RSPB Birds Magazine ????

[Morph]

Saw this letter in Nov RSPB magazine (it waffles on but bear with it if you can) and just had to have my say,

To travel or not to travel,
A chance remark in the Margaret Atwood interview in the May-July edition got me thinking about a serious problem with our modern world. The comment (made by Atwoods father) “I’ve only seen that in a book – I never thought I would see one alive” highlights a problem in that we all want to see it for ourselves. The quantity of pollutants pumped into the atmosphere by us as we drive around the country and fly around the world to see it for ourselves must be vast.
I have deliberately included myself in the above as my personal carbon footprint must be huge, I have visited many a far land with the aim of seeing for myself the local wildlife both underwater and on land. There is no doubt that these experiences were fantastic, but do I have the right to pollute the atmosphere to a vast extent to get them, especially now I know that a future generation will pay the price?
Modern technology, when combined with an experienced production team and lots of patience. Can allow experts to film wildlife in a way we can never experience. They can spend weeks or months living rough as they record animals behaving naturally, taking care not to disturb them in any way. How can we hope to experience something similar when we dash in for a week or two expecting that all we have seen on the nature programmes will happen again in front of our eyes and cameras.
Is it time that we started to accept that in reality the best way to see wildlife is, unfortunately, to watch it on TV? This way we see the wildlife behaving naturally, remove the disturbance to natural behaviour and completely eliminate the pollution and damage caused had we visited ourselves.
I realise these comments are controversial as the financial stability of many regions depends on wildlife tourism, but at some point in the future this source of income may and end naturally. Either we will have used up all our oil or, more likely, the result of all the pollution we have created will be the loss of the very environment we are travelling to see. Whatever happens, there is little doubt the next generation will not thank us for the legacy we are leaving them.
Dave Collins, Potton, Beds.

Well I have a few retorts, he does say its controversial, and we are all aware of the enviromental problems but I have to say......
What a hypocrite, he’s already been all over the world and seen what he wants to see then tries to tell the rest of us were not allowed! This from a man who lives a stones throw away from The Lodge at Sandy RSPBs flagship site, fine for him, he can walk to a great birding location but the tens of thousands living in towns and cities have to stay in watching endless re-runs of Planet Earth, Life of Birds etc etc on TV? ! (but then he conveniently overlooks the carbon footprint of all those TV sets gobbling up power)

[shaun a]

Fair point Morph and to add to your post in this current economic climate who can afford such pleasures.The only place for me to see wildlife is on my own door step which is great

[rossy]

yes morph got agree with you on this one. must say though i walk up 2 the moors and do drive occasionally to the likes of leighton moss as its just a little to far to walk 95 miles approx. when you go out on nature walks always expect the unexpected thats what makes it exciting you never know whats going to happen. the other thing is if this person thinks id rather sit than get out and about whilst im able its a no brainer. dont get me wrong i watch programs on tv like everyone else but love the outdoor life. rossy

[Morph]

Originally Posted by shaun a

Fair point Morph and to add to your post in this current economic climate who can afford such pleasures.The only place for me to see wildlife is on my own door step which is great

And he's not just talking about international travel he means all travel, your lucky you've got Swallows Wood and Ogden Clough on your doorstep (for now anyway), some of us have no option but to travel by some means at some point.

[shaun a]

Swallows wood will always be here after 30 yrs of arguing the govenment and the enviroment agency still cant get their facts right about anything.I think anybody who hasn't visited swallows wood should give it a try, it's beautiful and only a few mins walk from mine, and yes tea and coffee will be on offere to those that visit at weekend at my home free of charge

[Morph]

Originally Posted by shaun a

Swallows wood will always be here after 30 yrs of arguing the govenment and the enviroment agency still cant get their facts right about anything.I think anybody who hasn't visited swallows wood should give it a try, it's beautiful and only a few mins walk from mine, and yes tea and coffee will be on offere to those that visit at weekend at my home free of charge

I normally visit Swallows Wood and beyond about 8 or 9 times a year and it is indeed beautiful and a great birding location, now I know I can get free tea and coffee I'll be far more regular.
But as for the bypass, I'm affraid the gov will get their own way in the end they usually do, besides council leader/tyrant Oldham doesn't want the traffic past his house so he's pushing like mad.

