Lacking an official body to investigate and prosecute illegal cruelty to wildlife a unique charity, the RSPCA, took on that role almost 200 years ago, writes Lesley Docksey. But now it has ruffled high-ranking feathers by pursuing cases of illegal fox-hunting, and has been forced to leave prosecutions of such cases to the Crown Prosecution Service. But will the CPS do its job?
Fair game? Hunting lobby's attacks on the RSPCA are proof of its effectiveness Lesley Docksey | 3rd May 2016 Activism Hunting Natural World Law Politics UK foxhunt-cut.jpg Lacking an official body to …
Shocking events have taken place in Malta as hunters - angered by a temporary closure of the bird-shooting season - attacked bird watchers, writes Steve Micklewright. But with a Maltese politician taking on the role of Environment Commissioner, the real battle lies ahead: the survival of the Birds Directive.
We must defend the Birds Directive against Malta's hunting lobby Steve Micklewright Birdlife Malta | 2nd October 2014 Comment Birds EU Regulation Natural World Hunting Malta stork-france-cut.jpg …
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 UK Government is desperate to get planting GM crops - and could get its way as soon as 2015. Now environment groups warn: our wildlife will suffer - and just as demand for 'GMO-free' food is soaring.
… should not be caving in to commercial lobbying and putting British birds and … should not be caving in to commercial lobbying and putting British birds and …
Campaigners fear 'backward' step in pesticide regulation in UK after testing body scrapped as Government also confirms major budget cuts to Natural England and the Environment Agency
… both public bodies to 'stop policymaking and lobbying activities'. A Defra spokesperson …
Must-have handbags? shoes to die for? From cheap trinkets to luxury car interiors, Jim Wickens discovers the startling facts behind what we buy into when we buy leather goods.
… 2008 News Leather Tannery Pollution Corporate Lobbying Southern Elites Regulattion Human … have been so watered-down by chemical company lobbying that any assumptions about the safe …
Lawyer Polly Higgins is spearheading a campaign to have 'ecocide' recognised by the UN as an international crime against peace. But how will this work in practice?
Ecocide: making environmental destruction a criminal offence David Hawkins | 28th July 2010 Activism Natural World Waste Pollution Ecocide Toxic Ecocide Un Polly Higgins Planetary Rights …
Pete Riley, campaign director at GM Freeze argues that Defra are cherry picking their science to fit their agenda, disregarding the real needs of both people and planet.....
UK Environment Secretary suffering from GM delusion Pete Riley | 24th June 2013 News Natural World Politics Science & Technology butterfly.jpg A Monarch caterpillar feeds on Milkweed. Loss of …
Long a symbol of the US wilderness - and a totem for the environmental movement - wolves are now the focus of a bitter conflict between those who want to increase the species' numbers and those that want to kill them
The great wolf debate: hunt them down or let them flourish? Joseph Mayton | 15th February 2011 News Natural World Hunting Wildlife Conservation Investigations istock_000011627727xsmall.jpg Long a …
Pending the publication of the long-delayed Independent Panel report on the badger cull, Lesley Docksey finds that the fight for England's badgers is part of an even bigger campaign for scientific and political integrity.
The badger cull - something is rotten in the state of England Lesley Docksey | 24th March 2014 Activism Natural World UK Politics Badgers badger.png Pending the publication of the long-delayed …
In his final State of the Union address, George Bush announced his support for the adoption of biofuels on a massive scale. But is the plan such a good idea? By Pat Thomas
MPs will be lobbied today by wildlife supporters desperately concerned at the declining state of Britain's nature, writes Martin Harper. Despite clear warnings that both 'protected' sites and threatened species are faring badly, politicians find it all too easy to look the other way. Hence the need for a Nature and Wellbeing Act.
Rallying for wildlife - we need a Nature and Wellbeing Act Martin Harper RSPB | 9th December 2014 Comment UK Natural World Law Politics snakeshead-fs-cut.jpg MPs will be lobbied today by wildlife …
The future of one of Europe’s most pristine wildlife sites hangs in the balance as landmark EU legal wrangling continues over a controversial Polish highway
… groups, including the RSPB, have been lobbying hard for the road to take a shorter …
BP is in trouble. Big trouble. But others are to blame for the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and the US Mineral Management Service is at the top of the list...
