STICKING UP FOR CHRIS PACKHAM

Colin Matthews is right to find Peter Clarke's letter in Farmers Weekly "totally out of order" (Letters, March 2017). Chris Packham is routinely attacked for speaking his mind, or being ‘open and honest’, as Mr Clarke contradictively suggests he should be in his final paragraph. Packham never speaks on behalf of the BBC regarding his personal opinions, yet this is the stick that opponents insist on beating him with. Then there is Mr Clarke's assertion that one of the reasons for the Lapwing's decline is “that their eggs and young are predated by Badgers”. This is an argument often posed by farmers who, for the most part, are no friend of the Badger. To lose entire herds to tuberculosis must be heartbreaking. However, while there is no doubt that Badgers do take Lapwing eggs, the effect is negligible. The recent decline has in fact been linked to agricultural changes, especially the move from spring to autumn sowing of cereals, which has resulted in the crops being too tall to suit breeding Lapwings in spring. There has also been a reduction in mixed farming and a loss of unimproved damp grasslands, both of which have reduced the feeding areas for chicks. Many of us have witnessed this with our own eyes. While I sympathise with farmers in that they are under ever-increasing pressure to provide food for our everincreasing population, it does them no favours to ignore the decline of biodiversity on modern farmland. The 2016 State of Nature Report, that brought together data and expertise from more than 50 impartial organisations, concluded that one of the most important factors affecting the state of nature in the UK is agriculture. Science is fact. No smoke, no mirrors, just hard evidence. The longer farmers continue to turn a blind eye to impartial science, while blaming scapegoats, the greater the damage will be. Some scientists believe that the UK has only a century of harvests left. The clock is already ticking. For a sustainable future, and for all our sakes, it is time for some transparency and for all parties concerned to start talking to one another to reach a resolution to these pressing issues. Ed Hutchings - Journalist and Wildlife Tour Guide