[Fieldfare95]

I totally agree Morph, he's travelled the world seeing everything he wanted to see but is now telling everybody else it's wrong and they'd better stay at home and see it on the T.V. What a sad place the world would be if everybody did that.

[Morph]

The RSPB are just as hypocritical as he is, I can't understand why they printed it in the first place, don't get me wrong I'm just as aware of climate change as the next man and do what I can but..... Every quarter I read the birds magazine, and every quarter there is usually an article on how we should all be doing our bit to combat climate change. We are told not to drive unnecessarily, or buy food out of season or whatever the gripe of the moment is, when the Nov RSPB magazine itself holds 6 full page, 2 half page, and 9 classified pages of adverts for wildlife holidays for just about anywhere in the world !!!!

[rossy]

morph my own opinion on climate change is a charade without going to deep the top and bottom of it is just an excuse for the government to add taxes . people at times are brainwashed by jargon . one of the reasons in particular with so much water around is without doubt trees being chopped . look at the size of britain on a map tiny compared to other countrys. water needs to be absorbed and trees take plenty. mother nature will always win one way or another. rossy.

[PMG]

Settle down Morph don't let them get you riled - the RSPB are wool-pulling again and I'm a member and give them my cash and contribute to whichever campaign I really want to out of the many begging letters they send out in a year - begging for this that and t'other simply cos they are the only option at the min for saving certain places - if there was another or better way I'd be contributing to that. But having said that - they do talk and publish rubbish - and sit on the top of the fence and down both sides while they are doing it. They and the rest of us are in a no-win situation - they need people to be interested in saving wildlife and habitat and folk will only protect something they know or experience so they have to publish and folks get paid to go and get those shots and stories (and camping out in a colony of seals, penguins or next to a bower birds nest is an un-natural situation and an invasion for the creature no matter how good your fieldcraft or how much you whisper to camera)So its the same for the telly - dammed if you do and dammed if you don't scenario. And yes people who want to will follow in film crews footsteps and if eco tourism allows indigenous peoples from cutting down rain forest to grow crops that will fail then thats a plus for the forest and a minus for the environment ......... do the calculations - everything everyone does has plusses and minuses, good and bad - its called life. Its the same with developed parts of the world ..... I can wander into my warm kitchen now and put the kettle on and have a lovely 'proper' coffee brewing in my cafeterie in ten mins - else where folk are subsisting in mud huts and walking miles for water from a dirty well ........ plusses and minuses all dictated by accidents of birth ...... the world isn't equal and I suspect it never will be until we are all in poverty and all resources have run out .....

Now before anyone jumps for the anwer button what I'm NOT suggesting is lets us fat cats carry on as normal - no - we can all do little things that will help but pandoras box is decidedly open and it won't be being closed by any rational thing that mankind could do: the economics that run this planet won't be stopped - commerce where money gets what it wants isn't going to be stopped - deals are done behind closed doors - the only thing that stops it is when investment crashes - Dubai anyone??

Think of all the things you are involved in during your daily normal life - nothing excessive just living - getting a wage - shopping at the supermarket out of town cos the town shops have gone bust due to the supermarket out of town - educating children - getting a 'better' job - moving to a 'better' house - needing to run more than one vehicle - needing to go out on a sunday to a bit of countryside to 'recharge your batteries' for the next weeks assault on life ....... doing, getting, going .......

Those who want to can do as much or as little as they want or are able in order to contribute: you can have any extreme you want - never wash your hair again, work cash in hand, live rough, do without 'lecky, re-cycle, eat chip butties from local bread and spuds ......... ok I'm being facetious now - but you see what I'm getting at - folks will do what they can from one extreme to the other depending on conscience, attitude and up-bringing but whether its going to make any difference to the outcome remains to be seen......

Pauline