Earlier this year Heather Fenn wrote to the Conservation Officer of DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) about the overseas visitors and immigrants and the effect they were having on the local wildlife populations of the Thames. There must obviously be mixed feelings about this since immigration adds to the biodiversity everybody seems to want yet if the newcomers are too vigorous and demand the feeding and breeding grounds of our own species then we must be the losers in the long run. Mrs. Fenn wrote:
The problem seems to be that our friends from the West, East, North and the South seem to be replacing the indigenous population. We now have parrots and parakeets, mink and Norway rats, and are overrun with Canadian geese and visits from Egyptian geese and even see some of the more exotic birds like curlews. What we do not have are mallards and kingfishers, and great-crested grebes seem to be declining as fast as the silly old coots.
“It is very difficult” Heather wrote “to watch the cruel water dance of the Canadian geese drowning ducklings every Spring. The only consolation this Spring was that there were too few ducklings to watch”. Clearly Heather was hoping for an upbeat response from DEFRA but the answer she got was full of paragraphs like this:
...Recognising this threat (invasive non-native species threatening native species) the Government convened a working group comprising a wide range of stakeholders to undertake a fundamental review of policy and practice on non-native species. The Government welcomed the report and recommendations on tackling this important matter. This is a complex and wide-ranging issue and the Government (including Scotland and Wales again) will be considering the review report carefully in developing the Governments strategy to take forward. The Government will need to give careful consideration to the complex and important issues raised in the report
Anyway, Heather was assured by the Conservation Officer that countrywide, Mallards. Kingfishers, great-crested grebes etc. were all doing well and had actually increased in numbers. So our problem here is a local microcosm of some greater and healthier ecosystem. That being so why was the Government and, presumably, the working group, so concerned by the results of the survey? They have recognised a threat that doesn’t exist and taken appropriate action. We can wait with bated breath for a Green Paper or two in a few years. Meanwhile, whither our ducks?
