A government that cant see the woods from the trees?

The governments consultation paper on the future of the Forestry estate seems to have done the impossible politically and united left and right, town and country, young and old in opposition to its plans. But above all they have risked the ire of the big beasts in the environmental jungle.  Dame Fiona Reynolds, head of the 3 million-strong National Trust,  has pronounced that the sell-off was “a watershed moment in the nation”. The NT are important because they are considered to be the neutron bomb of the environment movement – they rarely go off but when they do so it has a devastating effect. John Vidal’s article in the Guardian on the subject is well worth reading.

Go tell it to the birds

This weekend half a million people will have participated in the RSPBs Big Garden Birdwatch.

So why did no one tell the birds in my garden? I put out lots of food, got myself a nice mug of hot tea and settled down for an hour to take part in Europe’s largest wildlife survey.

On a good day we always have a range of species in the garden. But today no one told the birds. So I sat there like a Great Tit waiting and waiting. And the result of all my efforts?

One robin, one chaffinch and one miserable Dunnock. Did anyone do worse than that?

Chilean Miner testimony

I went to a really moving talk this evening by Jose Henriquez, one of the 33 Chilean miners stranded 720 metres underground for 69 days last year.  He was accompanied by Alf Cooper, chaplain to the President of Chile who translated and his wife Blanca. Jose was one of the older miners at 54 and was a drill master. Known as “The Pastor” because he was a Christian, Jose called all the miners together to pray during their ordeal. He spoke of them surviving for the first 17 days when no one knew if they were alive or dead on just half a teaspoon of tuna which they mixed with a little water to create a soup. During this time some of the men wrote out their will in despair. In their chamber it was a stifling 34 degrees and in the heat some of the men started Read more >>

‘Gentleman’ George Monbiots Left Hook