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Wildlife lowlight of the week

(627 posts)
  • Started 6 years ago by dessert rat
  • Latest reply from gembo

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  1. ejstubbs
    Member

    Tories’ ‘toothless’ UK policies failing to halt drastic loss of wildlife

    The government’s underfunded green ambitions and “toothless” policies are failing to halt catastrophic loss of wildlife, a committee of MPs has said in a new report that finds the biodiversity crisis is still not being treated with the urgency of the climate crisis.

    The UK is the most wildlife-depleted country out of the G7 nations and, despite pledges to improve the environment within a generation, properly funded policies are not in place to make this happen, according to the report from the environmental audit committee (EAC).

    The government’s 25-year environment plan to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030 and its promise to deliver biodiversity net gain on infrastructure projects look good on paper, but inadequate monitoring and a lack of compliance means the government is not delivering on them.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Legal protections for wildlife and plants in the UK are set for a review that could result in some important species losing their entitlement to sp ecial status, ecology experts have told the Guardian.

    Adders, slow worms, water voles, mountain hares, pine martens and red squirrels are among the species experts have warned could be affected, after unexpected changes to the government’s review process that will raise the bar on how rare and under threat an animal needs to be to gain legal safeguards.

    The changes, which have not been widely heralded by the government, could benefit property developers and infrastructure projects such as road-building, which currently have to take account of rare species found within the proposed development areas, and sometimes have to be changed or moved as a result.

    “

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/02/red-squirrels-and-pine-martens-could-lose-protection-in-uk-review-say-experts

    Does this apply in Scotland?

    Posted 3 years ago #

  3. amir
    Member

    I rarely see dead moles these days, but last weekend I saw two squashed on the roads in the north Peninines. Quite a distance apart. Is this a time of year when they move about a bit?

    Posted 3 years ago #

  4. amir
    Member

    As I left the house, I felt a bang on my helmet and a wee chaffinch plopped to the floor. Although we put it in a safe place, it hasn't recovered :(

    Posted 3 years ago #

  5. ejstubbs
    Member

    @amir: Moles on the surface might be due to heavy rain flooding their tunnels. There have been a few downpours recently. (I was caught in a couple of short, sharp ones riding over the Meldons and back to Romannobridge yesterday afternoon.)

    Posted 3 years ago #

  6. nobrakes
    Member

    My lowlight of the week was human - seeing multiple instagram generationers stripping off to bikinis and posing suggestively / leaving nothing to the imagination for the perfect photo op in the fairy pools on Skye today. A lot of very uncomfortable people who were just out for a walk. I haven’t been there for 30 years - was shocked at the change.

    We cracked on past the crowds up into the hills and were rewarded with a fairly close fly over by a golden eagle. Smashing.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Hard frosts while the birds were laying has meant that fewer were born, and some eggs are still yet to hatch. Sleet and cold rain during the hatching season earlier this summer caused the loss of entire broods.

    “

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/30/glorious-twelfth-on-the-brink-across-uk-after-poor-grouse-breeding-season

    Posted 3 years ago #

  8. ejstubbs
    Member

    I was quite surprised to see only two red grouse during a walk on Morrone the other weekend. In fact I saw more of both golden plover and mountain hares.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  9. acsimpson
    Member

    Hares seem to have had a good year this year. I don't think I've had a long ride in the summer without spotting at least one.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  10. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/01/prince-harry-should-settle-bird-shooting-mystery-in-memoirs-say-campaigners

    Posted 3 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/politics/council/edinburgh-city-council-must-tackle-citys-weed-problem-says-lothian-politician-3411924

    Posted 3 years ago #

  12. MediumDave
    Member

    <Molesworth>Myles Briggs who is both uterly wet and a weed. It panes me to think he reprahsents us. </Molesworth>

    On other types of weed problem: my neighbours need to learn that Dr Dre is not a real doctor and "smoke weed everyday" is not medical advice. Smoking something other than the most disgustingly pungent diesel skunk would be appreciated too.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  13. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/rspb-annual-bird-crime-survey-reveals-scottish-raptor-death-toll-3434726

    Posted 3 years ago #

  14. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19712344.photographer-slams-deer-policies-reducing-deer-pest/

    Posted 3 years ago #

  15. MediumDave
    Member

    Bambi must die. Preferably by the jaws of WOLVES and other cool fauna but if need be by 40g of high-velocity metal.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  16. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Over early morning coffee at his Oxfordshire farmhouse, Jeremy Clarkson is talking about his new nemesis, badgers, and the fact that they constantly urinate, usually on his grass. “If they’ve got TB and a cow eats that bit of grass, then you, the taxpayer, pay for that cow to be killed. A quarter of the world’s badgers live in the UK, causing chaos. But if you say, ‘I’m going to shoot a badger’, you can expect to find your house on fire within 10 minutes. Carrie Johnson is a badger enthusiast, so the government aren’t likely to do anything while she’s running around.”

