Latest news with #ChrisPackham
Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Climate
- Telegraph
The Dartmoor farmers raging against Chris Packham's eco-warriors
Everything has changed on Dartmoor since Richard Gray was a boy. Every winter his family farm at Holne would be cut off by thick snow for days at a time. Within his lifetime, winters have changed beyond recognition. 'We've gone from having 20 to 30 days of lying snow every winter to just five, an incredible difference,' says Gray, 46. 'We've lost hard frosts here. 'It's so different to what I remember as a child in the early Eighties when all the pipes would be frozen. We'd go sledging day after day and the snow ploughs coming past the farm would leave walls of snow higher than me.' Climate change is not the only reason farmers in one of Britain's oldest national parks are feeling under siege. Environmental pressure groups, including Chris Packham 's Wild Justice, blame overgrazing and poor land management for a concerning decline in biodiversity on the moor. There are 850 Commoners who jealously guard their ancestral right to graze livestock on Dartmoor. They include sheep, cattle and the world famous Dartmoor ponies. The Dartmoor Commoners Council was taken to the High Court earlier this month after Packham successfully campaigned for a judicial review, claiming the council is failing to enforce controls on grazing and the number of livestock. The rights enjoyed by the Commoners were granted under the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985, which details the statutory responsibilities the Commoners Council has towards the conservation of the commons. These include restricting the number of animals each commoner is allowed to graze. Wild Justice says that DCC has failed to meet these responsibilities, as well as neglecting its general duties under wildlife laws and regulations. Before the hearing, Chris Packham, co-director of Wild Justice, said: 'Sheep, subsidised by the public, are doing significant damage to lands which should be maintained in the public interest as rich repositories of biodiversity. We are paying many farmers and commoners to damage our own interests. And the sums run into millions of pounds each year. Greed is driving this abuse, pure and simple, and it needs to stop. Defra [the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] and Natural England have proved incapable of regulating this, so Wild Justice has stepped up. We are in a crisis – change is essential, and this reckless destruction needs to stop.' In particular, Wild Justice has highlighted the spread of purple moor grass which forms impenetrable tussocks that make the moor difficult to negotiate on foot and is too tough for livestock to eat. They are also concerned about the decline of wild heather and the sphagnum moss, which creates the peat bogs for which Dartmoor is famous, and the decline of some moorland birds such as skylarks and ringed ouzels. The Commoners, most of whose families have farmed on Dartmoor for generations, have simply got it wrong, says Packham. They confirm that Dartmoor is not what it was, but insist that climate change, which has effectively prevented frosts from keeping gorse under control, and restrictions on age-old ways of managing the moor such as burning, are more to blame than overgrazing. Richard Gray's farm lies on the flanks of the plateau which forms much of Dartmoor's 400 square miles. From his door, he can see the sea at Teignmouth nearly 20 miles away. The home he shares with his wife and two teenage daughters is a wooden chalet formed from two static caravans squeezed beneath the eaves of an enormous barn. To supplement their modest income from farming, they have two large shepherds' huts on wheels that are rented to visitors. Upland farming may be one of the least financially rewarding jobs in British agriculture, but those whose life it is say they do it because they love it. They say lowland farmers with lush green fields are able to follow trends and change their crop to follow food fashions. They have no such luxury. Being a Dartmoor hill farmer entails long days in summer and shorter, colder, wetter ones in winter. Climate change has at least spared Gray one annual chore. 'The snowline on Dartmoor always used to be 1,000 feet, which is where our farm is,' he remembers. 