Defenders Needed

The conservation industry is so arrogant in this country that it rides roughshod over the concerns of ordinary people.
One of the latest examples can be seen here. Well done to those who've committed to fight it.

One of the most distasteful aspects of this is the underhand way that these conservation  organisations set up or cultivate their own supporters groups or 'Friends' groups to give an outward appearance of community support  so as to protect themselves from the inevitable outcry that will follow when they destroy native vegetation. It's not just wildlife trusts etc who do this but also local authority parks departments. The clumsy but effective management of these lower order managers makes us ask who are the real powers behind all this anti-nature land management. And some people swallow the propaganda deception wholesale.

They are the people who just don't understand that this is part of two trends which coincide at a point in time: 1) the empire building of the conservation industry managers and
2) the desperate need certain powerful lobbies have to promote treeless landscapes that provide artificial habitats for the kind of birds that wealthy people like to shoot - and where it's easier to control (i.e.kill) predators.

I know for example how much effort SWT put into going along to groups of people ripe for persuasion that they must be doing a grand job. These people are unlikely to be sceptical even though the presentations made by SWT staff are usually sadly lacking in basic skills and are often inaudible or incoherent. Many of the groups are composed of older people who are often predisposed to think that young people should be encouraged to do something for 'the environment', or 'the landscape' or 'wildlife', and frankly don't enjoy trying to work out what's right in the context of anything that smells of controversy. There are many of these groups in a major city like Sheffield and span a considerable cross section of the public from simple old people's groups and church groups who like to be entertained by a slide show to ex professional and business people as in Rotary and Probus. SWT of course have got to do something with their time: they certainly don't spend much of it on their 'reserves' compared to office and meeting commitments. And each time this happens a collection will help to boost their coffers especially if the more gullible are persuaded to take out a membership subscription via an ongoing direct debit.

There is a lot of this cynical management going on and plenty of large scale role models dedicated to centrally controlling every area of life.

If ever independent groups were needed it is now. People to defend their favourite places from these dehumanised vandals.