Blogs

Guest blog by John Martin, Conservation Manager - Policy and Advocacy, Northern Ireland Headquarters RSPB Northern Ireland recently hosted a ‘Farmer Breakfast’ for over 75 guests in Parliament buildings on the Stormont Estate. This was an opportunity to celebrate the great work of our...

August is really the end of the farming year as the final crops are harvested, here at least, and also marks the end of the breeding season. So it seems a good time to do a round-up of how our harvest went and how our breeding birds fared. Both the crops and the wildlife on the farm are heavily influenced...

Wiltshire farmer Henry Edmunds has scooped the top prize in the 2012 RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Award . Henry runs a mixed organic farm on the Cholderton Estate with a motto of 'sustainable agriculture in practice'. He is truly an ambassador for a modern farming business, and we heartily...

Harvest is never a particularly busy time for farm wildlife advice! With my phone growing cobwebs, what better time to down Stewardship applications and escape on holiday to Iceland? A fabulous choice for nature enthusiasts as it turns out. As well as breathtaking close-up views of Humpback Whales...

Earlier this week I asked you to spend a minute filling in a questionnaire about agri-environment schemes (which you can find here if you haven’t had time to do it yet). If you want to read what some farmers say agri-environment schemes mean to them, check out Martin Harper’s blog today...

Really, this will only take a minute, it’s free and will help us to help wildlife-friendly farmers . And you might win a prize! So what’s not to like? With CAP reform looming and potential changes to the support these schemes get from the CAP budget, we’d really like to know what...

For the last couple of years, the RSPB and many other NGOs have been campaigning against biofuel targets. One of my favourite moments was when we ran this advert in the national press. Great ad, made even better by the fact that a complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency about it was rejected...

By Derek Gruar, Senior Research Assistant, Hope Farm Ashoka (Grahame Madge) Since the RSPB took ownership of Hope Farm back in 2000, we have seen several bird species colonise the farm including grey partridge, lapwing and yellow wagtail. A firm favourite of these re-colonising species...

Further thoughts on food and climate from Heather Ducharme, RSPB Senior Climate Change Policy Officer Our summer issue of Birds magazine featured an article on ‘shopping for sun bears’ – charming inhabitants of tropical forests in south-east Asia that are menaced by forest clearance...