'My dad and granddad talked about digging sheep out of the snow drifts. I've only had to do it twice in 20 years.' Dartmoor is like a doughnut with common land known as the Forest of Dartmoor owned by Prince William's Duchy of Cornwall at its centre. The 'forest' is so called because it was once a royal hunting ground, not because it was covered in trees. Commoners complain that frost and fire, their traditional allies in controlling the spread of inedible vegetation such as purple moor grass and gorse, are either restricted by law or no longer put in an annual appearance. The centre of the doughnut is surrounded by a ring of Commons which in turn are enclosed by open moor, much of which is increasingly covered in the spiky gorse and inedible bracken which has forced the native heather into ever smaller enclaves. The reduction in burning has allowed the spread of pests such as heather beetle. Until the Second World War, livestock would be driven from farms across Devon to spend summer on Dartmoor in much the same way as cattle spend months in lush meadows in the Alps. Commoners say that contrary to Packham's claims, much of Dartmoor was more heavily grazed in those days than it is now simply because there was more livestock around. What happens when the cattle and ponies don't graze is that the vegetation has a chance to grow and soon becomes too woody to be appetising to the sheep who prefer younger, fresher shoots. It is a delicate balance to keep the animals moving between old and new pasture to ensure everything gets a gentle and appropriate trim and isn't completely nibbled to death. Archaeologist Alan Endacott grew up in a traditional farming family and is a former curator of the Dartmoor Museum and former vice-chairman of the Dartmoor Society. He claims his family has been farming on Dartmoor since the Bronze Age. He is angry about how eco-groups portray Dartmoor farmers as damaging the area when, in fact, it is their lifeblood as well as their livelihood. 'This is an indigenous hill farming community,' he explains. 'If they were Native Americans or Aboriginals, people would be up in arms defending them. It's been proven by ancient DNA studies that Hill farmers on Bodmin Moor are a distinct group that also goes back to the Bronze Age. 'They don't go anywhere because you marry your neighbour's daughter and it's self perpetuating. It is a kind of cultural genocide. This whole business is killing off a way of life, a community going back all those thousands of years.' Endacott says he met a farmer in tears because his family has lived on Dartmoor for at least 1,000 years and he didn't see a future there for his own children. 'He said, 'They don't want us any more. It's the end of it all'. It really did upset me. That's the end of that family's heritage, our heritage, the whole bl---y moor.' Dartmoor breeds have to be hardy because they are kept outside all year round. As the common land is not enclosed they are taught to stay in their own areas, a practice known on Dartmoor as 'learing' and as 'hefting' elsewhere in the country. Once the livestock have been leared, they don't stray. The same appears to apply to Dartmoor's human residents. Steve Alford and his wife Hayley from Elvan Farm near Throwleigh grew up in neighbouring villages. They hope their baby son Tommy will one day take over the farm. Steve's father Crispin Alford, 73, bought his first sheep at the age of 12. He says the streams which flow freely across the moors suffer when they are under grazed because the hooves of livestock help drain the bogs and prevent deep patches of mud forming. 'We haven't got the stock out there keeping these places drained,' he explains. 'A lot of the crossing places you can't get in because it's too boggy.' There have been severe restrictions on swaling [controlled burning], which the Commoners claim is responsible for the spread of heather beetle as they are no longer allowed to control it by burning 'fire breaks'. They also claim swaling encourages new growth because the heather seeds are activated by burning. 'Our family goes back generations here,' says Crispin. 'Generations farming the moor and using the moor pretty much for everything. What's the future for Tommy?' Steve resents being told how to look after the landscape by people like Chris Packham and 'rewilders' who would like to see it covered in trees, something that hasn't been the case since at least the neolithic period 8,000 years ago. 'I feel that we are being attacked and I feel that they obviously don't want farmers and farming on Dartmoor,' he says. 'Farmers in general have been thinking about the environment for much longer than people think. We were thinking about the environment before any environmental schemes came in because we wouldn't want to damage it in any way because that would be against our interests. 'We try our best to get a mosaic of habitats. I think that we could do much more if we were allowed to. Because we are out on the moor so much, we see a lot of wildlife other people don't see, like two ring ouzels which are incredibly rare. 'There have been thousands of years of farming on Dartmoor. We are very passionate about Dartmoor and we love living here. It's a way of life.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Anger as Britain's most controversial allotment wins right to stay despite opposition from Chris Packham and Deborah Meaden
