RSPB won’t rule out direct action over policy reversals

BIRD conservation organisation RSPB has said it will not rule out taking direct action over that it is calling the UK government’s ‘attack on nature’.

The head of RSPB, Beccy Speight, is organising a mobilisation of millions of members against a number of recent announcements by the Conservative government, including the review of England’s flagship Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs) which she warned would damage wildlife and nature.

Following a meeting with the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, Ranil Jayawardena, the RPSB chief executive said there were not enough reassurances that the government’s growth policies would protect nature.

The National Trust has also joined the campaign, accusing the UK government of ‘demonising’ conservationists, saying its members were ‘outraged and worried’.

Also angry about the Government’s plans are Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Wildlife Trusts, which bring the combined membership of the aggrieved organisations to 15m people.

Hilary McGrady, of the National Trust, added: “This is the biggest attack on nature certainly in my lifetime and let alone my career. This is unprecedented – that’s why we are stepping forward with the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts. We choose our battles very carefully – and we don’t do it very often.”

RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts are prepared to organise a march in London if the government doesn’t provide the guarantees they are seeking.

“All options are on the table in terms of what comes next,” said the RSPB head. “This is something we just can’t allow to go forward.

“Any campaign has lots of tools in the toolbox. We have to prepare to use as many of those tools as will be effective.”