MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to Chris Packham who has been appointed CBE in the New Year’s Honours for services to nature conservation.
The irony of this recognition from ‘The Establishment’ won’t be lost on him, but neither will the opportunities it will provide for him to expand his outstanding campaigning efforts against illegal raptor persecution, fox hunting and badger killing. Perhaps he’ll wear his ‘Never mind the bollocks – where’s the hen harriers?’ t-shirt when he rocks up at the Palace for his investiture.
On hearing the news, Chris said:
“In an age where illegal fox hunting, the continued persecution of birds of prey and the unscientific, uneconomic and inhumane killing of badgers continue, our wildlife needs a voice to shout above the noise. Maybe the silent have spoken, maybe a terrified fox, a wounded hen harrier or a trapped badger whispered and this is their thanks. I’ll take that, say ‘ta very much’ and stop shouting … and start screaming and I won’t stop until the killing does“.
[Chris Packham deep in thought on a Yorkshire grouse moor. Photo by Ruth Tingay]
The Nasty Brigade won’t be best pleased. They’ll be spitting the feathers, blood or fur of whatever poor creature they’ve blown to bits today, knowing full well that Chris’s new status will hinder their long-running crusade to have him sacked from the BBC, all because he dares to speak out, in his own time, about their atrocities.
Well done Chris, and thank you. It’s official – you’re bloody brilliant.
UPDATE 1pm: Video clip of Chris being interviewed on BBC Breakfast this morning:
Raptor Persecution UK 
Brilliant news for Conservation! Congratulations Chris! Thank you for all you do… let’s all get screaming behind you.
I find it amazing that ‘the establishment’ have decided to honour Chris Packham.
Of course, it is well deserved, but I take more from it than that.
It is starting to become, perhaps, acceptable to complain of how our natural wildlife is being decimated by human activity. Perhaps not yet as acceptable as committing a speeding offence, but more acceptable than drink driving.
It may be that the government suspects that there is a possibility of a peoples vote or an election in the offing. They may be trying to cover as many voting groups as possible in this and the other recent announcements not related to manifesto pledges in order to increase their votes if this slight possibility comes to pass.
I don’t normally even read the list of honours given, but this is special.
Well done, Chris, RPUK, and Mark Avery et Al.
The bad news is that Prince Harry went on a pheasant shoot over the festive season. All the good work he has allegedly done for Rhinos has been vitiated. He and xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx, [Ed: was questioned by the police in relation to the alleged shooting of a hen harrier] xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx when they were younger and heavily under the influence of the blood sports lobby. Can our Royal Family not recognise the contempt the public has for it, over its adherence to game bird shooting? The increasing number of animal welfare and conservation minded people world wide, demand a more humane form of behaviour from their leaders. This interest in what is being done on our natural land and seascapes world wide, has been growing due to the spread of trophy shooting, poaching, bush meat, demand for ivory and horn, and now the avowed continuation of whaling by Japan, Iceland and Norway, countries with great sovereign wealth.
Attempts have been made by those who seek to diminish this humane concern for animals, by stating that public focus should be on the casualties of war in places like the Yemen, Syria, and in Africa, with the consequent creation of refugees. The truth is backed by good ethics, that such human and animal suffering are inextricably linked, as they both are the product of cynical indifference to what is good and wholesome for planet Earth. A world at peace, can turn its attention to the serious implications of climate change; over-fishing and contamination of the oceans with plastic waste; extinction of plant and animal species on a grand and irrevocable scale, if not stopped now; lack of potable water due to contamination, “theft” by multinationals for bottled water and drought; massive deforestation for palm oil, soya, ranching, mining and making “oak” furniture; the genocide of indigenous people and poor communities. Many of the same people concerned about blood sports and conservation, are the ones standing for human charity cans in our high streets, and donors to media appeals for £2 a month to help physically impaired people, the hungry and the dispossessed. Part of the problem facing humanity is the clinging to traditions that are cruel and lacking in justification in the modern age. With animal life, it is shooting millions of migrating birds every year; bull fighting and torture; the demand for animal body parts for traditional medicines; the demand for Elephant ivory and Rhino horn for traditional carving and impotent old geezers, respectively.