Britain's 'most controversial allotment' has won the right to stay where it is despite outrage from eco-celebs like Springwatch host Chris Packham and Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden. The site on the edge of Bristol has been labelled as the 'world's first no-dig allotment', but it received criticism from locals as well as the eco-conscious celebrities. 'No dig' means growers plant into topsoil which has been placed on top of the ground so no soil is dug up, broken or turned. It has been in a lengthy battle for Bath-based Roots Allotment two years after setting up on a field next to the A369 in Abbots Leigh in April 2023. Despite more than 3,400 people signing a petition against the site, which borders two Sites of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI), it was awarded retrospective planning permission for three parts of the 600-plot allotment field. Some claimed there had been a lack of consultation on the ecology of the land and concerns for local wildlife. Speaking when they first moved in, Dragons' Den's Meaden, who lives in Somerset, argued the site is 'very sad' for local wildlife and 'devastating' for the 'precious meadow habitat'. Taking to X on the allotment's opening day on September 18, she wrote: 'Butterfly numbers have crashed in the UK and Roots Allotments have taken 25 acres of precious meadow habitat, and celebrate with a party. It has been in a lengthy battle for Bath-based Roots Allotment two years after setting up on a field next to the A369 in Abbots Leigh in April 2023 'They could go (and) do much good in the right area but we can't keep taking from a nature who can't defend herself. Very sad.' Last May, Meadon backed the concept of Roots Allotment but argued it was using the wrong location. She wrote: 'Totally agree on farmed land and Farmers are absolutely going to be at the forefront of restoring Nature but that does not apply to already rich meadowland being bulldozed with alien soils being dumped on it. 'I love the concept of roots allotments but they need to choose their sites actually add and regenerate.' Naturalist and wildlife presenter Chris Packham TV wildlife also criticised the location and safety of the site, and took issue with the allotment company redeveloping 'species rich grassland with breeding skylarks'. Taking to Facebook in May last year, Packham wrote: 'Increasing access to green spaces is a must- and allotments are a great way to do that, and more. 'But when you're a venture capital-backed firm developing on species rich grassland, with breeding skylarks... you're in the wrong Roots Allotments. 'Avon and Somerset Police have ordered work to stop on part of the site due to breeding red-listed skylarks- great. But the whole project needs scrapping.' However, North Somerset Council's planning committee voted last week to finally award retrospective planning permission. The Roots Allotments team were given permission for two shipping containers in the field to be used as a tool shed and site office, CCTV cameras, an access track, gravel hardstanding and a sign on the main A369 road. Roots Allotment group says they are answering a 'much needed' allotment crisis and are providing an opportunity for people to sustainably grow their own food. One of the founders, Christian Samuel, said the group had 'flipped the script' - saying their allotments on the site were allegedly the only place where skylarks were feeding. He also added that their 'no dig' method had restored the soil and suppressed carbon into the ground. 'We believe this council has far more pressing issues to resolve than preventing people from growing vegetables in a sustainable manner,' Mr Samuel added. 'At the end of the day everyone, it is just vegetables.' But parish councillor Jenny Stoodley, who lives in Leigh Woods, disagreed. She said: 'The introduction of urban man-made structures such as cars, shipping containers and CCTV in this sensitive green belt location is exactly the kind of encroachment that greenbelt policy is intended to protect against.' Councillors on the planning committee eventually voted seven to three to approve the plans, and a separate planning application covering the sign for the site was approved. Some councillors were left 'disappointed' by the outcome - with Abbots Leigh Parish Council chair Simon Talbot-Ponsonby saying: 'Obviously we are disappointed because it's basically ruined that part of the green belt.' But Christian said the Roots Allotment team, as well as their members, were grateful for the decision. He added: 'There are so many people that need this space - and I'm glad that planning bills are going to come to an end.'
