Latest news with #wildbirds
The Independent
a day ago
- General
- The Independent
Government may have failed to comply with law on protecting birds
The Environment Department (Defra) and its advisers Natural England may have failed to comply with laws relating to the protection of wild birds, a watchdog has found. The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Natural England could have failed to implement the recommendations of several conservation bodies to strengthen measures to safeguard bird species. The Government has a legal obligation to maintain populations of wild birds and ensure they have enough suitable habitats. One way in which they can do this is through special protection areas (SPAs), which are legally designated sites that protect rare or threatened birds, as well as migratory birds. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), which advises ministers on nature and sustainability, as well as other conservation public bodies, previously provided several recommendations to the Government on the classification and adaptation SPAs on land. But following an investigation launched last year, the OEP said the Government may have failed to implement the recommendations and comply with its legal duties to protect wild birds. The watchdog announced on Monday that it has notified both Defra and Natural England with the details of its finding, adding that each public authority has two months to respond before it considers the next steps. Helen Venn, chief regulatory officer for the OEP, said SPAs are 'internationally important areas for breeding, overwintering, and migrating birds' that should play an important role in efforts to reach nature goals and legally binding targets to halt the decline of species abundance. But she warned that wild bird populations 'continue to decline across England'. 'There has been constructive engagement during our investigation with Defra and Natural England and note that some positive steps are being taken in these areas,' she said. 'However, our investigation has found what we believe to be possible failures to comply with environmental law relating to the protection of wild birds and we have therefore decided to move to the next step in our enforcement process, which is to issue information notices setting out our findings.' When the investigation was launched, the OEP said it would also consider whether the same issues applied in the marine environment. The watchdog concluded that there has been a possible failure by the Environment Secretary to comply with environmental law relating to the classification of marine SPAs, so this has been added to the scope of the investigation. A parallel investigation is looking at the same issues relating to Northern Ireland, while Environmental Standards Scotland and the Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales have also been considering SPA issues. A Defra spokesperson said: ' Britain is a proud nation of nature lovers, and we are taking bold action to reverse decades of decline. 'This includes £13 million to improve our protected sites and better strategic approaches to restore native species and habitats. 'We will continue to work constructively with the OEP as they take forward this investigation' John Holmes, strategy director at Natural England, said: 'Protected sites, including special protection areas, are our most important places for nature and vital for achieving nature recovery. 'We remain committed to protecting and enhancing habitats for wild birds across England and will engage constructively with the OEP throughout this process.'
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Wild birds: Daera 'possibly failed' to comply with environmental law
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) may have failed to comply with environmental law, according to a new is in relation to special protection areas for at-risk wild birds, such as puffins, whooper swans and light-bellied Brent investigation from the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) had been previously launched in March 2024, following potential failures to implement recommendations given by a conservation body. Daera said it welcomes the OEP's work and will be "considering the investigation findings", whilst recognising "that there is much more to do to protect our natural environment and the habitats that wild birds and other wildlife need to survive and thrive". The OEP has issued Daera with a notice, which they must respond to within two months. A full response will be delivered by the deadline of 5 August Helen Venn, the OEP chief regulatory officer has said that the government has a legal obligation to maintain populations of wild birds and ensure they have enough suitable Venn said "our investigation has found what we believe to be possible failures to comply with environmental law by DAERA relating to the protection of wild birds".She noted the decline in wild birds across Northern Ireland, adding that recent studies have placed "a quarter of birds found on the island of Ireland on the Birds of Conservation Concern Red List". The investigation in March 2024 looked into failures to implement recommendations given by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and other conservation public bodies on the classification and adaptation of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) A parallel investigation is looking at the same issues relating to England, and information notices have also been issued to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Secretary of State (SoS) and Natural England. What is the OEP? The Office for Environmental Protection, external is a new environmental governance body, which holds the government and other public authorities in England and Northern Ireland to account on their environmental protection and also covers reserved UK-wide advises the government and Northern Ireland Assembly on any changes to environmental has statutory powers to investigate and enforces compliance with environmental law where enforcement can include legal action if unresolved through compliance with recommendations.
The Guardian
a day ago
- General
- The Guardian
UK may have failed to protect wild birds with environmental laws, watchdog finds
The government may have failed to protect critical wild bird populations by neglecting to implement environmental law properly, the environmental watchdog has found. Wild bird populations are declining across the UK. Under the EU certain parts of Britain's landscape were designated specially protected conservation zones when the UK was still a member state. They include estuaries, coastal areas and peatlands, as well as wetland areas where wading birds live, and places birds of prey prefer to nest. However, according to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), the government has failed to ensure adequate protections for these areas and as a result, wild bird populations are declining. Concerningly, ministers are currently passing the planning and infrastructure bill, which would deregulate these specially protected areas and would put more than 5,000 of England's most sensitive, rare and protected natural habitats at high risk of development, according to a Guardian analysis. The OEP was set up after Brexit to hold the government to account under the Environment Act 2021, which was passed to replace EU law. It has sent information notices to the government laying out the issues and giving it two months to respond. Helen Venn, chief regulatory officer for the OEP, said: 'Government has a legal obligation to maintain populations of wild birds and ensure they have enough suitable habitat. One way in which they do this is through special protection areas, which are legally designated sites that protect rare and threatened wild birds.' She added that the government appeared not to be meeting its legally binding plans and targets to halt and reverse the decline of species abundance. Recent government data shows that overall, bird species have declined in number UK-wide by 2% and in England by 7% in the five years since 2018. Faring the worst are farmland birds, which have declined in number severely – by about 61% over the long term (since 1970) and 9% in the short term (the five years between 2018 and 2023) – and woodland birds, whose numbers have fallen by about 35% over the long term and 10% in the short term. 'However, wild bird populations continue to decline across England … Our investigation has found what we believe to be possible failures to comply with environmental law relating to the protection of wild birds and we have therefore decided to move to the next step in our enforcement process, which is to issue information notices setting out our findings.' Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion A Defra spokesperson said: 'Britain is a proud nation of nature lovers, and we are taking bold action to reverse decades of decline. This includes £13m to improve our protected sites and better strategic approaches to restore native species and habitats. 'We will continue to work constructively with the OEP as they take forward this investigation.'
