By Professor John Robertson

Big in the Guardian today, completely ignored in other MSM, the above from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/09/national-parks-in-england-and-wales-failing-on-biodiversity-say-campaigners has nothing to say about Scotland.

Why should it?

This on page 77:

In response to ongoing raptor persecution, the Scottish Government introduced vicarious liability offences in District National Park. The birdwatcher had spotted a short-eared owl and watched it through his scope as it gracefully quartered the moor. Suddenly, the bird’s body was lost in a cloud of feathers as a shot rang out across the moors. The eyewitness managed to record footage of the suspect and reported the incident to the police and the RSPB. The following day, after a thorough search by South Yorkshire Police and RSPB Investigations Officers, the body of the short-eared owl was found stuffed down a rabbit hole. The police identified a suspect and seized a number of items from a local gamekeeper. Despite police efforts there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges. Although the outcome of this case is disappointing, it highlights the issues faced in detecting and investigating raptor persecution. Without the account from this eyewitness, another incident of raptor persecution would have gone undetected. 2012 which mean that people such as landowners or sporting agents can be held responsible for the illegal actions of their employees. The Scottish Government has also committed to introducing licensing for driven grouse shooting and introduced the legislation101 to implement this in March 2023, but at the time of writing (March 2024) this is still making its way through the Scottish Parliament and has not yet been passed. The Westminster and Welsh Governments should follow Scotland’s lead and introduce a system of licensing for driven grouse shooting in England and Wales. This should be accompanied by the use of vicarious liability to uphold accountability within any new regulatory system. Both these recommendations were included in our 2018 Raising the Bar report. We are disappointed at the lack of progress on tackling wildlife crime in National Parks in England and Wales since then.

https://www.cnp.org.uk/health-check-report/

Everyday, one more piece of evidence that the SNP is the only party capable of doing, indeed even wanting to do, things for Scotland.

For more much more, cheer yourself up with: https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/?s=different