ANOTHER UPDATE FRO PROTECT THE WILD — GIVE THEM ALL THE SUPPORT YOU CAN

READ IN APP We’ve been busy lately! In just the past couple of weeks, we handed in our petition to end hunting with hounds at Downing Street – now backed by nearly 200,000 people. Thanks to our amazing supporters, we also played a key role in persuading the Durrell Trust to stop deer shooting on their land. And only days ago, we launched our new animation exposing cub hunting, which has already been watched more than 2.5 million times! On top of that, nearly 1,500 supporters have signed up to help us leaflet their local communities as part of our campaign to reach 1 million homes by the end of the year. Add in our daily social media output (seen by millions every month), these emails read by over 60,000 people, and programmes like Protect the Mind that provide vital mental health support to activists every month – and it’s safe to say we’re keeping busy! But none of this comes for free. We’re a relatively small organisation compared to the “big players” – and unlike them, we don’t take a penny from the government or corporations. That independence means we can stay bold, uncompromising, and always speak the truth for wildlife. But it also means we rely 100% on people like you to keep going. That’s why we’re breathing some life into our online shop with an end-of-summer celebration – 30% off everything this weekend! (Personally, I can’t wait for the colder weather…). Protect the Wild Shop No codes, no hassle – just add your favourites to your basket (hopefully half the shop!) and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout. From pin badges, stickers, and magnets to coasters, cuddly toys, keyrings, mugs, bags, and hats – we’ve got you covered. Every purchase goes a really long way in funding our vital and relentless work. Thank you for standing with us. Together, we’re making the fight for British wildlife stronger every single day. Rob Final call for volunteers! We’re looking for 300 more people to take on a batch of 500 leaflets and deliver them in your local area. You’ll be joining over 1,300 supporters already out door-dropping leaflets in their communities as we work to put our campaign to end hunting into 1 million homes across England and Wales. So far we’ve got 850,000 / 1 million leaflets covered! Help us with the final push! If you’ve got a few spare hours and want to stand up for British wildlife — and help us end hunting for good — please sign up here. Sign up to leaflet drop

CALLING ALL ROAMERS — FROM RIGHT TO ROAM

Dear Roamers, The trees are drawing the water from their leaves and there’s a distinctive dry rustle in the breeze. It may not feel like it but autumn is coming. And this year it promises to bring one of the most important moments for the Right to Roam campaign since it was founded. For some time now we’ve been lobbying the government to create a so-called ‘White Paper’ on access reform. This is essentially an instruction to the civil service to outline options in preparation for new legislation. Introducing one would be in line with Labour’s manifesto commitment to extend responsible access to nature, as well as its previous promises. In power they have (so far) proved... less assertive. However, over the past few months we have been engaging with civil servants on preparatory work for a ‘Green Paper’, which is perhaps the next best thing. Once launched, this consultation will gather a broader range of ideas and input from stakeholders and the public in advance of a decision about how to take reform forward. That’s where you, our supporters, come in. We know there will be pushback against any attempt to increase the rights of ordinary people. Groups representing the landed interest have lobbied hard against us before and they will do so again. But the reality is that they don’t represent what the majority of the public want: neither in the city, nor in the countryside. It’s crucial that they aren’t allowed to muscle out the popular desire for reform. It will be up to all of us to provide another voice. We don’t yet know when the formal consultation will start. But we’re laying the groundwork now, and will be providing you with as many resources as we can to make your own submissions as straightforward as possible. This may be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redress the widespread exclusion from our land and water, so we need to be ready to make the most of it. Prize Draw On the subject of resources: there’s just a few days left to enter our Right to Roam prize draw! This gives you a chance to win one of our beautiful, nature-themed bundles in collaboration. All proceeds go to the campaign to help keep us running. More on how we’re funded here. Each bundle includes signed books from some of Britain’s finest nature writers, signed prints by campaign artist Nick Hayes, quality waxed sit mats, nature-themed pins and notebooks and… even some trespass-themed crockery. To take part in the draw follow the link here. If you’d prefer to support us over the long-term via regular donations you can also do so by heading over to: righttoroam.org.uk/donate Who Owns Your River? In case you missed it: last month Lewis published his investigation of the ownership of the River Dart, which was picked up by the Guardian here. It became one of their most read pieces and the interest prompted the newspaper to follow up with a supportive editorial on access to rivers here. For Right to Roam it was yet more evidence of the difficulty faced by attempts to create new access infrastructure - such as the government’s proposed new river walks - without first attending to the underlying rights. Full details of the Dart research can be found here. Upcoming Events Alongside the launch of the Green Paper we’ve got a busy few months ahead. The campaign will be speaking at various events (some details TBC) including: -Dartmoor Outdoors Festival, Princetown (August 30th) -Rave on For the Avon Screening, York (September 4th) -Wild Summit, Bristol (September 11th) -Liberal Democrat Conference Fringe, Bournemouth (September 20th) -Oxfordshire Women’s Institute (October 14th) -UK River Guardians Summit, West Berkshire (October 17 - 19) -Wild Service Festival, Farsley (October 18th) -Scottish Outdoor Access Conference, Perth (November 13th) -Kendal Mountain Festival (November 20th - 23rd) If you’re attending any of the above please do come and say hello! Jon, on behalf of the Right to Roam team -- For the latest campaign updates, follow us on Instagram & Bluesky To get involved with campaign action, check out our website here. Want to become a Right to Roam supporter? Head here.

