Birds Directive | Peter Cleasby

Wexford, Ireland

No, it’s not the name of a new eaterie, but a rather weak pun. At the age of sixty-something, I have finally seen puffins in the wild. The location was Great Saltee, the larger of the two Saltee Islands off Ireland’s south Wexford coast. The other island, unsurprisingly, is Little Saltee.

Anyone who immediately thinks of Compton Mackenzie’s fictional Great Todday and Little Todday [1] should put them out of mind. The Saltees are very different indeed.

According to the island’s website [2], the privately owned Great Saltee is the most famous bird sanctuary in Ireland. It is designated a Special Protection Area under the EU’s Birds Directive [3]. Weather permitting, a small fast ferry from Kilmore Quay takes visitors almost to the shore, but the shallow approach requires a transfer into a stout rubber dinghy for the final few yards. Wear trousers and boots that you don’t mind dunking in sea water!

There is only one occupied building on the island, a house used at times by the owning family and surrounded by several derelict barns or cottages. There are no other residents, no loos, no camping sites, no cafés, no shelters, no “visitor centre”, and no “interpretation boards”. Just a few day-trippers, including twitchers, and an awesome number of birds.

Most of the birds congregate on and in the cliffs on the north side of the island. Not being a bird-watcher, my recognition skills are limited. But from pictures I know a puffin when I see one. And a couple of dozen were on easy view, occasionally disappearing in pairs into holes burrowed into the cliff sides. After all, it is the breeding season.

Puffins are stunning to watch in flight. Their bright orange webbed feet, matching the colour of their bill, flap furiously and appear to help them change direction before landing, rather like aircraft ailerons. They are also beautiful to look at when standing still.

A striking feature of the north coast of Great Saltee is the noise. Birds are not quiet, and when gathered in large groups sound raucous. What the island’s website describes the “muttered growls” of the guillemot resemble a revving diesel engine when they are growling collectively.

I think I spotted choughs (though they might have been oystercatchers) and various varieties of gull, none as unpleasant – visually or temperamentally – as the scavengers of England’s westcountry coasts.

For getting to know a bit about birds in an “away-from-it-all” setting, a visit to Great Saltee is hard to beat. I’m really glad I went. And seeing puffins at long last will be one of those lasting pleasures.

NOTES:

[1] In his comic novel Whisky Galore, first published in 1947.

[2] http://www.salteeislands.info/Index2.htm

[3] A legal protection that would presumably disappear in the UK if we leave the EU.

The EU is seen as a defender of the environment, but is this still true today?

Caroline Lucas MP and others have argued that the UK’s membership of the EU has led to significant environmental protection measures that UK governments would have been unlikely to take themselves [1]. Lucas cites pollution control and wildlife protection as important EU measures. As she says, “Pollution and environmental degradation don’t respect national borders.”

Few people would argue with this. But it’s a big step from there to say that our environment will always be safe in the EU of the future. The current European Commission, which took office at the end of 2014, has a less sympathetic view of environmental protection than its predecessors. For the clearest available evidence of this, it is worth reading in full Chairman Juncker’s letter of appointment to the Environment Commissioner, Karmenu Vella [2]. It’s worth remembering that of all the EU institutions, only the Commission can propose legislation.

In the past, Environment Commissioners have been able, by and large, to plough their own furrow. Not any more. The Juncker Commission has several Vice-Presidents, whose job is to coordinate the work of the single portfolio Commissioners.

Juncker’s letter to Vella’s clearly limits his room for manoeuvre:

“You will, in particular, contribute to projects steered and coordinated by the Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness and the Vice-President for Energy Union. For other initiatives requiring a decision from the Commission, you will, as a rule, liaise closely with the Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness.”

And then, just to rub it in:

“The EU has a well-developed environment policy with a rather complete and mature legal framework.”

In other words, no more legislation, please. Unless, of course, it is to simplify and render more business-friendly existing legislation. Vella is told that his first specific task is:

“Continuing to overhaul the existing environmental legislative framework to make it fit for purpose. In the first part of the mandate, I would ask you to carry out an in-depth evaluation of the Birds and Habitats directives and assess the potential for merging them into a more modern piece of legislation.”

No prizes for guessing what “modern” means.

None of this is to argue for or against Brexit. It’s simply to remind ourselves that in public policy, as with investments, past performance is no guide to the future.

NOTES:

Peter Cleasby

Environment, society and public policy

Tag Archives: Birds Directive

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The EU is seen as a defender of the environment, but is this still true today?