also rife.

Click here for The Times piece

and here for the RSPB's Peak Malpractice report 

Sparrows and starlings have been added to the government’s updated list of endangered species now subject to action plans to help them recover their numbers.

These once common birds are two of many bird species known to be struggling because of intensive farming, climate change, development and the manicuring of gardens. Birds on the government’s biodiversity action plan list – its roll call of species now needing help – have more than doubled in number since the first register was published 12 years ago.

These lists are all very well so long as something is done to shorten them. And something has been done for cirl buntings, stone-curlews and bitterns, all of which have increased their numbers since they were made BAP species in 1995.

But if we know what to do - and can do it - for our some of our rarest species, how is that so many of our more common birds are going down the pan? The answer lies in how much we care and this is new biodiversity minister Joan Ruddock’s chance to show that she cares.

First, we need the government to start what it finished on farming reform. Ministers pushed hard and successfully for changes to the Common Agricultural Policy but a by-product of this is the likely loss of land called set-aside - fields on which food crops cannot be grown.

Set-aside has been an accidental boon for many farmland birds – including, incidentally, stone-curlews - and its loss will not be borne by them unless its benefits are first replicated in another way, such as payments to farmers to leave some of their fields fallow.

Second, climate change is happening apace and may well have contributed to severe drought in Australia, floods here and in India, and forest fires and sizzling temperatures in Greece, southern Italy, the Balkans and Turkey.

More than 60 people have died in Greece alone and the wildlife death toll will have been much higher. Wildlife needs our help to adapt to climate change and most essential of all, is somewhere to go as existing habitats become too wet, too warm or too dry. That won’t necessarily help when there are fires or floods but it will help address less dramatic changes also being caused by climate change.

Third, the government must stand firm against business pressure to weaken planning law. A white paper published in May, proposed easing the passage of airport, road and port proposals, so reducing our chance to object, scupper or amend. The expansion of Heathrow is a prime example of a site where environmental concerns could be railroaded in the name of economic progress. On a smaller scale, tiny Lydd Airport in south-east Kent wants a new runway and terminal and two million passengers passing through its doors, putting at serious risk work at our Dungeness reserve next door. This is our oldest reserve and for years has been hugely important for wintering and migrating birds not to mention the 60-plus species that breed there every summer.

Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB’s Conservation Director, said: “We have known for a long time that sparrows are in trouble and have done an enormous amount of work to try to find out why. We are still some way from doing so and the inclusion of a species that was thought a pest not long ago, on the new BAP list, shows just how serious things have become.

“We need the government to put more money into helping wildlife and, with climate change happening now, there has never been a more crucial time to do so.”

In the film, Amadeus, Mozart’s patron, the Emperor Joseph II, criticises a Mozart piece with the memorable phrase; 'Your work is ingenious. It's quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that's all. Just cut a few and it will be perfect.'

We sometimes feel that some decision makers feel the same about the variety of life. Biodiversity is a quality product of evolution – a shame that there are so many confusing species! 

What a different attitude was taken in the immediate aftermath of the 1992 Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. Then, the Secretary of State, John Gummer, eloquently celebrated the richness of life on earth and pledged that government would seek to protect that wonderful diversity. Then we were amazed and delighted by a politician making speeches in praise of the lowly dung beetle. How long ago that now seems.

Today the government has updated its list of threatened species – and we learn that there are many more threatened UK species than were previously recognised. We watch with interest and concern to see how government reacts to the updated scientific information. 

This planet is, as far as we know, the only place in the universe where life exists – and what a profusion of life! The multiplicity of species is what, above all else, makes our small blue planet uniquely special. Even if we discover life elsewhere it won’t be the same - it won’t be brimstone butterflies, skylarks, bluebells and dung beetles! 

The life around us, the profusion of species, is not a work of art, but it rates just as highly in beauty, complexity and diversity, and as a source of wonder, inspiration and joy. Well, to us, and to the millions of people who are members of wildlife conservation organisations it does. 

We believe that how a nation treats its biodiversity is a test of its civilisation and culture – and for a scientifically strong and economically rich nation there can be no excuse to ignore the needs of threatened species. Failing to respond to the needs of wildlife would amount to cultural philistinism akin to burning books or failing to protect listed buildings. 

