RSPB warden: 'I grew increasingly convinced that everyone was against us'

John Gorst (United Utilities), Rory Stewart and Lee Schofield (RSPB) - Lee later described the posed picture as "awkward"

"A YEAR into the job I felt isolated and embattled - I grew increasingly convinced that everyone was against us."

Thus writes RSPB warden Lee Schofield in Wild Fell, his no-holds-barred account of his work to establish a wildlife reserve at Haweswater in the Lake District.

Much of the hostility came from long-established sheep-farming families suspicious that ancient traditions might be under threat from meddling we-know-best environmentalists from down south.

But what really the RSPB man hit hardest was when, after initial support, the constituency's Conservative MP Rory Stewart seemed to change his tune.

In an article, the MP - later to be a challenger for the Conservative Party leadership - wrote:  "The valley was  owned by United Utilities, the water company, and the tenant was now the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 

"I was shown the adjoining land by officers from UU and the RSPB. 

"Both men were in neat hiking gear: fit, smiling - I might have taken them for canoe instructors.  

"They wanted to show me how they had managed the land, in a way that increased biodiversity, decreased flooding and increased carbon capture.

"They employed a contractor, on a one year annual contract, to look after their sheep and land. 

"I suggested that densely-cropped green lawns - alongside the wilder fells - had, for almost two thousand years, been one of the beauties of the Lake District. 

"A man on a one-year contract was not the same as a small family sheep farm, with generations of occupation and security of tenure.

"Small family farms were links to the past: the last traces of our indigenous population. 

"I argued that, if the Lake District became a wilderness reserve occupied by professionals from elsewhere, we would have lost something very precious. 

"And, rather than bringing professionals in from other parts of Britain, we should be running training courses for local farmers to do the same job."

Continued the MP: "We talked at cross-purposes.  

They replied by talking again about biodiversity, water management, sustainability and carbon capture. 

"Farming for them seemed to be about employment, incomes, subsidies and environmental impact assessments. 

"I sensed that behind this dry language they had strong views on what they thought was right, and beautiful. 

"I guessed that they loved the idea of a much wilder landscape, more packed with wet bogs, and bird populations; that they felt that farming and dense sheep-stocking were often destructive. 

"They were careful not to say these things. But they did not seem comfortable engaging in a discussion about the history of the valley, about the traditions of small farms or about the beauty of farmed land."

In Wild Fell, the RSPB warden hits back: "Not only did Rory reinvent our conversation but it also felt like he was poking fun at us.

"He referred to my United Utilities colleague and me as being dressed like canoe instructors, a reference that was pitched perfectly to accentuate a sense of rural tribalism where conservationists are characterised as being distinct from farmers and to make it clear on which side Rory's allegiances lay."

He continues: "In a very rural constituency, a bit of RSPB and United Utilities bashing might strengthen his support with what he clearly viewed as the most important part of his electorate: the farmers and not people like me

"I grew increasingly convinced that everyone was against us.

"The million-plus members of the RSPB were surely on our side, but it didn't feel like any of them were making their support known."

Lee Schofield's book is published in paperback at £10.99

Rory Stewart does not mention his encounter with Lee Schofield in his new book but refers to in a blog on his website, www.rorystewart.co.uk 

The Wryneck says: It is puzzling that Lee Schofield  should be so super-sensitive about the MP's article.  To be described as being "fit, smiling and in hiking gear" is surely a compliment rather than "poking fun". And Rory Stewart is right - terms such as 'biodiversity', 'sustainability'  and 'carbon capture' are probably even more sterile to the farmer in the uplands than they are to the man in the street. There is little doubt that Lee Schofield and the RSPB are doing a fantastic job at  Haweswater, but a little humility would not come amiss. Contrary to what they might think, it is unlikely that they have all the answers. Instead of engaging in stand-offs with the farmers, Lee and the RSPB should extend the hand of friendship. A readiness to listen and to learn would be a start.