AN UPDATE FROM PROTECT THE WILD — SEE WHAT THEY ARE UP TO

10 Cities, 10 Weeks: Make history and end hunting for good It’s time to act because actions speak louder than words. It’s time to help bring a proper ban on hunting. Together, we will be distributing 150,000 end hunting leaflets to local communities. CHARLOTTE SMITH AUG 28 READ IN APP Join Us in 10 Cities to Bring an End to Hunting for Good! We’ve been absolutely blown away by the incredible number of people who have already signed up to receive leaflets and help us spread the word. Thanks to your amazing support and willingness to create change and use your voice, we’ve now hit our target: 850,000 leaflets will be delivered by wildlife lovers across the country. (They’ll be sent out in the next few weeks by the way :) ) But this is just the beginning. Protect the Wild is on a mission to end hunting with hounds once and for all. Now, we’re gearing up for the next stage, and we need you to be a part of it. We’re launching in-person days of action to make an even greater impact on the ground. These are powerful days where we’ll come together in cities across the UK to bring our message directly to peoples front doors. To make this work, we need just 30 volunteers per city to join us on the streets in this once- in a generation opportunity to make change. Will you be one of them? Join a Day of Action – Sign Up Now

FROM BUMBLEBEE CONSERVATION

August brings a vibrant feel to the summer season, with gardens in full bloom and communities buzzing with life. This month we bring you a wonderful fundraising update, along with news of our work to save the Moss carder bumblebee in England. We also have details of how you can take action to reduce pesticides in your community, bumblebee-friendly planting ideas, as well as our new furry friend - Luco, and more! Read on for a packed August edition! Thank you! At the start of the month we reached out for your help and we're delighted to let you know that, thanks to your generosity, we’ve exceeded our £50,000 fundraising target and raised £65,908 for bumblebees. Your donation will help save rare bumblebees, inspire schools, train volunteers, and keep our vital conservation work going 🐝💛 Thank you to everyone who donated, signed up as a member, purchased from our online shop and shared our urgent appeal posts. Whether you are a long-time supporter or have recently joined us, thank you for standing with us in this critical moment. You have shown what is possible when we come together to protect something we all care about. Read more about our fundraising🌼 Moss carder bumblebee recovery in England The Trust’s biggest Moss carder bumblebee (Bombus muscorum) research project is underway! We’re undertaking work simultaneously in Cornwall, Kent and the North Pennines to better understand how to save this vulnerable bumblebee. While previous conservation work has benefitted other bumblebee species, the Moss carder bumblebee has not responded so positively. Even where it persists, it’s only found in very low numbers. In order to find out more, we’re employing a range of survey and analysis techniques, including flower surveys, landscape assessments by drone (as shown in the photo above), local and national data, and genetics. This work will continue through 2025 and then our Science Team will bring together and analyse all the data to help us get closer to finding the solution that will bring these bees back from the brink. This work is supported by Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, Kelly’s of Cornwall and The Big Give. Discover more conservation projects 🐝 Take action on pesticides in your community