And, if we fail to respond to the needs of wildlife we will fail to meet our own needs too. Species are the building blocks of our life support system. Species feed us, pollinate our crops and gardens, recycle our waste and nutrients, store our CO2 in ocean sediments; hundreds of thousands of species, each fulfilling a different role and together supporting our life on earth. 

The consequences of losing even one of the species on the new list are unknown. What cannot be denied is that any extinction represents a loss of options and opportunities and that every extinction weakens the foundations of our own life support system.

So we hope that Ms Ruddock, the new Minister for Biodiversity, recognises the cultural, emotional and service values of these threatened species and steps up to the challenge that a longer list represents. We hope that she will promise more action for species conservation. Will she show that she cares? Will she make commitments to protect our natural heritage? Will she show that she appreciates the importance of biodiversity? 

We sincerely hope so, and we pledge that our organisations, with many thousands of willing volunteers, will help government to do a better job for our natural heritage.

If government does not promise to protect our species then Mrs Ruddock must put herself in the position of Emperor Joseph and answer Mozart’s question ‘Which few did you have in mind, Majesty?’

By Dr Mark Avery, Conservation Director, RSPB; Victoria Chester, Chief Executive, Plantlife; Matt Shardlow, Conservation Director, Buglife; Martin Warren, Chief Executive, Butterfly Conservation.

Yuccas, olives and banana trees are starting to grace our town centre gardens as householders resign themselves to summer droughts, if not this year then in years to come, the Times reports today.

Organisers of the National Gardens Scheme, the annual invite to visit choice, private gardens, say gardeners are giving up on traditional cottage favourites like primroses and lupins and opting instead for plants that need less water.

But how will our native wildlife react with fewer native plants to rely on, especially if, as the NGS predicts, house-building pressures make our gardens even smaller?

The NGS recommends ponds and green roofs for starters, as new, or not so new, havens for wildlife.

And we at the RSPB are working on new advice for gardeners on wildlife-friendly, drought-resistant plants that could accompany these extra garden features.

Many people already have silver birch trees, which are good for birds, moths and ladybirds, buddleia - the butterfly bush - and holly bushes – much sought by holly blue butterflies and berry-eating birds but also vulnerable in soggy winters.

And next to those you could plant hawthorns, berberis and cherry laurels together with aspen, broom and gorse, and the exotic Oregon grape.

These plants will provide a range of food and sheltering areas for a variety of wildlife from dormice to bumblebees to nesting whitethroats.

So, climate change does not mean that all is lost. While bananas and olives are of little use to garden birds, there are plenty of drought-resistant plants that are. And garden centres will not be slow to clock the demand for different plants so they should not be too difficult to get hold of.

Click here for the Times report

And here for the RSPB's wildlife garden guide

Harrods boss, Mohamed Al Fayed, who also owns the Balnagown Estate near Inverness, claims other Highland landowners are "hiding behind their employers" when birds of prey are killed on their land.
 
In an article published in some editions of this week's Sunday Times, he said landowners should be prosecuted when their employees were guilty of raptor persecution. He wants the law toughened and landowners held accountable. "They must stand alongside their gamekeepers in the dock," he said.
 
Mr Fayed's estate, in Easter Ross, is playing an important role in the RSPB's project to bring back red kites to the Black Isle, providing a home to chicks until they are three years old and ready for release.
 
We know that at least three of the 16 young kites released so far have died after being poisoned with the illegal pesticide carbofuran. Other youngsters are missing and feared dead. They too could be victims of poisoning.
 
Mr Fayed also has buzzards, golden eagles and ospreys on his estate but his sadness at the deaths of the kites has made him think twice about rearing any more, the newspaper says. We share his sadness but urge him to stay involved. His help has been invaluable.
 
The RSPB has now returned red kites to four areas of Scotland and, despite the persecution, there are thought to be more than 85 pairs living wild in Scotland together with many more in England and Wales. But we must still do all we can to combat the killing of birds of prey; our investigations on red kites alone have found that more than 300 of the 395 red kites that bred in Scotland between 1999 and 2003 have disappeared, and up to 185 of those were probably illegally poisoned, snared or shot.
 