… offshore drilling ? (BP alone spent $19m lobbying the US federal government in 2009 and …
Campaigners and MEPs say legal challenges by hunters and seal traders will not succeed to overturning the new EU wide ban on the trade in seal products
EU seal fur ban 'sends message' to those profiting from trade Tom Levitt | 29th October 2010 News Seal Trade Fur Natural World Animal Rights sealhuntnamibia.jpg The clubbing of seals is taking place …
Russia’s zapovedniks are some of the world’s most pristine wildernesses. For 70 years they were protected ruthlessly by the Soviet system, but recently they have fallen prey to Putin, the World Bank and ecotourists. Paul Webster reports on their plight
The Wild Wild East: Russia's Zapovedniks Paul Webster | 1st February 2003 News Russia Wilderness World Bank Ecotourism International Development International Development Consumerism World Bank …
In May the Bush administration struck another blow against the US’s crumbling environmental protections with a ruling that allows hatchery fish to be counted along with wild fish in determining the protection status of salmon in accordance with the US’s Endangered Species Act (ESA).
… interests have fought long and hard (using lobbying and lawsuits) to eliminate salmon …
The EU faces a choice: a green, democratic future of clean prosperity and social justice? Or a dirty future of corporate domination with resurgent nuclear power, expanding fossil fuels, GMO agriculture and weak human and environmental protection? Junckers' Commission represents the latter. We must assert our own vision - or there will be little worth staying in for.
Europe on the brink - green future or industrial wasteland? Oliver Tickell | 12th December 2014 Comment EU UK Nuclear Natural World Trade Finance euro-comm-cut.jpg The EU faces a choice: a green, …
After beavers' reintroduction to Scotland, landowners have accused the native rodents of damaging the environment, causing floods, and worse, writes Louise Ramsay. But the public have rallied to the cause of these charming, beneficial creatures, leaving conservative landowners isolated. Could the shift in sentiment trigger long overdue change in the Scottish countryside?
… It is curious and frustrating that the lobbying of the National Farmers' Union of … landowners, and their trade bodies are still lobbying for, and defending the status quo. …
In China, pear trees have had to be pollinated by hand after bees were wiped out by industrial farming. Now FOE have launched a petition to get the UK government to help halt the decline in Britain's own bee population
TAKE ACTION: Support Friends of the Earth's National Bee Action Plan Mark Briggs | 11th April 2012 Activism Natural World Bees Pollination Pesticides Friends Of The Earth Wildlife Agriculture …
Previously suppressed documents show that Bayer and Syngenta, the makers of controversial 'neonic' insecticides subject to an EU ban, took part in and sought to influence a key meeting of pesticide experts to decide whether to lift a ban on their use in the UK.
… told the ECP it wanted to prevent campaigners lobbying ministers on the issue. The meeting …
The disappearance of a satellite-tagged hen harrier on a Scottish grouse moor and the loss of eight Golden eagles in five years provide the latest evidence for a ban on driven grouse-shooting, writes EDUARDO GONCALVES. But birds of prey are only the most high-profile victims of a cruel and ecologically destructive industry.
Time to close down Britain's devastating grouse-shooting industry Eduardo Goncalves | 18th August 2016 Comment Birds Ecology Hunting Animal Welfare Natural World UK Scotland Regulation …
For sheer guts, vision and results, a single organisation stands out among the US's environmental defenders - the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. Jeffrey St. Clair met its leader, Mike Garrity, winner of 2014's Grassroots Activist Award.
Defender of the Rockies Jeffrey St. Clair | 3rd March 2014 Comment USA Natural World Law Forests bridger-mtns.png For sheer guts, vision and results, a single organisation stands out among the US's …
'We need to look at the best scientific evidence' on badgers and bovine TB, says Environment Secretary Liz Truss. But as Lesley Docksey writes, the 'best scientific evidence' appears to mean only that which supports the cull - and there's precious little of it!
Carry on Culling - the fiasco continues Lesley Docksey | 28th July 2014 Comment Badgers Natural World Farming Science UK Health Politics mrs-badger-cut.jpg Badger. Photo: Lesley Docksey. 'We need to …