    “

    https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/nov/16/jeremy-clarkson-farming-clarksons-farm-attenborough-jetskiing-badgers-red-trousers-brigade

    Posted 3 years ago #

  17. Frenchy
    Member

    *Implying that shooting badgers reduces levels of bovine-TB*

    [Citation needed]

    Posted 3 years ago #

  18. Yodhrin
    Member

    He really is quite an impressive man though, isn't he? No matter what subject he turns his hand to, he always manages to be the maximum amount of wrong it's possible to be, and the greatest knobber about it you could imagine.

    Almost as if it's all an act for the audience of dimwitted gammon "fans" he's gathered up.

    Posted 3 years ago #

  19. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Thousands of tonnes of pesticides that seriously harm bees are being exported from the EU despite a ban on their outdoor use within the bloc.

    Data obtained by Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace, shows that 3,900 tonnes of banned neonicotinoid pesticides were destined to leave the EU and UK for low- and middle-income nations with weaker environmental regulations in the three months after the ban came into force.

    The insecticides, which contain the active ingredients thiamethoxam, imidacloprid or clothianidin, were mostly destined for Brazil (which was due to receive almost half of the exports), Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, Iran, South Africa, Indonesia, Ghana, Mali and Singapore.

    “

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/bee-harming-pesticides-exported-from-eu-after-ban-on-outdoor-use

    Posted 3 years ago #

  20. ejstubbs
    Member

    Adult mink on the remains of the gunpowder factory's weir in Roslin Glen. Which probably also means that the smallish mustelid that the missus spotted near the old carpet factory back in the spring was in fact also a young mink. Is there someone who needs to be told about mink sightings?

    On a more positive note, we harvested 800g of sloes from the backthorns lining the path up to the Penicuik-Dalkeith railway track. So that should be good for about a litre and a half of sloe gin this time next year.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  21. ejstubbs
    Member

    Law change allows wild birds to be killed to protect game birds in England

    General shooting licences give broad permissions to shoot certain species of wild birds to protect livestock, aid conservation, and preserve health and public safety.

    ...

    There has been debate over whether pheasants, partridges and grouse count as livestock, as they are wild birds, and so whether predators can be shot in order to protect them.

    The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has released a new definition of “livestock” including these birds, to give explicit permission to shoot carrion crows, jackdaws, magpies and rooks.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  22. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/12/conifer-plantation-push-could-threaten-red-squirrel-population-study-finds

    Posted 2 years ago #

  23. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/mp-eagles-not-welcome-constituency-received-funds-shooting-estate-chris-loder

    Posted 2 years ago #

  24. acsimpson
    Member

    Conservative government approves the further destruction of our native and very important pollinating wildlife. But you know... what has the EU ever done for them.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60579670

    Posted 2 years ago #

  25. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/01/noble-false-widow-spider-captures-bat-in-uk-attic

    Posted 2 years ago #

  26. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/05/canaries-in-the-coalmine-loss-of-birds-signals-changing-planet

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/05/flying-insect-numbers-have-plunged-by-60-since-2004-gb-survey-finds

    Posted 2 years ago #

  27. ejstubbs
    Member

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/15/sandringham-estate-police-barred-investigating-wildlife-crime

    ..a year before the shooting incident in the vicinity of Sandringham*, the UK’s wildlife legislation was updated. The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 included amendments to a number of laws for England – one of which sets out the Queen’s personal immunity from prosecution for wildlife offences, and denies wildlife inspectors the power to enter her private estates to investigate alleged crimes.

    * The shooting of two female hen harriers in 2007, which was quite reported at the time.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  28. chdot
    Admin

    https://twitter.com/cllrscottarthur/status/1548719288260911104

    Posted 2 years ago #

  29. ejstubbs
    Member

    @chdot: I got some video of a badger on the wildlife camera in my garden earlier this week. First time ever. Knowing my luck, it'll have been this one. Then again, I've suspected for a while that there is a sett fairly local to me (I've not been able to confirm as it seems to be dug in to a steep and rather unstable slope - probably have to set up an abseil to investigate it properly) so maybe there's more than one around.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  30. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/02/call-for-hippos-to-join-list-of-worlds-most-endangered-animals-aoe

    Posted 2 years ago #

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