Tuesday, 13 October 2015
Talk by Dr Mark Avery,Impact of Driven Grouse Shooting
There is a talk by Dr Mark Avery ,on the impact of Driven Grouse Shooting on our Uplands and Wildlife ,tomorrow Wed 14 Oct.It is free admission at 7 30 at the Trades Club Hebden Bridge.He was the former Conservation Director for the RSPB for 13 Years,He is the Author of Inglorious ,Conflict in the Uplands .and started the Petition to Ban Driven Grouse Shooting,which is a really important issue for us in Calderdale.
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I'm leaving Halifax about 7.00 if anyone would like a lift.
ReplyDeleteI'm Definitely Going,this is such an important issue for Calderdale,Environmentally and Wildlife .
ReplyDeleteGreat Talk,and Great Atendence and considering such short notice.
ReplyDeleteInteresting and enjoyable talk
ReplyDeleteI agree, it was a good talk. He is a slow, careful speaker. Very diplomatic but adamant that it can be only one group of people responsible for the killing and disturbance of Hen Harriers. It's not going to be groups of student nurses on days out, or bankers, as he put it.
ReplyDeleteHe pointed out there could be no compromise, that the full protection birds of prey are given under the law MUST be put into practice.
He was quite confident that driven grouse shooting will be gone in 20 years, but encouraged all who haven't done so to sign his petition to Parliament, to ensure it happens as soon as possible. Link to Mark Avery's e-petition here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/104441
He also said, taking up a comment from the audience, that we should demand from Yorkshire Water that we want to know what they are doing about the digging of drains on the moors they own by the shooting industry. This practice speeds run-off, causing flooding in the valley bottoms (probably), acidifies the water that then has to be expensively treated and also ruins the biodiversity of the moorland. He urged all of us to write to YW.
I am in complete agreement with him, but no-one talked about the problems of uncontrolled fires in old, high heather, (it can get 4 - 5ft high,) and how fires that lightning and ****-heads with cigarette lighters start can be much more damaging, burning the thin heather-peat right down to the rock. At least the controlled burning is done at times when the ground is wet, but the heather dry, so the flames just burn the top growth off. So perhaps there is some role for controlled burning, to create fire breaks as they do in forests, but obviously not for Hen Harrier persecution or driven shooting. The short heather is good for adult grouse food, the long for spiders the young need, and for cover. We aren't anti-grouse, are we? They are part of the food chain with Harriers at the top. As Mark pointed out, they've been living on the same hills together for 10's of thousands of years.
To carry on from this talk by Dr Mark Avery,and hopefully take things forward.How about further talks and Debates, including representatives from Walshaw Moor Estate,Ban the Burn Campaign,Yorkshire Water,RSPB,Leeds University EMBER Who have done a Study on the Walshaw Moor Estate, and Landowners ,Wildlife ,Birders ,Raptor Groups,Environment,Conservation Groups.To organise this would take some doing and at some cost,but this ISSUE AFFECTS US ALL ,THIS ALL AS A MAJOR IMPACT ON OUR ENVIRONMENT, THIS INTENSIVE MISMANAGEMENT OF OUR VERY IMPORTANT UPLANDS CANNOT CONTINUE AS IT IS AT PRESENT !!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more Bri and not just because we're mates!There are enough people now who are seriously concerned about the treatment of our Uplands to gather momentum and work together.The fact that Dongria met up with Amanda Anderson,director of the Moorland Association up at Walshaw recently suggests they are beginning to take more notice of the rising tide of dissent.I was concerned to be told by a Yorkshire Water employee who has worked up at Walshaw for some time that Y.W are selling off their land to Walshaw estates who will continue to allow Y.W to use the access roads up to the reservoirs!Y.W need to be challenged over this.
ReplyDeleteYes to more meetings and debates on these issues.We must try and make it happen somehow.