AN UPDATE FROM WILD JUSTICE

Good morning! Join us at the Wild Summit on 11 September 2025 at the Bristol Beacon – we’ve got ten free tickets to give away! We’ve been busy the last few weeks getting ready to participate in the inaugural Wild Summit in September – an environmental extravaganza hosted by Wildlife & Countryside Link which will bring together nature lovers, campaigners, politicians and policy experts to celebrate wildlife and nature conservation in the UK and discuss the action we must take to improve and restore it. There’ll be over 100 speakers during the day – including discussion panels on the main stage and ‘partner’ events running concurrently in two separate areas. In the main hall you’ll find the stalls of many of the leading wildlife and environmental organisations where you can go and chat about their work and find out how you can get involved. We are hosting a very special partner event on the Lantern Hall Stage at 13.00 – 13.45hrs, straight after lunch. We’ve called it Past, Pheasant, Future: Why are 50 million non-native chickens released into our countryside every year? and it’ll be unlike anything you’ve seen before! We don’t want to give too much away but it’ll be an immersive, fun and interactive event! (We’ll also be filming it so those of you who can’t make it can watch it later). We’ll also have a stall in the main hall, on the ground floor, so if you’re at the event, please do come and say hello. We’re offering TEN free tickets to Wild Justice supporters (tickets include entrance, access to all events, refreshments & lunch, and evening reception). If you’d like one of these tickets, please email us at admin@wildjustice.org.uk with ‘SUMMIT TICKET’ as the subject header. We’ll pick ten names at random on Thursday 28 August at 17.00hrs and will contact the lucky winners by email. Wild Summit – Thursday 11 September 2025, 08.30 – 19.30hrs. Bristol Beacon, Trenchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR You can buy your own tickets - here. We hope to see many of you there! Thank you.