Duncan Orr-Ewing, one of our species experts, said: "Persecution of birds of prey is continuing apace and current penalties are far too weak to stop people carrying out these sickening crimes. If the only way to stamp out these crimes is to make landowners more responsible, that is what the government must do."
 
A golden eagle is poisoned too - click here

And here for the news that the RSPB has offered a reward for information.

Click on these links for red kites in Aberdeen; Argaty in the Forth Valley and Galloway. 

A land scam in Brazil is hastening rainforest destruction despite claims by the Brazilian government that deforestation of the Amazon is slowing down, the Independent reports.
 
A Greenpeace investigation has revealed that homeless families are being housed on pristine rainforest and are selling their logging rights to large timber companies. The deal means the government gets to hit targets for re-settlement, the loggers get the best timber and the in-coming residents get the logging rights money.
 
Brazil lies fourth in the table of greenhouse gas emitters and much of that pollution comes from felling the rainforest. And it isn't just the rainforest to which President Lula is turning a blind eye. The Cerrado, a huge, tropical savannah covering more than a fifth of Brazil, is being destroyed too.
 
The Cerrado, sandwiched between the Amazon, the famous Pantanal wetland and the Atlantic forest, is teeming with wildlife including more than 10,000 plant and butterfly species, 800 bird species and hundreds of mammals, reptiles and fish. The giant armadillo, the cougar and jaguar, and the highly threatened blue-eyed ground dove are amongst the species it boasts, yet less than three per cent of the Cerrado is protected.

More and more Cerrado land is being used to grow soy and sugar cane for conversion to biofuels - the green red herring for governments that claim they want to tackle climate change. This is destroying wildlife habitats and irreparably damaging the carbon-storing properties of Cerrado vegetation and soil.

Changes in land use are already responsible for 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Loss of the Cerrado is contributing to this and is another tragedy being sanctioned by the Brazilian government.

Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB's Conservation Director, said: "This Greenpeace report is another indictment of Brazil's environmental indifference. But we should ask ourselves if the responsibility for this wanton destruction lies as much with us. Our demand for goods of all descriptions is igniting the desire elsewhere to take all we can of the world's natural resources. We must want to make these resources last before we can hope that they will."

Click here for the Independent's report.

The RSPB's Rainham Marshes visitor centre is in the running for another award. This time it's the Wood Awards - an accolade for craftsmanship and design - and our nomination for the prize is highlighted in the Guardian which describes the building as 'a slice of Palm Springs modernism'.  It's a shame the Guardian plonks the building on Romney Marshes.
 
It is less than two months since Rainham Marshes’ colourful Environment and Education Centre was made one of 14 top UK buildings by the Royal Institute of British Architects. It has also won the Green Apple award for Sustainable Design and been shortlisted for another three prizes.
 
From the building, you have fine views over much of the marshes and the tally for bird species seen so far is now 250-plus. Ospreys, marsh harriers and red kites were seen at the weekend, migrating wading birds will be passing through soon and, come October, flocks of teal, wigeon and lapwing, numbering 7,000 or more, will be arriving for the winter.
 
Plant and insect lovers will find plenty to interest them too and right now, there are more than 20 different dragonflies on the site.
 
Rainham Marshes is an ancient marshland, bought by the RSPB in 2000 and opened to the public last November. It was used as a firing range by the Ministry of Defence until just ten years ago. 
 
We will know next month if we have triumphed in the Wood Awards but in the meantime are looking forward to welcoming hundreds more visitors over the coming bank holiday and beyond.
 
Nick Bruce-White, Rainham Marshes Manager, said: "This new nomination is yet more recognition of our work. We really stuck our necks out on the design of the building and it has paid off. It's always a good time to come to Rainham Marshes but if you're looking for something just a little unusual, now is as good a time as any to visit. Thousands of birds are migrating south and many of them will fly over or stop by at Rainham." 
 
Click here for the Guardian report.

And here for more on Rainham Marshes.
 

Stonehenge has been voted our worst tourist site, the Guardian reports.

