Friday 12 January 2018

That Speech

The disconnect between central policy and people like myself and my groups on the birding and conservation front line is so great that there is very little value in me putting my less than penny's worth in on this, so basically what Mark says what other people says is here:

MARK AVERY BLOG

Even discussing this kind of thing is some kind of trap, some sort of distraction. Personally I'm strongly committed to a much more radical approach to conservation rather than adhering too closely to system norms. Something vaguely along these lines: RADICAL CONSERVATION and HERE.

2 comments:

Brett said...

We need a revolution in this country, only then will the powers that be sit up and listen. By which time, of course, it will be too late for them.

On another note. Rang the RSPB reserves manager for Dorset today, to discuss the water levels at Radipole Lake. He was busy apparently, so was supposed to ring me back, but alas, he continues to ignore me. That's nice isn't it? That's why conservation is fucked in this country.

Peter Alfrey said...

Don't get me started on that Brett.

RSPB central blocked local independent conservation campaigning groups from having fair like stands at Hen Harrier Day at Rainham. Hen Harrier Day is supposed to be about front line conservation!

Reported to RSPB London that contractors had felled a Barn Owl nesting site tree (a well known site that presumably was deliberately felled because of development interests in the adjacent land) and we asked them to contact Sutton Biodiversity to log an observation- which helps us locally in trying to police things. They said they had bigger things to think about such as Ramsars and SPAs so wouldn't get involved. Surely the whole point of RSPB London is to focus on wildlife in London and Beddington is one of the most important conservation areas in London?

Its symbolic of the lack of interconnectivity between the NGOs and birding groups and front line groups. Each organisation ploughing its own furrow with CEOs and boards of directors profiteering at the top- the CEO of the Zoological Society London earns £160,000 a year- WTF!!! How can anyone in conservation justify anything but a one planet wage.

We need a revolution in Conservation and need to gun for these heads of conservation. If they are primarily motivated by money they need to go- most of conservation is made up of people who do it voluntarily or for a basic wage- money is a necessary evil so has to be a consideration but certainly not a primary motivation- some of these NGOs directors are unnecessary evils.