387,000 Voices For Birds - Campaign Update

"Sitting in offices up and down the country, they issue licences to kill wildlife at the whim of a government that, as we all know, is made up of some nauseating individuals who care little for people and even less for nature"

Since I started my campaign to challenge the government-sanctioned mass destruction of our wild birds, it has gained much publicity - which in itself is a success. 
Bringing this atrocity to wider attention has certainly been essential in raising public awareness and has also shown the government that it can no longer hide its dodgy attitude towards the environment. Many of us can see right through the hypocrisy and soundbites. And Natural England is complicit, acting on government orders by ticking boxes and issuing licences to cull wildlife in huge numbers. If anyone has any doubts as to this, just take a look at the ongoing slaughter of badgers and the devastation caused by HS2.

387,000 Signatures... so far
But back to the birds, I've been humbled by the huge amount of truly incredible support from the public, with 387,000 amazing people signing the petition.
From a standing start, we have together accomplished much.
In the beginning, Natural England and the government ignored us, refused to answer my questions, declined to engage with me. 
There might have been times when I would have agreed with those cynics who questioned what I was doing.
I would receive messages like "we've already tried, you're wasting your time", and "they are too powerful, they won't listen". But I received far more messages of encouragement.
And Natural England's systematic enabling of mass bird culls was something I felt strongly about, and still do of course. I have never been one to sit back and keep silent when I see something very wrong happening in front of me. Many times a phrase resonated in my conscience, 'silence is consent'. I did not consent to the destruction of wildlife - and I would not be silent.

Public Anger - and Politicians' Silence
I took no heed of the naysayers, and bolstered by the many encouraging messages that outnumbered the critics, I started questioning those in high office.
The silence was deafening... so I took the campaign to the press. I managed to get substantial coverage in many of the big nationals, which garnered a huge increase in support for the petition.
With headlines in the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, the Mail and more, public anger grew - and suddenly Natural England wanted to talk with me. 
No doubt they saw it as an opportunity to 'explain' their work, limit damage to their reputation, hoping that the whole saga would draw to a close.
That is how naïve they really are.
Sitting in offices up and down the country, they issue licences to kill wildlife at the whim of a government that, as we all know, is made up of some nauseating individuals who care little for people and even less for nature - in spite of all the soundbites and virtue signals that spew out from the various departments trying desperately to control every part of our lives.

But, no doubt to the consternation of Natural England and the government , this saga was far from over, the 'explanations' emanating from Natural England were usually incredibly patronising - and often made little sense.
I submitted a few freedom of information requests that clearly revealed that the whole system was flawed.

Success
I put pressure on Natural England to publish the licence data freely for the public to see. 
This was the first win for our campaign, I eventually secured a promise from them that they would publish the data fully each year so that we could examine the figures and see what this dubious government-sponsored organisation was doing with its time and funding. 
Natural England's initial reluctance to let us see the statistics clearly showed that they had something they really didn't want to share.

More Success
Another win for our campaign has been a reduction in the number of licences issued, notably for gulls, some species of which were suffering severe decline through licensed culling. Though Natural England's approach to scaling back these licences was typically illogical and haphazard, there is hope that gull populations will recover as long as licence numbers are reduced further.

And although Natural England has an unnecessarily complicated system of  reporting figures, it would appear that other species too may have benefitted from our campaign, Starlings, Coots and Moorhens for example - but only after I pointed out to Natural England the ludicrous grounds on which they had decided to approve kill licences for these species.
Natural England should have taken a lesson from all this bad publicity and concern, but the whole licensing system remains bogged down by inefficiency and dodgy decision making, and the number of birds affected by these lethal licences remains far too high.

Empty Gesturing from Government
The welfare of nature seems very low on the government's agenda, in spite of the gesturing and promises.
And still each year I've had to fight to get the data released.
I've had to trawl through the data and look for anomalies and then submit freedom of information requests to get answers. 
And it remains galling when I have to read self important press releases and media posts from Natural England about the 'wonderful' work they are doing to 'help' and 'manage' nature, when we all now know that they are at the same time issuing thousands of licences to facilitate the mass slaughter of birds and other wildlife across the country.

Decisions Going Forward
So, to my decision. I will continue to fight for the survival of our birds, wildlife and nature. Of course I will, always. But this campaign has at times been battering and tiring. 
I need your help even more going forward.
Your support has been inspirational. Now I need people to take up the baton (there are lots of them available!) and start going through the data themselves.
I need people to ask questions, bombard the government and Natural England with questions. Wear them down. Make them change. It can be done - and indeed I know so many people up and down the country are already fighting the good fight for nature.

Education and Awareness
For now it is still possible to submit freedom of information requests, though there are rumours that the system may change - but it's important to ask the right questions (I'll happily provide guidance on this, just ask). 
Write to the papers, tell your friends, increase awareness.

Educate your children and instil in them a fascination with nature, don't rely on the schools to teach them about wonder and magic.

I'll continue to ensure that Natural England release the data annually, and I'll continue to highlight anomalies as I see them.

Question Everything and Fight for Good
My one big message to all of you - and this applies to all of life with a capital 'L' - and in all matters and all situations - question everything. Don't believe what they tell you. Use your instinct and your intuition. If something feels wrong then it probably is. 
And fight for good.
With good on your side you will always win.

And that is why, in spite of being sometimes weary, I will ensure that the campaign will go on - just please walk with me, delighting in nature as we go, fighting for its survival, sharing knowledge with the next generation and most importantly of all - questioning everything that those in power tell you.

​Please keep sharing the petition: HERE