HARE COURSING AS A SPORT — HOW BARBARIC IS THAT — CHASING MAMMALS TO DEATH MUST BE STOPPED

Police are reporting that warm weather is contributing to a spike in hare coursing incidents. Hare coursing is a cruel and illegal bloodsport that involves the pursuit of hares with greyhounds as opposed to the harriers, beagles or bassets involved in hare hunting. It has been illegal since the passing of the Hunting Act in 2004. This barbaric 'sport' is often carried out for gambling purposes. Videos of greyhounds chasing hares are often used by gangs to make money from soliciting bets. Hare coursing typically involves two greyhounds. One particularly gruesome aspect of the practice is that it often results in a macabre tug of war, as the two dogs fight over the hare's mutilated body. In August 2022, Defra announced tougher sentencing for hare coursing, which was introduced as a result of the 2022 Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act. Nowhere to hide Hare coursing often takes place after crops have been harvested, as the lack of vegetation leaves hares vulnerable without many places to hide. Police Scotland told the BBC: "This year's warm summer and early harvest have led to increased reports of hare coursing in recent weeks." Some of the areas where hare coursing is known to take place are Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. 25 people charged with hare coursing At the end of July, Cambridgeshire Police charged 25 of an initial 43 people arrested for taking part in hare coursing on the Cambridgeshire Fens in January 2025. A spokesperson for the police force apologised for what he called their "failure" to deal with rural crime. Farmers in Cambridgeshire had complained after their fields and crops were torn up by hunting greyhounds. The police operation also involved forces from Northampton, the West Midlands and Essex, as well as the National Wildlife Crime Unit and the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU). In a separate case in May 2025, two men were handed Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) and fines after being convicted of taking part in hare coursing in March 2023. Two other men arrested in the same incident were sentenced to driving bans, fines and the seizure of their car and dogs back in December 2023, but Edward Connors and Jerry Connors failed to attend court. Warrants were issued for their arrest, leading them to eventually be brought before Lincoln Magistrates' Court on 29 May this year. The pair were both charged with 'hunting with dogs' and 'trespassing with intent to pursue hares'. The court issued them with a CBO "prohibiting them from being in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Northamptonshire or Leicestershire with or in the company of anyone with dogs of any breed. Also, not to be in any of the five counties with any instruments to be used for poaching either during the day or night." The pair were ordered to pay court costs, a fine and a victim surcharge of over £6k (Protect the Wild assumes that the victim surcharge won't be going to the hares!). depth of field photo of brown and black rabbit on green grass field Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash Hare persecution Hare numbers in the UK are dwindling, and wild hares are now a relatively rare sight. There used to be an estimated four million hares in Britain, but these numbers have now dropped to approximately 700,000. That's a massive 80% decline in numbers. On top of hare coursing, hares don't have a protected breeding season, meaning they can legally be shot all year round. As well as hare coursing and shooting, hares are often pursued by hunts using beagle and basset packs. Protect the Wild’s recent report, ‘The True Face of Hunting with Hounds’ reports that the rate of wildlife persecution by beagle and basset packs surpasses even fox hunts. Hunt monitors and sab groups witnessed 26 incidents of hare hunting across 15 meets, which makes a massive 1.73 incidents per meet. At Protect the Wild we want to see an end to the persecution of hares. We need a workable ban on the hunting of mammals with hounds. Please sign our petition for a proper ban on all forms of hunting here. Read this analysis of police bias in investigating hare coursing by Protect the Wild's Glen Black. Police operations targeting hare coursing, like Operation Galileo, are underway across the UK to combat this illegal activity. These operations involve multiple police forces working together to share intelligence, seize vehicles and dogs, and prosecute offenders. The public can play a role by reporting incidents to 999 during live events and providing vehicle descriptions and number plates. For more information see our Protectors of the Wild page on Hare Coursing and the Law. Support Protect the Wild with a small monthly donation Times our really hard right now for organisations like ours. We rely solely on the generosity of the public and don’t have any major funders behind the scenes. Despite being a relatively small group we are so proud of our output and it is thanks to every single person who chips in a few pounds a month that we can continue our vital work. We do everything we legally can to fight for British wildlife. From undercover investigations, animations, journalism, report writing, equipment and mental health support for activists, protests, pressure campaigning.. Our monthly goal is to find 100 new supporters who believe in our mission and can afford to give anything from £2/3 a month in the fight for British wildlife. Support Protect the Wild

CUBBING STARTS THIS MONTH — A BLOOD SPORT FOR SOME — JUST CRUELTY FOR OTHERS

In this mid-August fox hunting update, hunts around the UK have begun the Summer 'cubbing season'. Cubbing is the disgraceful practice of hunting and killing young foxes and hares (leverets) to give their new hounds a taste for blood. Our stories this month include: - Sabs and monitors organise to stop cubbing. - Police forces and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announce new charges and prosecutions against hunters for breaches of the Hunting Act. - In parliamentary news, over 60 MPs wrote to the Minister for Food and Rural Affairs demanding a timeline for the government's promised consultation on fox hunting. Independent MP and ex-Leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy have pledged their support for a proper ban on hunting. Meanwhile, a Tory Police and Crime Commissioner has defected to the openly pro-hunt, far right Reform party. - Two Welsh country shows have hosted hound parades by hunts, despite local opposition. - Finally, Locals Against the Cottesmore Hunt and Northants Hunt Sabs (NHS) organised a demo against another of the Cottesmore's fundraising events. NHS have pledged to protest every fundraiser organised by the struggling hunt. Read on to find out more. Attempted killing of fox cubs continues In our last fox Hunting News Update we published reports of early cubbing. Unfortunately, more news of cub hunting has been coming in from sabs and monitors. On 2 August, Shropshire Against Blood Sports published reports from local people in Stapeley that the United Pack were out causing chaos with their hounds at 5am, in a likely cubbing incident. Residents reported that the pack frightened sheep and pets, and that their concerns were met with a callous shrug of the shoulders from the hunt. East Yorkshire Coast Hunt Sabs have been watching the Middleton Hunt closely, too. The Middleton has also been out repeatedly in the early hours and sabs are keeping them under close tabs to stop any attempts at cubbing. Saboteurs save cubs in Devon Devon County Hunt Saboteurs were out on the evening of 9 August, after receiving a tip-off that the Eggesford Hunt - equipped with a quad bike carrying caged terriers - were hunting fox cubs at Ingleigh Green. The Hunt Saboteurs Association wrote: "Two sabs [From DCHS] followed huntsman Jason Marles and his whipper-in Jade on foot, while a sab drone unit followed proceedings from above. Marles put hounds into hedgerows, maize fields, waist-high cover crop and dense woodland in his search for cubs to hunt." DCHS Sabs were able to intervene twice to prevent the Hunt from making a kill. The scorching heat of the day hampered the hunt too, with many dogs taking refuge in the cool stream. Training dogs to hunt by tearing up young foxes and hares is shameful and cruel. We need a proper ban on fox hunting to stop this bloodsport once and for all. Last week Protect the Wild handed in a petition demanding that the government close up the loopholes and put in place a workable ban on hunting. Read our post about the petition here to learn more. Support the sabs and monitors organising against this barbaric practice: Shropshire Against Blood Sports | Devon County Hunt Saboteurs | East Yorkshire Coast Saboteurs More charges and prosecutions against hunters

