BBC ‘damages countryside' to film Chris Packham's Springwatch

Telegraph

3 days ago

The BBC has been accused of damaging the countryside in order to film Chris Packham's Springwatch.
The show is broadcasting live from a National Trust estate in the Peak District which is home to one of Britain's most threatened birds, protected insects and rare plants.
But residents have accused the BBC of 'hypocrisy', saying that the 'reality' of the wildlife show is actually to damage the wildlife, including roads built for lorries and a steel plate over a meadow where wildflowers were about to burst into bloom.
Mr Packham is joined by fellow presenter Michaela Strachan at the National Trust's Longshaw estate for three weeks of live filming for the show's 20th anniversary.
The first episode, which aired on Monday, opened with the pair praising the habitats and the wildlife at the location, including hares, herds of deer, short-eared owls and ring ouzels.
But resident Christine Laver said that the 'reality' of the show behind the scenes was very different.
Tonnes of limestone were tipped into a gritstone landscape, which could cause damage as the materials support different types of habitat.
Other damage saw ditches blocked and tracks 'widened by vehicles they were never designed for', the local council worker said.
She added that there was 'a meadow covered in steel plating, just when the wildflowers are coming into bloom' and 'dozens of staff and production vehicles'.
'How many tons of CO2 will this lot produce in three weeks, Chris Packham?' she asked.
Callum Cocker, who visits the site most weekends to watch the red stags, said that 'a week before the circus arrived' he had spotted two curlews in the field.
He did not get close enough to see if they were nesting but said that if the threatened birds had 'chosen it for a nest site, that all went out the window when Springwatch arrived and laid checker plate on the wildflower meadows and parked HGVs in the field'.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, external affairs director at the Countryside Alliance, said: 'It's incumbent on all of us to treat our precious green spaces and natural environment with respect and care. This applies especially to celebrities and broadcasters out and about in the countryside, who have a special responsibility to lead by example at all times.'
A BBC spokesman said: 'At Longshaw the Springwatch team is working in cooperation with the National Trust. The field location was confirmed as appropriate for temporary use by local land managers and no wildlife has been displaced.
'All of the surfaces installed and modifications are temporary, and the National Trust will undertake any works that may be needed to reinstate the site once Springwatch has departed. This restoration includes reseeding fields, restoring ditches, and reverting any landscape changes.
'Minimising our environmental impact is a top priority and Springwatch is certified by BAFTA Albert, which encourages sustainable TV and film production. Whilst on location, our main power source is a green hydrogen fuel cell, dramatically reducing our CO₂ emission.'
On a page on their website describing how 'delighted' they are to host Springwatch, the National Trust tells readers that they should be 'a wise wildlife watcher'.
Top tips are 'keep your distance', 'activate your stealth mode' by moving quietly and not staying in one place for too long and 'leave no trace' by not damaging the plants and vegetation.
The National Trust echoed the BBC's statement and said that they are working together 'to uphold the highest possible environmental standards'.