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
TV's Chris Packham has grass seed warning for dog owners
The broadcaster and naturalist Chris Packham has warned people to be aware of the risk grass seeds pose to dogs after one of his pets had to be rushed to the Packham, who lives in the New Forest, said his poodle Nancy needed treatment on two separate occasions after she developed weeping eyes and symptoms similar to conjunctivitis."Her eye was inflamed and clearly sore," he said. "She was becoming increasingly distressed."It turned out that both times she had a grass seed stuck behind her eyelid, which was causing irritation and pain. But he said on both occasions a vet was able to remove it without any long term now wears specialist doggie goggles when she goes out in the long grass to prevent it from happening again. Mirka Palenikova is a specialist in Ophthalmology at Seadown Vets in Hythe, and treated said: "I could see there was quite a lot of discharge coming out from the eye and she was in pain so we had to apply topical anaesthetic into her eye to be able to examine her." Ms Palenikova said it was important for owners to check their dogs for signs of conjunctivitis and grass seeds in their eyes, paws, ears and coat after every walk. She said if left untreated grass seeds can lead to blindness, and in some cases needed a test like a CT or MRI scan to find it. And as more people try to encourage biodiversity by leaving gardens and fields to grow, rather than always cutting grass, it is a problem that she is seeing more frequently."We are seeing maybe a case or two weekly. With the weather warming as well we see more cases, and I even saw a cat recently with grass seed in her eye which was unusual," she said."I would advise not to walk dogs in areas where there are obvious grass seeds or meadows with long grass." To encourage biodiversity Mr Packham only cuts the grass in his garden once a year, but said he had never had this problem before. "I suppose it's an artefact of the fact that we've generated an environment here where there's an awful lot of seed and they do like playing, running through the garden," he is now vigilant about checking for grass seeds, and Nancy now wears special goggles to protect her eyes when walking in long grass. "When I heard about them, I was very sceptical and thought this is ridiculous," he said."Although I thought it was an absurd idea, ultimately I'd rather have a dog with two perfectly functional eyes than a dog that had lost one of them because of my prejudice." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Rhyl Journal
21-07-2025
- Health
- Rhyl Journal
Chris Packham backs call for delayed report into autistic deaths to be published
Signatories including broadcaster Chris Packham – who has spoken about being autistic – demanded the long-awaited report be published as soon as Parliament returns from its summer break. He is among campaigners who have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting to say the country is 'standing by year after year while vulnerable people die'. The latest Learning from lives and deaths report (LeDeR) – expected to show data for 2023 – was due to be published around November last year but it is understood it has been held up over 'practical data issues'. The LeDeR programme was established in 2015 in an effort to review the deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people in England. Annual reports are aimed at summarising their lives and deaths with the aim of learning from what happened, improving care, reducing health inequalities and preventing people with a learning disability and autistic people from early deaths. In the letter to Mr Streeting, signed by various groups including charities Autism Action and Mencap as well as bereaved families, the delay to the latest report was branded 'unacceptable'. They said: 'It took at least 17 years for the Government to establish this vital initiative after the 1998 finding that people with learning disabilities were 58 times more likely to die before the age of 50 than the general population. 'Although it was established to 'get to the bottom of why people with learning disabilities typically die much earlier than average, and to inform a strategy to reduce this inequality,' 10 years later – too many people are still dying premature, preventable deaths. 'In response, the Government is showing a shocking lack of urgency and has let the only discernible tool to understand and act on these deaths be caught up in delay and bureaucracy.' The most recent report, which showed data for 2022, confirmed care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities are still often below acceptable standards compared with the general population. Of the 2,054 adults with a learning disability who died that year and had a completed recorded underlying cause of death, 853 (42%) had deaths classified as avoidable. This was down on the 2021 figure of 50% of avoidable deaths among adults with a learning disability, but was 'significantly higher' than the percentage for the general population across Great Britain, which was 22.8% in 2020 – the latest data available at that time. Last month, the parents of an autistic teenager who died after being prescribed medication against his and his parents' wishes hailed the publication of guidance they hope will safeguard others as a 'significant milestone'. A report in 2020 found 18-year-old Oliver McGowan's death four years earlier at Southmead Hospital in Bristol was 'potentially avoidable'. He died in 2016 after being given the antipsychotic Olanzapine and contracting neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) – a rare side-effect of the drug. An independent review later found that the fit and healthy teenager's death was 'potentially avoidable' and his parents, Paula and Tom McGowan, said their son died 'as a result of the combined ignorance and arrogance of doctors' who treated him. In June, his parents – who have campaigned since his death for improvements in the system – welcomed the publication of new guidance aimed at ensuring safer, more personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Learning disability charity Mencap described the delay to the latest LeDeR report as 'disappointing and worrying', and said the Government must 'not shy away from the uncomfortable truth that for many years the healthcare system has failed people who are already marginalised in so many ways'. Autism Action chief executive Tom Purser accused the Government of 'systemically devaluing the lives of autistic people and those with learning disabilities' by delaying the long-awaited annual report and giving campaigners and families 'empty reassurances'. He added: 'There must be systemic changes in the way this information is collected, recorded, shared and acted upon – and it needs to be accountable and written into law. We are calling on this data to be published annually and independently of the Government and the NHS. 'Without these changes the Government has nothing to learn from and more vulnerable lives are at stake.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We inherited a situation where the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people was not good enough and we recently published a code of practice on training to make sure staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care. 'We are committed to improving care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Learning from Lives and Deaths report will help identify key improvements needed to tackle health disparities and prevent avoidable deaths.'
