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RSPB rejects
call to lobby against windfarm scheme
Shetland Today, 29 September 2006
The
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) are unlikely to oppose
plans to build a large windfarm in Shetland. A petition calling on the
RSPB to step up its opposition to wind farm developments in the UK has
been organized by wildlife lobby group Proact. But RSPB Scotland says
that it considers applications to develop wind farms on a individual
basis.
Plans by Viking Energy to build a 600-megawatt-windfarm in Shetland were
causing less concern to the RSPB than plans by engineering giant Amec to
build a windfarm in Lewis. In the case of Lewis, the plan is to build a
700-megawatt farm in a Special Protection Area. In the case of Shetland,
the proposed site in the Lang Kames, is undesignated.
The
RSPB Shetland officer said "Generally the RSPB is in favour of renewable
energy. We aren't in favour of wind farms in the wrong place."
Although the proposed site in Shetland attracts large numbers of
red-throated divers the RSPB believes that by keeping turbines away from
certain areas any problems will be averted.
Viking Energy said that the Lang Kames site
had been specifically chosen, following consultation with Scottish
Natural Heritage (SNH) and RSPB, because it had no environmental or
scientific designations.
Work
on a bird study is expected to be completed in the next few weeks and a
planning application should be submitted by the end of the year.
www.shetlandtoday.co.uk/Shetlandtimes/content_details.asp?ContentID=20362
Environment Agency breaches flood defences to manage flooding
EA
News, 25 September 2006
Environment Agency officers in Northumberland will breach flood defences
on pastureland in Alnmouth as part of a new approach to tackle coastal
flooding. The team is working with farmers, residents and environmental
organisations on the scheme which will see the defences breached at two
locations in fields between the B1338 and the River Aln estuary on
Thursday, September 28. The tide will be allowed to flood the farmland,
and money spent on maintaining the defences will be reinvested to
protect Northumbrian people in more urgent need of flood protection.
The
Alnmouth scheme is part of a project called Northumberland 4shores which
is led by the Environment Agency. The project focuses on sustainable
coastal flood risk management such as creating wetlands to absorb tidal
flows and encourage wildlife.Project manager Maria Hardy said the scheme
is an innovative plan to deal with rising tides while providing
affordable flood protection which works with the sea’s natural
processes.
“We
want to remove these outdated rural defences and allow the coastline to
establish its own protection by creating habitats such as saltmarsh,
which can absorb tidal flows and provide valuable wildlife habitats,”
she said
“We
need to work with natural processes wherever possible rather than trying
to fight them. Instead of protecting agricultural land, we are allowing
the tide in which will create valuable habitat, and free up maintenance
money which can be spent on protecting homes instead.”
On
the Northumberland coast it costs an estimated £500,000 to carry out
major repairs on a stretch of floodbank.
Farmers taking part in the project have received funding from Defra’s
Environmental Stewardship Scheme which rewards those who help
conservation.
“The
North East has lost a lot of wetland habitat but this scheme will start
to redress the balance, encouraging more birds and transforming it into
a wildlife area which will hopefully boost the local tourist economy,”
said Maria.
This
scheme is the first of two phases in Alnmouth, and similar work is
planned at Beal. Officers plan to create both saltwater and freshwater
habitats to attract a range of wildlife.
The
work has been funded by the Northumberland Regional Flood Defence
Committee and has been carried out in partnership with Natural England
and Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Mark
Usher, an adviser with the Rural Development Service in the North East,
which administers Environmental Stewardship, said: “This project
includes a number of sites along the Northumberland coast where we have
existing or proposed Higher Level Schemes under ES.
“It’s a great example of our work with partner organisations and
illustrates how ES can help create important new habitats in areas of
high environmental importance.”
www.environment-agency.gov.uk-news-1478428
Breckland to have greater protection for rare bird habitat
Defra, 21 September 2006
Greater legal protection has now been granted to some of the country's
rarest birds in the Breckland area of Norfolk and Suffolk.
Nearly 40,000 hectares of farmland, forest, heath and grassland have
today been classified as a Special Protection Area. This will ensure
that many of the area's rare and vulnerable birds, such as the Woodlark,
Nightjar and Stone Curlew, will be safeguarded.
Breckland is centred on the towns of Mildenhall, Brandon and Thetford,
but it stretches northwards nearly to Swaffham and south nearly to Bury
St Edmunds.
In
the nineteenth century the area was termed a sandy waste, with small
patches of arable cultivation that were soon abandoned. The continental
climate, with low rainfall and free-draining soils, has led to the
development of dry heath and grassland communities. Much of Breckland
has been planted with conifers throughout the twentieth century, and in
part of the site, arable farming is the predominant land use.
