The War on Wildlife I

*I wrote this blog in May, but did not publish for some reason A few tweaks have been made, and better late than never, perhaps.*

In another chapter of their ongoing bid to cement their position as real-life pantomime villains, the Conservative government in their wisdom to consulted in May on the legalisation of the destruction of Robin (Erithacus rubecula) Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) and Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba) nests and the killing of their eggs, which is currently a criminal offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Now, I dislike Tory ideology intensely; I make no claims of political neutrality. Under current plans, the eggs and nests of these much-loved species will be added to the General Licence, essentially a list of agricultural pests and invasive species that farmers and other land managers feel it necessary to control.  There is no suggestion that such unobtrusive and much loved birds as the gardener’s friend the Robin are pests, so the decision remains a mysterious one.   However this suggestion has come directly from the statutory body responsible for delivering Nature Conservation in England, the logically named “Natural England.”  Intriguingly, unlike tough decisions made by Natural England in the past, such as the deeply troubling decision to licence the destruction of Buzzard nests on a pheasant farm, made under the threat of the funding axe and of judicial review from the powerful game shooting lobby, and still an admission of weakness, the legalised Robin-killing was offered apparently voluntarily; there was no public call to be allowed to destroy robins nests, no clear source of external pressure, Natural England simply offered the helpful suggestion that it “would not have appreciable conservation impacts."

Our unofficial national bird, a target for the Tories.

In the interests of proportion, the consultation ideas could indeed be worse; they also propose to remove the Jay (Garrulus glandarius) from the General Licence, as it is seldom cited as an important agricultural pest, and also to offer some protection to Atlantic Herring and Lesser Black Backed Gulls (Larus argentatus and L. fuscus respectively), both declining species endemic to North Western Europe.  They suggest that Robin and Pied Wagtail nests may present a hazard to human health if they occur in air vents, for instance, yet do not propose similar measures for hole nesters such as Blue and Great tits, though their nests occasionally raise the same issues, and one hopes this distinction is made the basis of an understanding of their ecology.  A lost nest, though a considerable blow, will not necessarily rule the parents out of the gene pool, Robins breed more than once a year and can live for several years.  Blue and Great tits make a single annual nesting attempt and seldom live far beyond 18 months.   However the potential for worse moves does not validate these awful ones, and I’m going to stop with them lest our malevolent rulers get wind and put them in the next consultation.

The declining Starling, the target of politically motivated persecution.

The reason for this strange proposal probably lies in the unusual choice of Natural England chair, as identified in an excellent blog post at Pride’s Purge (http://tompride.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/heres-the-real-reason-the-tories-are-allowing-the-destruction-of-robin-eggs-and-nests/ accessed 29/05/2014) Andrew Sells is not an ecologist, he is an accountant and entrepreneur, who includes major development companies in his portfolio.  He is also a major Tory donor, having given over £100000 to the party.  It is easy for one to suspect he may have bought his position with Natural England, despite repetitious denials from the government, and he certainly appears to be exploiting it.  Adaptable Robins and Pied Wagtails, and unfussy hole-nesting Starlings can often present problems for development companies, as their presence can hold up developments when they are scheduled for the Spring, as work must, of course, stop when nests are found, necessitating brief postponements.  All three birds are adept at exploiting the nesting opportunities provided by brownfield sites, utilising cavities in abandoned buildings or industrial apparatus, or hiding their nests in developing scrub. Pied Wagtails frequently roost in town centres and can eke out a living picking invertebrates out from between paving slabs. Now Brownfield sites are valuable to developers, and this change could free developers from some of the shackles of basic environmental responsibility and compassion.  While the consultation does not explicitly allow the removal of nests in the interests of development- they can only, in theory, be destroyed when human health is threatened-it does make it markedly easier for any company to break the rules.  Nests are currently occasionally removed or destroyed in the interests of human health; doing so is a licensable activity, and some licences applied for are granted.  The government, already has a licensing system which does not appear gravely dysfunctional, licensing some but not all nest removals.   If successful in implementing these proposals, there will be no need for any such application, no reporting procedure, no monitoring of the number of nests destroyed, and an assumption by the law enforcement agencies that nest destruction is legal.    These changes will clearly make breaking the law much easier for developers, like the business owned by the chair of Natural England. Despite their claims to the contrary, Natural England and Andrew Sells know this is the case. Indeed, it all smells a lot like a clever ruse by the government and its stooges.

This is actually a White Wagtail. It's okay, because it lives outside Natural England's jurisdiction.

 Combined with the badger cull, shamefully recommencing as I type, and the government’s decision to continue subsidising recreational shooting, most of the cost of the shotgun licencing system, for example, is met from the public purse, at the Prime Minister’s personal insistence, during such times as we are told we cannot afford the most basic of public services or the weakest environmental standards, and at whatever cost to our moorlands, mammalian predators and birds of prey, the government certainly appears to be waging a war on wildlife. It is relaxing the planning laws, promoting fracking, known to have caused serious water pollution in the USA, and disempowering conservation bodies, replacing their informed leaders with accountants and venture capitalists, and it wants to legalise the slaughter of Robins. The greenest government ever has revealed itself to be an ecological pantomime villain.