RSPB

[Peter Waller]

£833.00 per bird from the taxpayers pocket!! And angling is lumbered by excess cormorants, excess mink and excess otters!

[trent.barbeler]

Dear Chaps,

 

Got sent this yesterday;

 

 

Dear Members of the Standing Committee to the Bern Convention,

 

As you know the Standing Committee has been discussing for a number

of years the eradication of ruddy duck in Europe. Recommendation 61 (1997)

asked Parties to the convention or observer states, as appropriate, to

develop and implement without further delay national control programmes

which could include eradication of the Ruddy Duck from all the countries in

the Western Palaearctic.

 

The United Kingdom has a special concern over this issue as it is in

Great Britain that the Ruddy Duck numbers are more important in Europe or

Northern Africa. It is thus with great pleasure that I forward you the

attached Ministerial Statement which was placed in the House of Commons at

09.30 this morning. It paves the way for a future eradication of the species

in the UK and Europe, a goal the Bern Convention hopes will be attained in a

few years, thus assuring the conservation of the European white-headed-duck.

 

Sincerely

 

 

Eladio Fernandez-Galiano

 

 

And the document being;

 

WRITTEN MINISTERIAL STATEMENT

 

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

 

Date: 3 March 2003

 

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, written ministerial statement on ruddy duck control in the United Kingdom

 

____________________________________________________________

 

Mr Morley

 

The North American ruddy duck is an introduced non-native species. A native of North America, where it has a secure conservation status, it was introduced to wildfowl collections in the UK in the 1940s, but a small number escaped from captivity and began to breed in the wild. As the UK population of wild ruddy ducks has risen, so has the number of ruddy ducks on the European mainland. The ruddy duck has been proven to hybridise with the globally threatened white-headed duck in Spain. The West European population of white-headed ducks is estimated at around 2,300 birds and hybridisation is recognised as the most significant threat to the species’ long-term survival.

 

In July 2002, my Department published the results of the ruddy duck control trial, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. The report indicates that eradication of ruddy ducks from the United Kingdom was feasible within ten years, and that shooting was the most effective means of control tested in the trial.

 

Defra sought advice from its’ statutory scientific advisors and consulted with the devolved administrations on the outcome of the trial, and the next steps to protect the white-headed duck from the threat of hybridisation. It took the views of landowners and non-governmental organisations, and on 27 February I met representatives of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the Wildlife Trusts.

 

On the basis of these discussions the Government agrees in principle that eradication of the ruddy duck in United Kingdom is the preferred outcome. The UK holds by far the largest proportion of ruddy ducks in Europe, and without action in the UK, the survival of the white headed duck as a distinct species would be severely compromised. However, in confirming this decision, the Government has also concluded:

 

• that further research work into control techniques is still required. This will determine more efficient techniques of control, and further explore the use of alternative control measures, such as egg pricking;

• the protection provided by domestic legislation to protect the ruddy duck should be removed;

• that the UK cannot act alone in removing the threat posed by the ruddy duck. We will continue to work with our European partners to ensure that all appropriate action is taken to sustain the white headed duck.

[trent.barbeler]

Dear Chaps,

 

Forgot to mention;

 

The actual "cost" to DEFRA arising from a shooting cull might well deter them from bringing in the shotguns just yet. Or ever!!.

 

Many waiting with hands held out for DEFRA funding will want to know exacly why money was made readily available for "Duck Snippers"

 

Mind you, sewing needle sales figures just might go up sharply soon.

 

Anyone got shares in "Singer" ?

 

Regards,

 

Lee.

[poledark]

Reads a bit like one of Hitlers edicts,

 

Den

[trent.barbeler]

Dear Den,

 

I heard the document was written in a bunker some where. Spooky ain't it. Or just Quackers.

 

Regards,

 

Lee.

[Dunk Fairley]

What about Canada Geese? Non-native, fast breeders, inter-breeding with both Grey Lags and Pink Footed Geese. Maybe they'll be next. Oh, I forgot, they taste rubbish!

[The Diamond Geezer]

Dunk Fairley:

What about Canada Geese? Non-native, fast breeders, inter-breeding with both Grey Lags and Pink Footed Geese. Maybe they'll be next. Oh, I forgot, they taste rubbish!

I thought you were allowed to shoot them?

 

Oh, and according to THIS LIST you can

DG

 

[ 05. March 2003, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: The Diamond Geezer ]

[Dunk Fairley]

You can shoot them, but the government isn't paying for it.

[Elizabeth]

Dunk Fairley:

What about Canada Geese? Non-native, fast breeders, inter-breeding with both Grey Lags and Pink Footed Geese. Maybe they'll be next. Oh, I forgot, they taste rubbish!

In fact, they taste a little similar to young Swan.

 

E

[chesters1]

dont mention grey squirrels ,i am making some money (well hazel nuts )"smuggling" asylem seeking greys into the brownsea island (land of milk and honey) in the false bottom of my boat , my adders to ireland smuggling was a failure tho ,the snakes couldnt run fast enough to get over the motorway :mad:

as for hedgehogs just ethnically cleans the island ,put them in a lorry and drop them off at dover itl give bored drivers on the m20 something to hit

 

[ 05. March 2003, 07:14 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]