CORNERSTONES - A BOOK REVIEW

 Book Review 

Title                            CORNERSTONES- Wild Forces That Can Change Our World

Author                         Benedict Macdonald

Publisher                     Bloomsbury Wildlife

One more book, one more organization, one more group of people that have become part of my journey into environmental issues and beyond. I had not even heard of Macdonald or his co-author in their book Orchard, Nicholas Gates, until I read Cornwall Wildlife Trust magazine. In it I found out more about where I used to live and in a piece on Hamatethy Manor that we had driven past countless times. It is still a functioning farm but now extensive and letting the wild back in.

Cornerstones is about the hierarchy of plants where they fit in with the other hierarchy of the mammal and bird worlds. The dysfunction of all of that has been created by the human need for control in an effort to sustain itself at the extreme expense of habitat loss, over use of chemicals to control the bugs and excessive use of petrochemicals. At the very end of this destruction lies the end of humanity.

That is not cheerful to hear but the book is hopeful. There are Beavers in England and the effect of their introduction is discussed. Streams have less of a rush to the sea and are reduced to their once natural state with detours and ponds created for other wildlife to flourish. And that includes trees too.

There will always be an area of conflict between the wild and the need for human control of the land. Mention Wolves or Lynx and farmers will envisage dead livestock. Consequently we have lost control of deer populations where the only apex predator is human. This book deals with predators and their effect on their need to eat which is natural culling.

Finally this quote “…..will transform your understanding of the natural world forever and reveal the wild forces that once supported Britain’s extraordinary natural resources, and could again.”

RIGHT TO ROAM

 Dear Right to Roamers,

 

Could the right to wild camp on Dartmoor be restored? That's what's at stake in an upcoming legal case. Plus, news from our recent river trespass action, and some very encouraging polling results...

 

1) Come to our wild camping rally in London, 18th July

 

For decades Dartmoor National Park has been the only place in England where wild camping is legally permitted. But that right was overturned by a High Court ruling in January this year, following a case brought by wealthy landowner Alexander Darwall.

 

Next Tuesday 18th July, the High Court in London will hear an appeal brought by Dartmoor National Park Authority to reinstate the public's right to wild camp on the moor.

 

Come join us outside the High Court for a rally on the 18th, 12noon-1.30pm, to hear speakers and call for our right to wild camp to be brought back. For more details and to sign up, check out the Eventbrite.

 

 

2) Keep taking action to #LoveYourRiver
 

Last Saturday, the Right to Roam crew had a brilliant time on the River Derwent in Yorkshire - swimming, kayaking, litter-picking, testing the river for pollution and listening to songs and poetry.

 

Thanks to everyone who came along to show that access comes hand-in-hand with caring for nature. You can check out photos and videos from the event on our Twitter and Instagram accounts. And be sure to check out this special video from the legendary Feargal Sharkey calling on everyone to #LoveYourRiver!
 

3) Polling shows two-thirds support a Scottish-style right to roam

 

More good news this week, with a new YouGov poll commissioned by the campaign showing that almost two-thirds of Britons would support England getting a Scottish-style right to roam.

 

62% of the public said they supported "extending the ‘right to roam’ to most land and water in England, with exclusions such as for private gardens, land where crops are growing, and other sensitive areas like conservation and military sites".

  

Read the story in The Times here (£), and view the full polling results from YouGov here.

 

With big majorities supporting this across all voting preferences and demographics, it's clear that extending the right to roam is a vote-winner. So it's been great to see more and more commentators speaking out in favour of it - from Labour peer Lord Chris Smith in the Times (£), to this surprisingly supportive comment piece in the Spectator.

 

But we need to keep pushing politicians of all parties to support a greater right to roam - so please share these polling results far and wide!

 

See you on the streets and in the rivers,

Guy and the Right to Roam team

To follow us on social media:

Twitter: @Right_2Roam
Instagram: right.2roam

FROM LEGALJUSTICE

Good afternoon!  

 

It's unusual for us to send a newsletter out at any time other than the early morning. But this is hot news - today we have started a new legal challenge of Defra's lack of monitoring of compliance with regulations on gamebird releases (General Licence 43 (GL43)). 

 

GL43 came into being when Wild Justice caused Defra to back down rather than face us in court over the issue of whether unlimited releases of tens of millions of non-native gamebirds (Red-legged Partridges and Pheasants) damage sites of high nature conservation value (click here) . We have never been happy with the provisions of GL43 but recent events have increased our concerns.

 

Natural England tells us that it doesn't monitor compliance with GL43 - it says it's Defra's responsibility. Defra tells us it doesn't monitor compliance either. So, no-one does and we have no way of knowing whether the regulations, which are a half-hearted attempt to protect sites from damage, are working or not - even in terms of whether the game-shooting industry is complying with the regulations.

 

That's the essence of our concern - click here for more details in our blog - and stay subscribed to this newsletter for more information.

