'Conservation' is destroying those who've nurtured their surroundings for timeless generations, writes Stephen Corry - the Indigenous Peoples who have actually fashioned those precious places that we now mistake as 'natural'. It's time for a new conservation ethic that recognizes them as senior partners - not as 'squatters'' and 'poachers' to be evicted and criminalized.
… Wildlife conservation must support, not destroy, … Politics Human Rights baka-beaten-cut.jpg 'Conservation' is destroying those who've … now mistake as 'natural'. It's time for a new conservation ethic that recognizes them as …
Fresh from his surprise election victory, David Cameron is facing calls to expedite a 'free vote' in Parliament to repeal the law that forbids hunting with dogs, writes Chris Pitt. We must make sure our MPs vote to protect wild animals from the horrendous cruelty that resumed hunting would inflict on them.
Bring back fox hunting and hare coursing? Not on our watch Chris Pitt | 22nd May 2015 Comment UK Hunting Politics Animal Welfare hare-coursing-cut.jpg Fresh from his surprise election victory, David …
Conservation projects have pulled several endangered European birds back from the brink of extinction, but habitat loss, industrial farming, over fishing and climate change all represent growing threats that requires broader and deeper change in the EU and beyond.
… Photo: Satriver via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND). Conservation projects have pulled several … in trouble" , said Martin Harper, the RSPB's Conservation Director. "It would have been … is fit for purpose." Ivan Ramirez, head of conservation at BirdLife Europe and Central …
Giraffe numbers have fallen from 140,000 in 16 years to just 80,000, writes Matt Hayward, and sub-species in East and West Africa are close to extinction. However trophy hunting has led to big population increases in private game reserves in southern Africa. To secure the giraffes' future, beware of simplistic narratives.
… Hayward | 11th August 2015 Comment Africa Conservation Hunting Mammals … to giraffes. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List … were 140,000 in Africa - today the Giraffe Conservation Foundation estimates there are …
Last week David Cameron backed down over his plans to bring back fox hunting by 'fatally amending' the Hunting Act, writes Dominic Dyer. The way he spun it, it was all about SNP interference in English law, but the real problem was opposition within the Conservative Party, which increasingly sees blood sports as a barbaric relic that alienates voters of all persuasions.
Fox hunting is political poison for David Cameron and the Tory Party Dominic Dyer | 20th July 2015 News UK Hunting Natural World Politics Law UK Last week David Cameron backed down over his plans to …
The Faroe Islands' annual 'grindadráp', in which hundreds of pilot whales are slaughtered with knives and hooks, is a horrifying spectacle, writes David Lusseau. But unlike industrial whaling it poses no threat to the species. And is it really any worse than the industrial factory farming that we routinely ignore?
… July 2015 Comment Cetaceans Oceans Hunting Conservation Denmark … that is too easily ruled by emotions. No conservation threat The Faroese catch around … year. This catch level does not threaten the conservation status of this population …
The recent death of Ventana the condor in Los Angeles zoo illustrates a simple truth, writes Dawn Starin: wild condors cannot survive so long as the dead amimals they eat are riddled with lead from spent ammunition. With lead poisoning to blame for 60% of condor deaths, it's time to ban lead ammunition across their entire range - and beyond.
… Starin | 21st January 2015 News USA Birds Conservation Toxics Hunting … needs to change." A recent study published in Conservation Biology evaluating the blood lead … who have been involved with condor conservation are not anti-hunting. They are …
Last November Tanzania's President Kikwete tweeted his promise that the evictions of indigenous Maasai people and their villages near Serengeti National Park would stop. But now another round of evictions is under way: thousands of Maasai have been evicted at gunpoint and their homes burnt to ashes. The Maasai say: 'We need your help!'
… 2015 News Indigenous Peoples Tanzania Africa Conservation Hunting Corporations … 'investors' and promote their activities as 'conservation'. Meanwhile the indigenous Maasai … be used as a 'wildlife corridor' for nature conservation. Given their continued support …
Two thirds of Africa's lions have been lost in 35 years, and would-be hunters are increasingly shooting captive, farmed and often tame lions in 'canned hunts'. Claims are that this helps to preserve wild lion populations - but Dominic Dyer fears the reverse is the case.
… is there, and it's a high priority for conservation organizations including Born Free … lions. Many of these operations claim to be conservation projects and even enlist … Against Canned Hunting . "There is no conservation value in petting lion cubs or …
This is the first day of the pheasant shooting season, writes Toni Shephard. But put bucolic ideas of happy birds running around in the wild woods out of your mind. Most of the birds coming under shotgun fire today have only just been released from overcrowded factory farms. Even in death they have no dignity: most are not even eaten, but end up dumped in makeshift pits.
… species. There is widespread concern amongst conservationists that this vast number of … at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation [13], are wounded not killed. … 1. British Association for Shooting and Conservation (2015): ' BASC statement on game …
Next Tuesday MPs will be voting on an 'amendment' to the Hunting Act that outlaws fox hunting and other cruel sports, writes Robbie Marsland. But its effect would be to make the law a dead letter - so full of holes as to permit the return of full-blown hunting with dogs. MPs must vote down this 'repeal by stealth'.
Hunting Act 'amendment' is repeal in disguise Robbie Marsland | 10th July 2015 Comment UK Hunting Natural World Politics Law UK south shropshire hunt-cut.jpg Next Tuesday MPs will be voting on an …
The fox-hunting season is now well under way, writes Toni Shephard. But with Cameron still pressing for a Commons vote on wrecking amendments to the Hunting Act, political controversy shows no sign of subsiding. Take, for example, the proposed lifting of the limit on number of dogs that can be used for the 'observation or study' of a wild mammal.
Fox hunting season begins under cloud of political spin Dr Toni Shephard | 8th November 2015 Activism UK Hunting Law Politics Natural World essex fh 17.10.90hounds+riders-cut.jpg The fox-hunting …
Forget pear trees. Today's partridges are unlikely to have seen much beyond the barren confines of their cages until they are released to be shot, writes Toni Shephard. A new investigation by the League Against Cruel Sports reveals that thousands of partridges will spend Christmas, like every other day, imprisoned on the farms that supply shooting estates.
… via the British Association of Shooting & Conservation once pushed for a ban on breeding …
There is widely held belief that there' only one way to protect rhinos, elephants and other endangered species poached for the international wildlife trade, writes Douglas MacMillan: a complete trade ban. But it's a dangerous misconception. By raising prices and engaging criminal networks, bans speed up extinction rather than preventing it.
… Douglas MacMillan is Professor of Conservation and Applied Resource Economics at …
A study of feral cats in Tasmania shows that culling them to reduce their impact on native wildlife had a paradoxical effect - their population went up! If you can't take 'pest' animals out faster than they can reproduce and move in from nearby areas, writes Christopher Johnson, you're better off not bothering at all.
… Christopher Johnson is Professor of Wildlife Conservation and ARC Australian Professorial …
Defra's new £500,000 report on pheasant and partridge breeding is biased towards commercial shooting interests from start to finish, writes Toni Shephard. It purports to study the welfare of captive birds reared in restrictive cages, but fails to compare their lot to that of free-range birds - the only adequate baseline.
… what the British Association for Shooting and Conservation stated in December 2010 when …