No surprise there then, given the congestion on the adjacent A303. More importantly, it's a timely reminder that a tunnel remains the best way of easing traffic and improving the view.

It's also the best solution for stone-curlews - one of England's biggest conservation success stories. These birds hit rock bottom before we started helping them. By 2005 they had already beaten their 2010 recovery target and numbers continue to rise.

The A303 tunnel that the government agreed three years ago would help them too but because of a re-think, a new overground road may be built instead. Ministers should get on with the tunnel, allow the new Stonehenge visitor centre to go ahead and remove the blight hanging over Salisbury Plain's rare wildlife.

Click here for the Guardian report

And here for more on Salisbury Plain's stone-curlews

While greater flamingos depend on salt workers in the Camargue Delta in southern France, lesser flamingos may soon be fleeing from them on another important site.

Greater flamingos are cherished in Europe and in the Camargue, have not bred for the first time in 30 years because striking salt workers have stopped pumping seawater into the wetland, the Times reports.
 
Long term threats to the 15,000 strong colony are unlikely because the birds should return next year. But in Tanzania, lesser flamingos may not be so lucky.
 
Lake Natron, in the Great Rift Valley, is home to half a million lesser flamingos but may soon be turned into a soda factory. The Indian chemicals company, Tata, wants to extract salt from the lake for export, which would force the flamingos to leave for good.
 
Kenyan conservationists have started a petition against the development and you can sign up from the RSPB's website.
 
Dr Chris Magin, International Officer at the RSPB, said: "This could be the beginning of the end for Lake Natron and the world's most important site for lesser flamingos. Three quarters of the world's breeding population uses Lake Natron and there is no evidence that these birds will breed elsewhere."
 
Sign the petition here
 
Read about the Camargue flamingos here 

Scientists have come to the aid of the kakapo, the world’s rarest parrot, by creating a goodness-filled pellet to ease dietary deficiencies on its island home.

There are only 86 kakapos left on four islands off the tips of New Zealand’s South Island. They were taken there from the mainland to escape the numerous predators man brought with him.

At one time, the kakapo was found throughout New Zealand but by 1976, only about 80 birds were left.

Extinction was on the cards before the birds were moved, but the food on its new homes lacked elements enabling females to lay large clutches.

Graham Madge, a species expert at the RSPB, said: “We now have a medicine that could save the kakapo but the fact remains that one in eight birds is still facing extinction, largely because of man.

“Sticking plasters and pills have a role but we must not wait until species get sick before we help - the waiting list is already too long. Instead, we should be preventing declines with early health checks and acting immediately on what they tell us.”

More on the kakapo here

And the Times report here

So, train passengers are to fork out for ticket price rises on the east coast line equal to 15 per cent above inflation, effectively doubling our subsidy for railway running costs, the Guardian reports.

A fine way to get us all travelling by means that reduce environmental harm.

The government is increasingly leaning on us to ‘do our bit’ to cut greenhouse gas emissions but its strategy is odd – slash state funding for the railways but spend it instead on adverts encouraging drivers to save fuel. Should we all stay at home?

Mairi Dupar, climate change analyst at the RSPB, said: “The government is actively undermining its own goals for combatting climage change. How can we make green choices when those choices are priced out of reach?

“If ministers are serious about tackling climate change they must make it possible for us to help.”

Click here for the RSPB's views on climate change.

And here for the Guardian report

Let’s Get Britain Moving, says the British Chambers of Commerce on its website.
 
Arcane planning laws are allowing councils to hold up transport schemes and in turn, the progress of business, the organisation claims. These laws must be reformed.
 
The government seems inclined to agree and wants decisions on large building projects such as roads, airports and ports taken out of the hands of  ministers (representing  voters) and given to an unelected quango (representing itself).
 
That means the likelihood of projects such as the expansion of  Heathrow Airport could be more easily pushed through.
 
And it means that the public campaign that stopped the Cliffe airport plan, and the public inquiry that scuppered port plans at Dibden Bay, may have had a different outcome. 

Government reforms need radical changes if they are not to cause environmental harm:
·         First, decision-makers must be legally bound to safeguard the environment.  
·         Second, the new decision-making body is undemocratic and unnecessary. An existing body, the trusted Planning Inspectorate, could be funded to advise ministers.
·         Third, all major development proposals must be subject to rigorous environmental assessments.
·         Fourth, changes must not weaken the wildlife protection currently provided by planning policies.
 
