Thousands more badgers could be killed under proposal to raise target numbers in cull (msn.com)

Thousands more badgers than planned could be killed if the government gives the go-ahead next week to raising the target number of animals in certain areas, experts say.

Until now, official policy has been that culls aimed to reduce badger numbers by 70 per cent within in each cull area and across most of southwest England.

But The Independent understands that ministers are preparing to allow that target to be raised to 100 per cent in “exceptional” circumstances, subject to a consultation.

The announcement could be made as early as next week – during the National Farmers’ Union annual conference.

The permission would be similar to that granted to sugar-beet farmers to use bee-killing pesticides – which has been given four years running.

The change to the 100 per cent target would begin after January 2026, if it is approved after a consultation.

More than 260,000 badgers in England – over half the population – are thought to have been killed since culling began in 2013, as the government has sought to eradicate tuberculosis in cattle, which is costly for farmers.

The cull has repeatedly been expanded, including as late as last year.

The spread of the disease is blamed on badgers but wildlife defenders dispute this, saying cattle are 800 times more likely to spread the disease than badgers are.

One expert said “exceptional circumstances” was poorly defined so feared the policy could become standard practice.

Tom Langton, an ecologist who has challenged culling in the courts, said the toll of extra badgers killed would depend on how many areas got the go-ahead, but if it was the entire “edge area” – that is medium-risk – up to 20,000 or more a year could be killed.

He said: “If the exception is just a badger with bovine TB is found or trapped within say 1km of a farm, it could just become the new normal to cull every year over wide areas. So this risks being the cull anywhere, for ever moment.”

Especially with a General Election on the horizon this year.

The government had promised the culls would end next year and be replaced by increasing vaccinations, but last year landowners and farmers were given the go-ahead to kill tens of thousands more badgers.

Mr Langton said 100 per cent culling was tried in 2018 around Penrith in Cumbria in cattle imported from Northern Ireland.

“They went in and shot 1,115 badgers – all of them – but could not then attribute change in TB rates to culling as seven farms were quite clearly reinfecting themselves because of the failed testing regime,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our approach to disease control continues to be informed by science (WAV – What !!) and deploys all tools at our disposal.

“We are moving to the next phase of our strategy which will focus on wider scale badger vaccination – but as we clearly set out in the 2020 Godfray Review response and subsequent consultation and response in 2021, culling remains an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed, alongside other measures in our bovine TB eradication strategy.”

Regards Mark / Diana

Dr Brian May

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/?s=badgers

Safe if I have anything to do with it – a Badger in my own garden:

2040 climate target – EU Commission half-heartedly recognises the role of shifting diets

6 February 2024

Press Release

Today, the European Commission published its communication starting the process for establishing a 2040 intermediary climate target on the EU’s road towards climate neutrality by 2050, yet it fails to recognise the full potential of shifting diets to fully achieve these goals.

The final text no longer includes a reference to a 30% cut in non-CO2 emissions from agriculture, such as CH4 emissions from livestock and N2O emissions from soils. Similarly, parts of the communication recognising the role of lifestyle changes, including dietary shifts, in bringing greenhouse gas emissions down have also been dropped. On a more positive note, the communication stresses the role of the food industry in contributing to food environments making healthy diets an easy and affordable choice for consumers.

The last-minute watering down follows the farmers’ protests which have unfolded across Europe. Policymakers are responding to farmers’ discontent by settling on short-sighted compromises and rolling back climate policies, rather than adopting necessary long-term measures. Yet, the agriculture and food sectors have great potential to enable dietary shifts, reduce climate-harming emissions and improve human and animal health.

The link between dietary patterns and greenhouse gas emissions is now beyond question. It is beyond understanding that the Commission has deliberately ignored it. If we want to be serious on the climate crises, EU policymakers must regulate food environments, and make our food choices healthy and sustainable by default. They must use the One Health approach – in all policies – as a reflex, not a slogan.

Dr. Milka Sokolovic, Director General, European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)

Today the Commission failed to recognise the need for shifting to healthy, plant-rich diets and raising fewer animals under much higher conditions to achieve the EU’s climate objectives. Without such a transition the EU falls short on  its ambitions on animal welfare whilst jeopardising its climate, environmental and health objectives.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

However hard the Commission tries to handle farmers with kid gloves, facts are stubborn things: our food and agriculture systems contribute a big chunk of the EU’s climate impact. Consumers are willing to change the way they eat and play their part in the fight against climate change, provided sustainable, healthy food becomes more available and affordable. Now the ball is in the court of the next European Commission, who will have to urgently dust off the overdue Sustainable Food Systems law and put it on the table. Such law must incentivise industry and retailers to better support consumers in the transition.

Monique Goyens, Director General, European Consumer Organisation (BEUC)

This short briefing outlines why shifting diets has a positive impact on health and climate. 

Put Change on the Menu is a collaborative project between BEUC, Eurogroup for Animals, and the European Public Health Alliance.

Regards Mark

2 February 2024

Press Release

Thousands of farmers have been protesting across Europe in recent days, and many gather today in Brussels to denounce the unfair competition brought about by the implementation of Free Trade Agreements (FTA) like the EU-Mercosur, and the resulting poor working conditions and low income.

Friends of the Earth Europe, Eurogroup for Animals and the European Trade Justice Coalition (ETJC) share European farmers’ frustration over having to compete with imported products exempt from the EU environmental, labour and animal welfare standards. As President Macron, who reportedly asked the European Commission to stop the EU-Mercosur negotiations, meets Ursula Von der Leyen today at a summit of European Union leaders, groups reinforce the call to end the EU-Mercosur deal and stop other FTAs in progress. 

The crises of climate, workers rights and inequality we face cant be solved by more outdated and unjust trade agreements, negotiated behind closed doors. We need a u-turn on trade policy and to put the planet, and people at the centre. The only reasonable call is for more countries to join France in their demand to put a full stop to this disastrous deal.

Leah Sullivan, Coordinator, ETJC

Environmental, animal welfare, and trade justice NGOs also denounce current populist discourses seeking to blame green and progressive legislations for farmers’ unease. Farmers need fair and stable prices for more environmentally and animal welfare friendly produced food. In order to successfully transition to sustainable food systems and achieve food sovereignty, the EU must uphold the European Green Deal’s farming objectives and reform its Common Agricultural Policy. 

When thousands of farmers protest in Europe against unjust free trade agreements, a fight supported by environmentalists and a large part of civil society, how can the Commission still put corporate giants’ economic interests above our common well-being? The negotiations of the EU-Mercosur deal, a toxic and outdated deal, must stop now and for good”.  

Julie Zalcman, trade campaigner, Friends of the Earth Europe

If implemented, the EU-Mercosur deal will create further unfair competition between European and South American farmers, reinforce the intensification of monocultures, intensive animal farming and extractive models in South America, and fuel deforestation, pesticide use and human rights violations. Those issues are inherent to the deal and cannot be fixed with a non-enforceable joint instrument, as proposed by the EU Commission.  

Even with the proposed joint instrument, the agreement would still increase the risks of animal cruelty, deforestation and human rights abuse due to the EU’s demand for commodities such as soya, beef, and poultry.” 

Stephanie Ghislain, Political Affairs Manager, Eurogroup for Animals

Regards Mark