From ‘Wild Justice’…..… BBC Pics of Scotland…..
by Bernie Bell - 08:16 on 03 May 2025
From ‘Wild Justice’……
“In this newsletter: A goodbye, a hello, a damning legal opinion on the ‘catastrophic’ Planning and Infrastructure Bill, a petition, and Wild Justice’s ongoing support for the Raptor Forensics Fund.
Bob Elliot - a hello from me:
I'm absolutely delighted to introduce myself as the first CEO of Wild Justice. It’s a real privilege to be stepping into this role with an organisation I’ve admired, and been close to, for several years. I’ve watched and supported Wild Justice take on some big issues in UK wildlife conservation, consistently challenging the status quo and punching well above its weight. That kind of courage and impact is needed now more than ever, as the challenges facing our wildlife continue to grow.
Coming from a background in the nature conservation sector, I’ve often found myself frustrated by how larger environmental NGOs can often be challenged by internal processes and change programmes, sometimes at the expense of real-world delivery. They can often seem to lack the agility to respond quickly and effectively to threats. Well, that was my view, anyway!
With that in mind, about six years ago, I left my role at RSPB and took on a new challenge, leading a small Scotland based animal welfare charity.
Essentially, it was time to put my money where my mouth was. That role turned out to be one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had. One of the proudest moments for the small but determined team was leading on a ban on snaring in Scotland. In fact, we quite quickly stopped saying we were ‘small’ realising our impact was large!
What makes Wild Justice tick, and what makes change possible, is you, our supporters. We simply couldn’t do what we do without you. I know Chris and Ruth feel the same way, and I want to echo their appreciation for all that support.
Some of you I already know and thank you for all the kind messages and warm wishes. I’m really looking forward to what we can achieve together.
And finally – a fond farewell to Mark! Wild Justice has achieved lots with Mark as a director, and I wish him as much success again in whatever project he’s planning next.
Bob
Wild Justice slams government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill:
In March the government introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to Parliament, following their repeated rhetoric that wildlife (think newts and bats) had become a blocker to development. The introduction of the bill was accompanied by a statement to Parliament, made by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (and Deputy PM) Angela Rayner. In it, she stated on the record that the changes made in the bill will not reduce the level of environmental protections in planning law.
We didn’t think this was true. So Wild Justice commissioned two expert planning barristers to review the potential effects of the bill. They have now concluded in a written opinion published on our blog – click here - that the bill would in fact weaken the existing level of environmental protection.
As it stands, we believe the bill will act as a developers’ charter to trash nature. Under the proposed changes, housing developers will be able to pay into a so-called ‘nature restoration levy scheme’ – a scheme that’s meant to mitigate against any harm to nature or the environment caused by a development. But – as our legal advice points out – the quality and success of any proposed mitigation plans wouldn’t be assessed on the basis of rigorous scientific evidence, but instead on a vague rating of ‘likelihood’.
Along with a lack of ecological baseline surveys, a conflict of interest for Natural England, and the government’s failure to ask for expert advice from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) – our opinion is that this bill would be catastrophic for nature and wildlife.
The legal advice we commissioned concludes that the government’s assertion that the bill would not reduce the level of environmental protection provided by existing law is ‘obviously wrong as a matter of law’.
Read it in full – click here.
We're very grateful to a Wild Justice donor who wishes to remain anonymous who provided funding to specifically support our work on this important issue.
Please consider this petition:
This is a personal ask from Chris, for a petition he is running. Fossil fuels must be phased out, so why are fossil fuel companies still allowed to advertise themselves? It’s outrageous, and it’s time for a ban.
Sign Chris’s petition calling for a ban on fossil fuel advertising – click here – and please share the petition link too, it needs 30,000 more signatures to be eligible for a debate in parliament.
Wild Justice Forensics Fund has supported 68 police investigations into suspected raptor persecution:
In 2020 Wild Justice established a Raptor Forensics Fund, which has been used to support forensic testing in suspected cases of persecution of birds of prey. Since then, the fund has supported 68 investigations and has been used to pay for 43 post mortems, 29 x-rays, one CT scan and two DNA profilings.
Thank you to those of you who’ve supported this project so far – you can read more about it on our blog – click here.
Burning questions:
We mentioned recently that Defra has proposed measures to strengthen regulations on burning of vegetation on peatlands. There is a consultation on these measures, and we’ll be sharing our response to it, along with a consultation guide for you too, very soon.
That’s it for now!
Thank you,
Bob, Ruth and Chris
Wild Justice (CEO: Bob Elliot. Directors: Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay).
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BBC Pics of Scotland…..
25th of April – 2nd of May 2025….
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2v6rvg160o
Blossom-time!
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