South Wales Guardian
21-07-2025
- Health
- South Wales Guardian
Chris Packham backs call for delayed report into autistic deaths to be published
Signatories including broadcaster Chris Packham – who has spoken about being autistic – demanded the long-awaited report be published as soon as Parliament returns from its summer break. He is among campaigners who have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting to say the country is 'standing by year after year while vulnerable people die'. The latest Learning from lives and deaths report (LeDeR) – expected to show data for 2023 – was due to be published around November last year but it is understood it has been held up over 'practical data issues'. The LeDeR programme was established in 2015 in an effort to review the deaths of people with a learning disability and autistic people in England. Annual reports are aimed at summarising their lives and deaths with the aim of learning from what happened, improving care, reducing health inequalities and preventing people with a learning disability and autistic people from early deaths. In the letter to Mr Streeting, signed by various groups including charities Autism Action and Mencap as well as bereaved families, the delay to the latest report was branded 'unacceptable'. They said: 'It took at least 17 years for the Government to establish this vital initiative after the 1998 finding that people with learning disabilities were 58 times more likely to die before the age of 50 than the general population. 'Although it was established to 'get to the bottom of why people with learning disabilities typically die much earlier than average, and to inform a strategy to reduce this inequality,' 10 years later – too many people are still dying premature, preventable deaths. 'In response, the Government is showing a shocking lack of urgency and has let the only discernible tool to understand and act on these deaths be caught up in delay and bureaucracy.' The most recent report, which showed data for 2022, confirmed care and outcomes for people with learning disabilities are still often below acceptable standards compared with the general population. Of the 2,054 adults with a learning disability who died that year and had a completed recorded underlying cause of death, 853 (42%) had deaths classified as avoidable. This was down on the 2021 figure of 50% of avoidable deaths among adults with a learning disability, but was 'significantly higher' than the percentage for the general population across Great Britain, which was 22.8% in 2020 – the latest data available at that time. Last month, the parents of an autistic teenager who died after being prescribed medication against his and his parents' wishes hailed the publication of guidance they hope will safeguard others as a 'significant milestone'. A report in 2020 found 18-year-old Oliver McGowan's death four years earlier at Southmead Hospital in Bristol was 'potentially avoidable'. He died in 2016 after being given the antipsychotic Olanzapine and contracting neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) – a rare side-effect of the drug. An independent review later found that the fit and healthy teenager's death was 'potentially avoidable' and his parents, Paula and Tom McGowan, said their son died 'as a result of the combined ignorance and arrogance of doctors' who treated him. In June, his parents – who have campaigned since his death for improvements in the system – welcomed the publication of new guidance aimed at ensuring safer, more personalised care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. Learning disability charity Mencap described the delay to the latest LeDeR report as 'disappointing and worrying', and said the Government must 'not shy away from the uncomfortable truth that for many years the healthcare system has failed people who are already marginalised in so many ways'. Autism Action chief executive Tom Purser accused the Government of 'systemically devaluing the lives of autistic people and those with learning disabilities' by delaying the long-awaited annual report and giving campaigners and families 'empty reassurances'. He added: 'There must be systemic changes in the way this information is collected, recorded, shared and acted upon – and it needs to be accountable and written into law. We are calling on this data to be published annually and independently of the Government and the NHS. 'Without these changes the Government has nothing to learn from and more vulnerable lives are at stake.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We inherited a situation where the care of people with a learning disability and autistic people was not good enough and we recently published a code of practice on training to make sure staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care. 'We are committed to improving care for people with a learning disability and autistic people. The Learning from Lives and Deaths report will help identify key improvements needed to tackle health disparities and prevent avoidable deaths.'
