‘421-MILLION FEWER BIRDS IN EUROPE THAN IN 1988’

         DEPRESSING STATISTIC FROM RSPB'S CONSERVATION CHIEF

Martin Harper - is he right to be confident?

                                                

RESEARCH by the RSPB and its partner organisations in the rest of Europe  indicate that there  are 421-million fewer birds - across all species - than there were 30 years ago.

The charity’s conservation director, Martin Harper’s reminder of the collapse comes in the Spring 2018 edition of Nature’s Home.

And he goes on to warn that, without intervention by governments, there could be

a further decline of 20 per cent by the year 2040.

The director goes  on to suggest that global warming “will make vast areas of southern Europe and northern Africa unsuitable for growing food”.

A consequence of this is that there will be “crippling food shortages” and refugees will flee North Africa to escape “an inevitable rise in intolerance and potentially brutal regimes”.

Hardly cheerful stuff, but Mr  Harper says forecasts do not necessarily have to become reality.

He continues: “Now is not the time to turn inwards and see success solely through the lens of economic growth.

“It is the time to engage with others around the world and create the future that nature needs.”

He adds:”I remain confident that together we can improve the environment.” 

* Martin Harper has been global conservation director at the RSPB since 2011. Off-duty and away from birds, the father-of-two follows cricket and football (he is a fan of Arsenal FC) 

The Wryneck says:  The RSPB  statistic is for the whole of Europe. However, Britain will certainly have lost a high proportion of this  total. The  catastrophe - that is not too strong a word for the collapse - has come under the watch of Mr Harper and his predecessors. It is self-evident that 'protection' of birds has largely failed.  Imagine if a similar announcement was made a FTSE100 chief executive, an Army general or a politician in whatever their chosen area of responsibility? Falling on  sword might be the only option. Obviously, the circumstances  affecting the fate of birds are not all within the  control of Mr Harper, but he and colleagues at the RSPB need to ask: Why have we failed the challenge? Why are we continuing to lose so many birds? Farmland species are probably those worst affected, and everyone knows the reason why - intensive agriculture and the overuse of chemicals which kill insects and the seeds of wildflowers on which many species feed. Unless the RSPB puts its head above the parapet on  this issue, the director's claim to be 'confident'  is merely unjustified bravado. Within 20 or 30 years, once common species such as turtle dove, grey partridge, skylark, corn bunting and yellowhammer could, alas, be gone for ever.