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Wild chickens take over Miami while some embrace roosters as a cultural symbol
MIAMI (AP) — Flamingos, pelicans, herons and parrots are just a few of the wild birds that call Miami home, but it's the roosters, hens and baby chicks that have come to rule the roost in recent years. Not only found in residential neighborhoods like Little Havana, Little Haiti and Wynwood, the fowl families are also making their home among the high-rises and government buildings downtown. And while some people find the crowing to be a nuisance, many have adopted the rooster as an unofficial mascot for the city. A piece of home Paul George, the resident historian at HistoryMiami Museum, said the chickens are closely connected to the people who have moved to Miami over the decades. For a long time, the domesticated birds were mostly kept in backyards, but George began to notice their feral cousins wandering in public areas about 20 years ago. He said the chickens have a cultural connection to people who grew up in rural areas of Cuba and other parts of Latin America: 'They've always had these hens and roosters around.' A symbol for the city Wild chickens can be found in many Florida communities, from Key West to Tampa to St. Augustine, along with other large cities throughout the U.S., like New Orleans, Houston and Los Angeles. But Miami's Little Havana truly adopted the birds as a symbol in 2002 when 6-foot (2-meter) fiberglass rooster statues began appearing outside shops and restaurants along Calle Ocho, which is Spanish for 8th Street, as part of a campaign to celebrate the area's culture. More than two decades later, dozens of the colorfully painted statues, designed by the late artist Pedro Damián, continue to attract tourists seeking fun photo opportunities. Owner Jakelin Llaguna of Little Havana Visitors Center, a souvenir shop along Calle Ocho, said the community is largely fond of the avian inhabitants, which forage around local businesses and parks. 'The neighbors have welcomed them,' Llaguna said. 'So they don't mind if they're in their backyard or in their front lawn. Nobody messes with them, they're our mascot.' Llaguna said the roosters' crowing at sunrise symbolizes renewal. 'The Cubans came to Little Havana when the revolution came into Cuba,' Llaguna said. 'They settled in this neighborhood, so they had a new beginning in Little Havana.' Llaguna's store is filled with rooster merchandise, including shirts, hats, glasses and magnets. 'Everybody wants a rooster,' Llaguna said. 'They want to take home a memento. They want have a memory of a fun time. And the rooster has turned into that.' An uncertain future As the feral roosters spread, they might soon face competition from the invasive peacocks that have taken over neighboring communities like Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. 'The peacocks have very bad tempers,' George said. 'They're pretty ill-mannered, and they tend to be a lot bigger than the chickens, and they make a lot of noise.' But George is more concerned that development and gentrification in older neighborhoods could eventually lead to the disappearance of their feathered residents. When 50-year-old houses are replaced with brand new condos, George isn't sure whether people spending over $1 million for a home are going to tolerate the loud birds. 'Even with hurricane windows, I just don't think a lot of these people are gonna put up with it as the neighborhood becomes richer.' George said. 'And I think they're gonna really lean on the city's code enforcement for it.' The legal status of the roosters and chickens is somewhat murky. Both the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County have ordinances that either strictly regulate or completely ban live poultry in residential areas. Meanwhile, the birds freely roam downtown among offices, public parks and courthouses. Asked about the birds, both city and county officials described their presence as a code compliance issue and referred The Associated Press to their live animal ordinances. Little Havana resident Donato Ramos Martínez enjoys having the roosters and chickens around and even feeds them near the Bay of Pigs Monument, off Calle Ocho. 'The rooster is the perfect animal for someone to wake up, because they begin to crow at about 4 a.m., from 4 to 5 a.m.,' Ramos Martínez said in Spanish. 'And it is an attractive animal that tourists, both young and old, are excited about, and they take their picture, you know what I mean?' 'And so I don't understand,' he added, 'why there are some — excuse my language — some idiots who don't want roosters or chickens or chicks on the street.'
Washington Post
26-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
Wild chickens take over Miami while some embrace roosters as a cultural symbol
MIAMI — Flamingos, pelicans, herons and parrots are just a few of the wild birds that call Miami home, but it's the roosters, hens and baby chicks that have come to rule the roost in recent years. Not only found in residential neighborhoods like Little Havana, Little Haiti and Wynwood, the fowl families are also making their home among the high-rises and government buildings downtown. And while some people find the crowing to be a nuisance, many have adopted the rooster as an unofficial mascot for the city.