The
remnants of dry heath and grassland which have survived these recent
changes support heathland breeding birds, where grazing by rabbits and
sheep is sufficiently intensive to create short turf and open ground.
The
Breckland site qualifies for SPA status as it is used regularly by 1% or
more of the Great Britain's populations of Woodlark, Nightjar and Stone
Curlew. It supports the largest concentrations of breeding Stone Curlew
and Woodlark in Great Britain and is the second most important area for
Nightjar.
Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are strictly protected sites classified
in accordance with Article 4 of the EC Directive on the conservation of
wild birds (79/409/EEC), also known as the Birds Directive, which came
into force in April 1979. They are classified for rare and vulnerable
birds, listed in Annex I to the Birds Directive, and for regularly
occurring migratory species.
In
the UK, the first SPAs were identified and classified in the early to
mid 1980s. A full list of classified or potential SPAs in England can be
viewed at
www.jncc.gov.uk/page-140
SPAs
are classified following local consultations undertaken on the Defra's
behalf by English Nature, which consults with owners and occupiers,
local authorities, statutory undertakers and other local interests.
www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=228775&NewsAreaID=2
Hunter pays £3,400 on to
shoot boar
this
is Gloucestershire, 21 September 2006
A
Wild boar hunt has been sold for £3,400 on ebaY. The hunt will take
place at an unknown site near Ross-on-Wye. It is perfectly legal to
shoot wild boar as long as the right weapon is used and correct licence
held. The sellers product description on ebaY said: "The ground I am
referring to has been approved by local police."
The
League Against Cruel Sports spoke out against the sale, calling it
"shocking and sick".
www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk
Official opening of largest flood storage and habitat creation scheme in
Europe
Environment Agency
PR149/06, 20 September 2006
The
Alkborough Flats Tidal Defence Scheme was officially opened on Wednesday
20 September 2006 by Ian Pearson, Environment and Climate Change
Minister. The largest of five demonstration projects in Europe, the
Alkborough scheme will help promote new approaches to the impacts of sea
level rise and will be used across Europe to demonstrate the multiple
benefits that well designed schemes can provide.
As
the largest flood storage and habitat creation scheme in Europe, with
440 hectares of agricultural land alongside the Humber, the site is
being used as a demonstration project to help promote new approaches to
the impacts of sea level rise across Europe. It also demonstrates how
much good co-operation between a number of partners can achieve. This
scheme will help lower high tide levels by allowing water to run over
Alkborough Flats, creating a massive flood storage area. Allowing water
from the estuary to run over the land will also create a huge new
inter-tidal habitat.
The
total cost of the scheme is £10.2 million, with the funding coming from
a wide range of sources including DEFRA, Yorkshire Forward (the Regional
Development Agency), the European Union (via the Interreg programme),
English Nature and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The
scheme lowers the highest tide levels throughout the upper part of the
estuary and delays the need to raise other defences by ten to fifteen
years. By removing the existing defences, water is being allowed to
flood the farmland creating an inter-tidal habitat, which will be
managed for nature conservation.
More
than 300,000 people live and work in areas around the Humber which are
below the highest tide levels, and so are at risk of flooding.
Protecting these people in the face of climate change and associated sea
level rise is a key challenge for the Environment Agency. The needs of
flood risk management have to be balanced with obligations to protect
this internationally important nature conservation area.
The
Alkborough scheme is the second managed realignment site on the Humber
Estuary to be completed as part of the Humber Strategy. The scheme was
funded from a wide range of sources including DEFRA, Yorkshire Forward
(the Regional Development Agency), the European Union (via the Interreg
programme), English Nature and the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The
Environment Agency and English Nature began the process of buying some
of the land at Alkborough in 2000 from 11 different people and
organisations, with several of the farmers who sold land to the scheme
taking part in the development of the project. In addition, Associated
British Ports have generously contributed by allowing land they own
within the site to be incorporated into the project, which has allowed
the scheme to go ahead in its present form.
Preparatory clearance work began in January 2005 and included new access
tracks, site compounds and demolition of derelict buildings on site. The
first phase of the main project work included construction of new
channels to allow water to flow around the site, a small new defence to
protect a sewage treatment works and riding stable adjacent to the site,
and a large freshwater reedbed at the southern end. The second phase,
started earlier in 2006, has included erosion protection works and
building breaches in the current defences.
