The trouble with ravens | Pinnacle Newsletter #13
13 The trouble with ravens
If you keep up to date with conservation and wildlife news, you might have heard Scottish Natural Heritage have a scheme afoot to cull ravens in Perthshire.
The gist of the idea is that SNH think – or claim to think – that predation from ravens is having an impact on populations of wading birds, and that therefore a cull of ravens is justified. But this particular area is dominated by driven grouse moorland with a history of wildlife crime. The science is unproven at best, and at worst may be deeply flawed. Furthermore, SNH only consulted with landowners and failed to discuss their scheme with the RSPB (or, in fact, any organisation whatsoever that speaks up for wildlife).
The outcry from conservationists was immediate and vocal. RSPB Scotland went so far as to say that this was an obvious attempt for the grouse industry to remove a perceived pest species in order to protect their grouse, and Chris Packham said the ‘beleaguered reputation of SNH lies in bloodied tatters’. In response, SNH promised to ‘review’ their plan, but this is widely believed to be a smokescreen.
I bring this up because I think it perfectly embodies our destructive and money-oriented attitude towards wildlife and wildness in the UK.
It’s a source of amazement to me that most hillwalkers and backpackers have no idea how degraded and depleted our upland ecology is. They go walking in somewhere like the Lake District and think it’s wild – that this is how the landscape is meant to look.
The fact is that – with a few notable exceptions – the last shy glimmers of true wildness are only allowed to remain in places so remote or inaccessible that it would not make financial sense to exterminate it. The Lake District has been ruined and eaten by sheep; the Scottish Highlands have been ravaged by too many deer, too many grouse, and a complete absence of natural predators. There should be rich forests carpeting the mountains, inhabited by wonderful creatures that we have long since slaughtered, driven away or enslaved for human productivity.
Ravens are being targeted because they threaten the grouse. It’s a metaphor for our relationship with all wildlife. Humans have a long history (and prehistory) of killing wildlife and stamping out biodiversity.
There is hope in places like Glen Feshie, in organisations like Trees for Life. But most conservation is too concerned with preserving our ecology in the depleted state of near-death in which it survives today. I believe in the concept of rewilding, and I live in hope that our descendants will be wise enough, mature enough, to share the British Isles with real forests, with big predators – as we once did. But it must start here and now, by saying no to the persecution of the creatures we’re still lucky enough to have.
You can help prevent the raven cull from going ahead by emailing Mike Cantlay, SNH Chair, with your objections. His email address is chair@snh.gov.uk.
Recently published
Footprints over Ingleborough – even the most familiar hill always has something new to offer.
Conservationists and outdoor writers condemn plans for mass raven cull – my piece for TGO on the raven subject.
In the latest issue of TGO, I’ve contributed to the Hill Skills section on Comfortable Nights at Camp. While I often prefer ultralight to ultra-comfortable these days, I’ve picked up a few nuggets of wisdom over the years. More info about the new issue here.
Review: Alpkit Ibex pack – this is a great pack for climbing and alpinism, but not optimised for backpackers.
Links of interest
Smartphones & Hills: common issues and how to fix them – some great tips here on using a smartphone in the mountains.
Google's "Talk to Books" might just have changed everything
Jacqueline Wilson calls for books industry plastic ban
From my commonplace book
It seems quite fantastic that there is no control over the drastic change of landscape use. The machinery for planning control exists, but it seems the vision does not.
—Hamish Brown, Hamish’s Mountain Walk
Until next time,
Alex
www.alexroddie.com