From the Welsh boarder to the Black Country, from the Mersey to the West Midlands lies a landscape sculpted by ice and shaped human use. Spend time in this inviting landscape and its character emerges – it is a wet-landscape, at every turn a mere or peaty moss, some small others extensive. This scattered nature of wild wetlands across such a large area has historically hidden their importance for nature ... had they been crammed into one place they would undoubtedly have rivalled more famous wetlands like the Lake District or the Norfolk Broads. With over 200 meres and mosses and 13,000ha of peatland they form a network of international importance, recognised by the Ramsar Convention a world-wide register of the best wetlands.
The meres of Cheshire also feature in the history of bird conservation in the UK. They were the last place where great-crested grebes hung in the face of relentless slaughter for their feathers. Their thick body feathering made luxurious had-warms for the high-born ladies of the day. Great-crested grebes are now a familiar sight but in the 19th century they were close to joining the ranks of wildlife ‘disappeared’ by Victorian greed.
Great crested grebe - an iconic species for the Midlands Meres
Well that’s all very interesting history – you may well think. What happens next? The future of these soggy gems got a boost last week with the launch of a 50 year programme to restore and reconnect this distinctive landscape – the range of partners and stakeholders involved is heartening. Launches are always full of promise, it’s the delivery that matter, and for me the role call of key players is perhaps at this stage the most important thing. (The next big thing is the funding I’ve listed them all at the bottom of this post.
The landscapes and places matter fundamentally to the people who live and work their or visit the area – that’s clear given the range of interests represented in the project. Success will be measured in many ways but importantly the fate of characteristic species is going to be at the heart of the plan – be they water voles or white-faced darters, lapwings or snipe. Marsh harriers have recently returned with bitterns and cranes very much on the agenda.
We at the RSPB are proud to be part of this exciting initiative – the move to landscape scale conservation is essential if we are to step up for nature and really try and achieve a countryside richer in wildlife than it is today. Our own Futurescapes programme focuses on part of the area covered by last week’s launch – and I’ve featured our involvement in work to help lapwings in this blog.
And here’s the list of partners and stakeholders in the Midlands Meres and Mosses Landscape Partnership:
Follow me on twitter.
It’s always exciting when the political tectonic plates start to shift as a result of effective campaigning. The unified raspberry that has greeted the draft of the EnPeePeeEff (National Planning Policy Framework) across England (the rest of the UK can relax for now) has at last brought the Prime Minister, David Cameron, into the centre of the furore around the future of planning - timely.
The bellicose approach adopted by ministers so far has cut away any faith that the current consultation exercise is anything other than going through the motions; with David Cameron’s personal intervention the game has changed – but, and this is the important campaigny bit – it isn’t time to even think that anything has been achieved.
In the Prime Minister’s letter to the environmental NGOs he gives specific and welcome reassurance about National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty but doesn’t mention Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). In the light of our concerns about the possible impact of the draft NPPF on the protection of SSSIs, the RSPB commissioned legal advice from Nathalie Lieven QC of Landmark Chambers. She states that "I have no doubt that overall the draft NPPF does materially lessen the protection of SSSIs and has the potential to have a material impact on planning decisions affecting a SSSI." Our advice shows that whatever the Government’s intention towards protecting SSSIs, that is not the effect of the NPPF policies. The conclusion is that nature’s crown jewels will be at greater risk unless the NPPF is amended.
And just to be clear what we are asking for:
The Prime Minister may have taken the fingers out of the ears of Ministers – but all is still to play for. In whole-heartedly welcoming his personal commitment to the countryside – our measure of success is action not warm words, it’s what happens to rectify the shortcomings in the Government’s proposals that will count. But his intervention is significant and we will continue to engage constructively on the details of the NPPF and the Localism Bill – you can help too, here’s how. The consultation runs to 17 October.
So to a less helpful intervention. As a man of Kent I was distinctly peeved (other reactions are available) to read Simon Jenkins’ dismissal of the north of my county as a wasteland waiting for an airport. I don’t know what it is about the Thames that it regularly attracts grand-standing about where to stick an airport that has been regularly rejected and for which there is no political backing.
We’ve been stepping up with communities in North Kent for years – campaigning for a better future for one of the world’s most important wildlife sites and I’m going to leave the last word to the Friends of North Kent Marshes: ‘We are appalled and dismayed that commentators on aviation expansion such as Simon Jenkins are so ill-informed about the Thames Estuary and its internationally protected wildlife habitats. As communities we are rightly proud of our natural and cultural heritage; the Thames Estuary and Marshes are so important that they have the highest protection under national and international law and form the single most important natural asset within the Thames Gateway. Any attempt to build an airport within the Thames estuary will be fought with relentless vigour’.
Follow me on twitter
In the wake of the Sunday Times article (11 September), which splashed the advisory group for the National Planning Policy Framework all over the front page and inside too, today’s Daily Telegraph contains an opinion piece by me which explains the RSPB’s position and some of the problems with the Government’s draft. Some of it will be familiar to readers of this blog, and, the headlines aside, I hope it’s a balanced and constructive contribution to the debate.
In a new development, legal advice we’ve commissioned suggests that the protection for Sites of Special Scientific Interest may not be as strong as the Government intends. We’ll keep you posted on this story.
This blog has just turned two! Some 330 posts later and what have been the big themes?
I had a look at the same question a year ago – and here’s how the top ten topics have changed
The public inquiry into the proposed expansion of Lydd Airport is closing now ... with just the tense wait for the outcome. The focus on Kenya and impact of biofuels policy on both the Tana River Delta and Dakatcha woodlands has been a compelling story (with a great measure of success for the campaign mounted by NatureKenya backed by the RSPB).
And then there’s planning – I said it would be big. Now I’m not claiming Mystic Meg levels of perspicacity, it was a fairly easy spot! Not quite certain I thought it would go so large. And don’t forget – in England the challenge in from of us is the EnPeePeeEf (the National Planning Policy Framework and you can add your views here.
Finally, a big thanks to those colleagues who have contributed material and most of all to you, dear reader, I hope you’ve found things to interest you – certainly, you will have found things to worry about and get annoyed at – and wherever possible we’ve tried to point you to actions you can take.
I’d love to hear from you – and in particular hear any suggestions of topics or issues (within the broad range of Saving Special Places) that you would like to see covered.
A short post to keep up with the torrent of interest in planning (in England) – I hope there’s interest in planning elsewhere in the UK, but you’d have to go some!
In true blog cross-pollination style – do read Martin Harper’s thoughts here ... Martin is our Director of Conservation.
If you are as worried as we are about the implications of the EnPeePeeEff (National Policy Planning Framework - very much an English thing) then do make your views known, here’s how.
And now for the big steps ... if you’ve got the right background, how do you fancy becoming one of our Casework/Planning Officers? The closing date is 23 September for two posts in Bedfordshire and 7 October for the Edinburgh post.