Heather Mitchell campaigns for the RSPB on planning issues. She said: “We must be robust and determined in resisting the narrow-minded attempts of business to railroad environmental protection through changes to planning laws.
 
“Now is a make or break time for planning law. Let’s see what needs saving first and not leave saving it until it’s too late.”
 
Click here to find out what the RSPB is doing to combat attempts to weaken planning law.

And here for the British Chambers of Commerce.

Tory big-wig John Redwood wants to build more roads, airports and nuclear power stations to boost Britain’s economic prospects, according to yesterday’s Times.

This sounds dangerous – dangerously like the thinking of the 1980s.

Mr Redwood’s review is published on Friday but yesterday’s report suggests he is at odds with his own party's leadership, which has trumpeted action to curb greenhouse gas emissions. He seems also to be ignoring the conclusions of economist Sir Nicholas Stern’s report on the economics of climate change.

Sir Nicholas warned that the cost of doing nothing to combat climate change would be up to 20 times higher than that of action to tackle global warming.

The RSPB agrees and in our evidence to Mr Redwood’s review, stressed how natural resources such as peatlands to store carbon and improve drinking water quality, and wetlands to reduce flooding could contribute economically. We also outlined how better efficiency and tax reforms could reduce demand for more development.

Mairi Dupar, climate change analyst at the RSPB, said: “The challenge and opportunity for 21st century Britain is to embrace clean sources of energy and reduce demand for damaging means of transport such as driving and flying. We don’t have time to return to the thinking of the 1980s when build, build, build and ignore the consequences seemed to be the maxim.
 
Click here for The Times article.

Phil Gates last week enthused over red kites in The Guardian’s Country Diary. He is amongst many to have done so. The re-introduction of these elegant birds in the north-east was not the first such scheme and won’t be the last.

Red kites clung on only in Wales when they were persecuted to oblivion elsewhere in the UK and even there, when protection was finally provided, they struggled to regain their numbers.

Re-introduction began in the Chilterns in 1989, then, in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and north-east England. Every year, thousands of visitors enjoy the spectacle they create.

These birds and about 30 other species are part of the RSPB’s Aren’t Birds Brilliant! (ABB!) programme – a scheme set up to give everyone chance to see wildlife they might never otherwise encounter or enjoy.

Argaty red kites in the Forth valley, the Galloway kite trail, Scotland and Ceredigion in west Wales are our three red kite bases. Other ABB! projects run throughout the year, and right now you could see peregrine falcons at the Tate Modern in London, ospreys in the Glaslyn Valley close to Snowdonia and 150,000 seabirds at Troup Head near Aberdeen.

Click here to find out about a red kite ABB! project near you and the whole host of other viewing venues on offer or call 01767 693960.

Click here for the RSPB's ABB! calendar.

National Express has dropped out of a trial to assess biofuels because the threat 'green' fuels pose to the environment is too great, the company tells the Guardian.

Palm oil and soy are farmed over massive areas in Brazil and south Asia, on land that was once tropical rainforest. Forests store carbon and destroying them releases that carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change.

Closer to home, the cultivation of fuel crops is increasing on set-aside land, where food crops cannot currently be grown. Set-aside is good for wildlife as are grasslands in other parts of Europe which are also under pressure. Grasslands encourage wildlife and, like trees, store carbon.   

Manufacturers can call their biofuels green even if their production increases emissions or causes environmental harm. Emissions produced from farm chemicals and machinery, and the transport of crops from field to processing plant and beyond, could make emissions higher than conventional fuel production.

Harry Huyton, the RSPB's biofuels expert, said: "National Express has made the right decision and other companies should follow suit. There is no way of knowing whether biofuels will help save or cause damage to the planet because their emissions and sustainability are not checked.   

“The government should have sorted this out by introducing standards but have dragged their heels and hidden behind excuses. We will have greenhouse gas limits in 2010 and sustainability standards a year later. These are the right things to do but should be in place now."

Guardian report