A broad front has to be in existence to challenge all the affronts to Life on Earth. The mass of humanity depends on a healthy and bio-diverse natural environment with regard to terrestrial and marine life. It also depends on well-regulated use of natural resources, such as timber and minerals. What cannot be tolerated is the erroneous thinking that wildlife and domesticated creatures were put here for us to abuse and wipe out for pleasure. We have to recognise that science is continually revealing that animal life suffers mentally and physically as we humans do. For our species’ survival, there has to be a universal concordance in our ethical outlook for the humane management of the whole planet. Chris Packham and his CBE should give more authority to this courageous man. The wiles of those whose interests are destructive to environment and wildlife have to be further exposed, as being ultimately inimical to humanity. We do need our shooting class to recant and to unselfishly give up the excesses of their blood sports, and to stop bleating about “tradition” and to realise that describe their rural activities as “sports” is a demeaning of that word, as sport should infer vigour, stamina and strength without having to kill some creature. It is not just our aristocracy we should blame for this behaviour, but also that of certain celebrities who take up the gun for pleasure. The planet is screaming out for peace and an end to the relentless pursuit of wars, along with the destruction of the environment by industrialists and others.
Absolutely spot on. The people who care about wildlife and animal welfare are conscientious and therefore usually far more concerned with human welfare too. That makes the mud thrown at them that they ‘care more about wildlife than people’s particularly exasperating, Ian Mitchell’s execrable book ‘Isles of the West’ is a prime example of that. If you are interested in nature – tribalism, religious fundamentalism, keeping up with the Joneses falls by the wayside. When you realise how complex and beautifully evolved natural systems are our ‘traditions’ become a silly irrelevance at best and when they threaten land and wildlife detestable baggage we need to get shot of ASAP. There does have to be more coordinated effort, and I’d say a lot more moral backbone thrown into it. We definitely have a rural mafia, pleading victimhood while bleeding public subsidy dry, and way past time they were challenged. A farmer has just been convicted of injecting diesel into his cattle to get false TB positive results for compensation, he said he is following the example of other farmers.
From a political with a small p viewpoint he couldn’t really be denied some sort of official recognition for his efforts any longer, if anything it’s rather overdue. That makes him getting this award so that much sweeter. The amount and degree of abuse directed at him from pretty much the whole spectrum of the field sports sector is quite extraordinary, regularly maligned and misreported in what passes for their pathetic media and of course the particularly vile trolls he has to contend with. All of these sorry excuses for humanity will be seething at this, really seething and struggling to deal with it. That thought brings a warm glow and even some hilarity, an enormous satisfaction. Well done Chris you are bloody brilliant!
Well done to Chris. Highly deserved.
Congratulations, Chris. Nobody is more deserving of this award than you.
I’ll be screaming with you.
Anybody who has spent just about any time with Chris will know just how fervent a campaigner he is and conservation is not his only interest! Richly deserved, well done Chris.
Oh to be a fly on the wall at Countryside Areliars HQ!
Every time I read Countryside Areliars I want to burst out laughing. Thanks for that!
Not mine originally Lizzy, I think it was originated by Coop.
Fantastic, well deserved
Great news and so well deserved. His conservation work has been recognised and now the persecutors of our wildlife must listen. JT Shropshire Peregrine Group
Well done Chris. More power to your lungs!
Tim Boner, Andrew Killtruth, Amanda “if we let them in” Anderson, Robin “blank” Page, Simon “Cloughie lookalike” Hart, Nicholas Soames, Vinnie Jones, Alexander Armstrong, Phil Spencer, Clarissa xxxxx xxxxx, “Baroness” Malevolence, Guy Richie, Marco Pierre Shite, Phil The Greek, Charlie Jug Ears, Harry Hewitt, “Abnormal” Norman Murray, Derek Norman etc…….ah you know where this is going!😉
Chris was interviewed on BBC Breakfast – video clip now added to foot of this morning’s blog.
Doubtless, assuming they’ve not choked over their cornflakes this morning, diehard blood sports enthusiasts will be writing to the PM demanding that the Honours Committee should be sacked and the Honours Forfeiture Committee convened asap. Perhaps, though, a few of them will take note of this honour and, at last, realise which way the wind is blowing. Warmest congratulations to Chris Packham for this richly deserved recognition of his work.
Chris is an absolute hero for wildlife.
I do hope that some of the killers in this country will feel the icy shaft of another nail in their coffin. If they didn’t choke on their breakfast?
Great news for us and of course Chris Packham CBE.
Doug
This will really annoy the wildlife crime apologists among the usual suspects – well done Chris!!
Thats top, congratulations Chris