Scientist fury at Gove snub
ENVIRONMENT CHIEF VETOES LYNX PLANS
WILDLIFE campaigners have launched a scathing attack on Michael Gove after he rejected plans to reintroduce lynx to a Northumberland forest.
The Lynx UK Trust (LUKT) blasted the Environment Secretary for having poor knowledge of the region and accused him of being misled by “outlandish scaremongering” from a local MP.
Dr Paul O’Donoghue, LKUT’s chief scientific advisor, criticised Mr Gove’s “tone” and repeatedly said he was “confused” by his reasons for refusing their proposals.
The trust had applied for a licence for a trial reintroduction of six Eurasian Lynx, which disappeared from Britain around the year 700AD, into Kielder Forest.
But on the advice of conservation agency Natural England, Mr Gove did not grant LUKT the permit.
He said that the Government had concerns of how the project would be staffed and funded and a lack of clear support from local people.
Mr Gove was also sceptical of the positive ecological impact the lynx would have.
But Dr O’Donoghue has issued a six-page response to the cabinet minister’s letter to contest the rejection.
Replying to Mr Gove’s concern that the project lacked local support, he said: “In our own meeting at your offices on 19th February this year, we discussed how you had visited Northumberland, limiting your meetings to a local MP who published an outlandishly scaremongering letter insisting that lynx threatened human safety, and farmers who were being fed such misleading claims by the said MP.”
The trust’s chief scientist also criticised Mr Gove’s acknowledgement that he has limited knowledge of the region, which he claims makes him unfit to reject their proposals.
However, Mr Gove has won praise from opponents of the lynx reintroduction proposals, including the National Sheep Association (NSA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU).
On December 4 when the plan was originally dismissed, NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: “We strongly believe this is the right decision on ecological, social and agricultural grounds.
“Today’s victory is not just for farmers but for the ecology of the area, the rural community and the farming economy.”
National Farmers’ Union senior countryside adviser Claire Robinson said: “The Government’s decision to reject the application from the Lynx UK Trust to reintroduce lynx into the Kielder Forest will come as an enormous relief to the farmers in the area.”