T0XIC — PLEASE READ

Dear friends, Europe has a dirty secret. Agro-chemical companies Bayer and BASF keep making billions selling pesticides so dangerous they're banned here to countries abroad. From Brazil to South Africa, farmers are getting sick, rivers are poisoned, and bees are disappearing. And it doesn’t stop there as these chemicals return to our supermarket shelves, our plates, and are hidden in imported tea, coffee and spices. In 2022, 69 banned active substances were detected in our food! This loophole is no accident. Chemical industry lobbies have fought hard to preserve it and will continue to do so - unless we act now. We’re writing to you because together we can change it. The EU commission is now considering a full ban on toxic exports. If millions of us speak out now, we can win this over lobbies. Belgium has already acted. Now let’s push the whole EU to follow. Join us with your friends: Full stop to EU exports of toxic pesticides They’re counting on our silence to keep doing business while ruining the planet. But we’ve just proved them wrong. In the middle of summer, Avaaz members in France signed a petition with 2 million people, successfully blocking a bill to reintroduce a banned pesticide. Now let’s keep up the momentum and take on the EU’s toxic hypocrisy on pesticides. Full stop to EU exports of toxic pesticides With fierce hope, Julian, Harriet and the all Avaaz team

THE BLOODY KILLING GOES ON

THE BLOODY KILLING GOES ON The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust posted this morning & I quote “The Glorious 12th - prospects for the coming season and why this is important” It is full post with dates and locations where the killings can take place . Obviously I don’t agree! This poem I wrote in 2016 and the words are still relevant today — sadly. The Twelfth? Never! rapid upward flight crack crash-crack suddenly changes into a fast whirling out-of-control plunge crack crash-crack dead or worse still only dying bombs into the eco-system that nurtured it. To allow a feather to break free from the body that was its life crack crash-crack they hear the call of death once more filling the skies with harmed and harmless birds with toxic lead shot with death echo after echo reverberates the vision stays the guns go silent the dogs begin their work

BLOODY KILLERS

It is now the penultimate day before ‘ The Inglorious Twelfth — that day when the very moneyed people think is a great day to blast defenseless birds out of the sky. They call it sport — I don’t. This is my take on what a Red Grouse might think … I wrote it in 2016 but this ‘sport’ still exists to the detriment of our natural flauta and fauna. NATURAL ENEMIES? natural enemies! pa-ah! "they don't exist no more", but we watch the skies, just in case... you never know. humans come and leave things. We peck at stuff and then there's that bunch of feathers tied to the post. It's really scary, that, and the unseeing eye socket scares us all, but hey-ho we eat our way to plumpness: good enough to eat - and THEN... JE(C)04/08/16