Chris Packham witness statement, part 5: Is surprise omission of BTO an oversight or a snub?

  

In this latest instalment of the witness statement submitted to the High Court in his ongoing defamation case, Chris Packham lists the various organisations with which he is connected. Oddly, there is no mention of the BTO of which he is a former president. Was this an oversight or a snub? (See also previous blogs).

I am (or have been) president, patron, ambassador or supporter of at least 33 charitable or conservation organisations over the years.

These roles include: President of the Bat Conservation Trust, the Hampshire Ornithological Society, the Hawk Conservancy Trust and the Southampton Natural History Society. 

I am a Vice President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Butterfly Conservation, the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

I am (or have been) a patron of AfriCat, the World Land Trust, Population Matters, Compassion in World Farming, the Humane Research Trust, the Nature Watch Foundation, Raptor Rescue, the Fleet Pond Society, Birding for All, the Seahorse Trust and the Fox Project. 

I am also a trustee of the Wildheart Trust, the charity which runs the Wildheart Sanctuary on the Isle of Wight. 

I am also one of the three Directors of Wild Justice, along with Dr Ruth Tingay and Dr Mark Avery. 

We formed Wild Justice in 2019 with the aim of using the legal system to challenge decision-making that affects wildlife and the environment in the courts and thereby improve protection for them. 

Since that time, we have taken cases that have (amongst other things) significantly strengthened the licensing regime pertaining to the killing of wild birds, forced the Government to introduce a new licensing regime regulating the annual introduction of some 60 million game birds into the countryside, as well as challenging the culling of Badgers in England and Northern Ireland and the role of the water Services Regulator (Ofwat) in failing to regulate discharges of treated and untreated sewage into our rivers and seas.

 Over 40,000 people subscribe to Wild Justice's fortnightly newsletter and our legal actions are widely supported.

 For example, the Crowdfunder for our Ofwat case raised over £45,000 in less than 24 hours.

* To be continued.