Ramblers’
Association Calls For Renewables Rethink
RA
Press Release,18 September 2006
The
Ramblers’ Association today called for an urgent reform of the subsidy
which supports renewable energy developments on the UK, including a
massive reduction in the funding given to large scale land based
windfarms. The call comes after the RA’s Chief Executive, Christine
Elliott, examined the impact of new windfarm developments in the
Scottish Highlands.
Christine Elliott said: “Across large swathes of upland Britain our
world famous landscapes are under assault. From the Cairngorms to the
Welsh moorlands to the hills of Devon and Cornwall, giant wind turbines
are on the march. This is entirely due to a government scheme, the
Renewables Obligation [1], which pays huge financial rewards to large
scale windfarm developers. This scheme is the direct responsibility of
UK Energy Ministers. They must be persuaded, as a matter of urgency, to
agree to its radical reform.”
“The
real obligation lies with the UK Government to pay less attention to the
commercial aspirations of multinational energy companies and far more to
the real energy needs of local communities, local industries and local
people. UK Ministers need to wake up to the reality that tourism,
outdoor recreation, farming and forestry are the cornerstones of life in
the uplands – not industrial power stations planted in the middle of
peat bogs. The carbon benefit is questionable and the only clear
dividend is to investors.”
Christine Elliott was speaking after visiting the Cairngorms and other
hill ranges affected by developments and meeting with senior figures in
voluntary and government organisations. She expressed her dismay at the
landscape transformations under way.
Bring back our bears and wolves
Western Mail & Daily
Mail, 7 Sept 2006
The Wild Beasts Trust, a
Scottish-based group, proposes the re-introduction of carnivores that
have not been seen in the wilds of Britain for centuries, such as bears,
wolves and lynx.
The Trust argues that as
vast acres of the UK are ceasing to be cultivated former wetlands and
native woodland are returning, so their original inhabitants should be
reintroduced.
Peter Clarke, Wild Beasts
Trust, writes "There can be no doubt farmers will complain yet the
evidence from the Continent is this is a mirage.
"Wolves are the natural
predator of deer of which it is agreed there is a surfeit that needs to
be culled.
"A starved wolf or lynx
may come down from its hill territories to take a sheep. It seems they
will always select an animal already ailing. The hint a lynx may pounce
and eat a rambler is a happy romance but in fact they are happier
hunting rabbits and voles.
"Our candidate species
for rebuilding the habitat range from the grey whale to the dormouse,
carnivore to herbivore.
"We include the wolf, the
lynx, the bear, the wolverine, the beaver, the moose, the boar, the
walrus, the bison, the lemming, the dormouse and one non-mammal - the
sturgeon.
"Britain's fauna used to
be far more diverse and exciting before agriculture and hunting
marginalised then obliterated many species."
The Wild Beasts Trust are
preparing to release dozens of dangerous predatory animals into the
countryside. Police are said to be investigating plans by the group to
release at least six lynx purchased in France, along with a number of
wolves being held by activists in secret locations.
The group is thought to
be planning to set loose three European lynx in the Scottish borders,
three in Galloway, and six near Mohammed al-Fayed's 30,000-acre
Balnagowan Castle estate in Easter Ross, as well as other species in
Northumberland.
Lemming, elk, boar,
wolverine and bison are also thought to be on the activists' shopping
list.
Isle
of Man's first Internationally-recognised Wetland named
Defra, 6 September 2006
The
rich natural environment of the Isle of Man has been recognised with the
designation of its first Wetland of International Importance under the
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Isle of Man site would be the 167th
Ramsar site designated by the UK.
The
Ballaugh Curragh is locally famous for its wetland habitats and the
diversity of birds that make their home there. The impressive winter hen
harrier roost is thought to be the largest in Western Europe, while
globally-threatened corncrakes have bred in the traditional hay meadows.
Traditionally-managed meadows with displays of thousands of orchids
attract both bird watchers and visitors to the popular orchid tours.
Ballaugh Curragh is the largest remaining intact example of the
distinctive Manx habitat, historically important as a plentiful source
of fish, waterfowl and willow, and an important part of the Island's
cultural heritage.
Manx
National Heritage manages much of the site for its wildlife and for
public enjoyment, while the orchid-rich hay meadows are managed by the
Manx Wildlife Trust. The remainder is private land.
The
Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, Especially as
Waterfowl Habitat, better known as the Ramsar Convention, is an
intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for international
co-operation on the conservation of wetland habitats. Its broad
objectives are to stem the progressive encroachment on, and loss of,
wetlands and to promote their wise use.
www.gnn.gov.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=225110&NewsAreaID=2
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