'A shabby sop to wildlife criminals!' TV's Chris Packham in bust-up with Natural England boss Tony Juniper

                                                                       

Chris Packham CBE - blast for 'disgraceful' Natural England

A ROW has erupted up between two high-profile figures in the world of nature conservation - broadcaster Chris Packham and the chairman of Natural  England, Tony Juniper.

The focus of the dispute is Natural England's continued support of a project involving hen harrier 'brood management' - a practice whereby chicks of this rare species are transferred away from their natural habitat to alternative locations where they are less likely to prey on red grouse which are valued by estate owners for sporting shoots.

Though it is supported by some naturalists, including a former chief executive of the British Trust for Ornithology, the practice is controversial both because it is unnatural and because it seems to have been prompted by behind-the-scenes pressure on Natural England from landowners. 

When Natural England announced this week that the project was to continue for at least another two years, the broadcaster took to Twitter in fury.

"You couldn’t make it up," he fumed. "And you don’t have to."

"A disgrace to conservation, a disgrace to the public purse and a shabby sop to organised wildlife criminals! 

"At some point they will become accountable for this debacle." 

The blast has stung Tony Juniper who immediately issued a riposte on the social media platform, accusing the broadcaster of using his "massive BBC profile to sound off without any accountability".

He continued: "We are trying to find ways to recover these wonderful birds.

"Progress is being made, despite setbacks. 

"It is easy to polarise this space. Making progress is more difficult."

The NE chairman made sure to copy the BBC into his Tweet - a gambit that some will see as designed to put pressure on the corporation to silence Mr Packham from making similar utterances in the future.

                            

Tony Juniper CBE - progress being made on 'wonderful' hen harriers

The Wryneck says: Although Chris Packham’s political views are sometimes coloured by his anti-toff prejudices, we support him on this matter. Tony Juniper is a man of good intentions, but he seems to have overlooked  the primary role of Natural England which is to protect nature, not to bend to the whims of the shooting lobby - least of all those who shoot a Red-listed species such as the hen harrier. So-called brood ‘management’ is really brood ‘interference’. It is an unsavoury, not to say creepy, activity that should be condemned rather than endorsed.