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.