 

This challenge is relevant to the consultation in Wales over the introduction of regulations to limit gamebird releases there - we'll be sending out another newsletter, probably tomorrow, on that subject and to help you respond to the consultation.

 

We see that BASC has been huffing and puffing about GL43. It's not clear that BASC has actually started a legal challenge – be in no doubt, we have!

 

If you like what we do and would like to make a donation which will be used across our range of work, then please consider donating through PayPal, bank transfer or a cheque in the post - see details here. Thank you for all your donations.

 

That's it for now. We couldn't do any of this without you.    

 

Thank you,

OSPREY DOUND SHOT IN TYNE & WEAR

OSPREY FOUND ALIVE BUT LATER EUTHANISED WITH FOUR SHOT GUN PELLETS SHOWN ON THE X-RAY- THE KILLERS ARE OUT THERE

An Osprey has been euthanised after being found with shotgun injuries in Washington, Tyne & Wear on 26th May 2023. An article on the Planet Radio Metro website (here) states the Osprey 'was spotted bleeding and lying on his back by a worker at the Crowther Industrial Estate in Washington, Tyne and Wear, after he […]

Read the full report on Raptor Persecution UK

FROM LEGAL JUSTICE

Good morning!  

 

Yesterday we told you about our legal challenge to the weak regulations governing releasing gamebirds (Red-legged Partridges and Pheasants) in England. Thank you for all your messages of support. Today we are asking you to spend a few minutes, probably about 10 minutes, helping the authorities in Wales to do a better job.

 

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is consulting on future regulations to control gamebird releases. Their plans are to adopt a very similar set of regulations to those in England. We think there are lessons to be learned from the English regulations, and that Wales could do better, but we generally support the measures being proposed.

 

The consultation paper can be found here - click here. It closes in 12 days' time so there are two weekends and eight other days in which to respond. Here are our suggestions for how to respond but you must make up your own mind as to what you say - but please do respond regardless of where in the UK you live.

 

The first three questions relate to your personal details. Here are the remaining five main questions, Questions 4-8, related to these measures, in blue ink and our suggested responses also in blue ink:

PEASE READ THEIR ENTIRE ARTICLE

PROTECTORS OF THE WILD

View this email in your browser In May, Protect the Wild launched a new project – ‘Protectors of the Wild’, a free resource to help us all become ‘eyes in the field’ by learning how to recognise, record, and report wildlife crime and wildlife persecution. As our Protectors landing page says, “Have you ever wondered what UK law says about hunting with dogs, shooting, or collecting bird eggs? Or what protection foxes, badgers, bats, and birds of prey have? Whether a gamekeeper is using a snare, spring trap, or a cage trap legally? Wanted to know more about operating drones, using airguns, or driving quad bikes legally? What the different forms of trespass are, what constitutes assault, or what we should do if we’re arrested?” You have? Well so did we! So we set out to put as much information as possible in a series of pages packed with headline facts and FAQs using a clean and simple, mobile-friendly design.   We are proud to say that we have now written thirty separate pages and we’ve asked and answered over 300 FAQs! To cover as many bases as possible we even have an interactive map listing monitor tip-off lines and contact numbers for wildlife rescues.   A renowned covert investigator has already called Protectors ‘an amazing legal resource - perhaps the best anywhere’, but we’re certainly not satisfied yet! We update pages and add information every day (we just can’t help ourselves). In fact, we’ve added new information on netting hedges, snare use in Northern Ireland, and the use of mannequins on grouse moors in just the last few days. We want everyone who wants to protect the wild to feel a part of the Protectors project, so we’ll be writing a newsletter once a month updating supporters and letting you know about new pages we’ve written or new contacts we’ve added to our map. But - and this is where you, our brilliant supporters come in - we can’t possibly know everybody or have thought of every question that might need answering or every situation someone might find themselves in. If you’d like to offer feedback, we’d welcome it. But maybe you’ve found a mistake or discovered an arcane piece of legislation you think we really ought to know about? Perhaps you have specialist knowledge about how some wildlife laws differ between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? Maybe you run a monitoring group or know a wildlife rescue that we could add to our contact map? Or perhaps you’d like to help spread the ‘Protectors’ message and would like to talk with us or invite us to an event? We’re continually looking for ways to improve and expand Protectors of the Wild – for the benefit of animals and all of us – so please let us know using our dedicated email address (protectors@protectthewild.org.uk) Thank you Copyright © 2023 PROTECT THE WILD LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: PROTECT THE WILD LTD 71-75 Shelton Street Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

ANOTHER FACT OF DEATH AND ILLEGAL ACTIVITY FROM ROPTOR PERSECUTION UK

  NOW ITS 95 HEN HARRIERS GONE MISSING ON OR NEAR SHOOTING AREAS

For anyone who still wants to pretend that the grouse shooting industry isn’t responsible for the systematic extermination of hen harriers on grouse moors across the UK, here’s the latest catalogue of crime that suggests otherwise. [This male hen harrier died in 2019 after his leg was almost severed in an illegally set trap that […]

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