SAVING OUR LAPWINGS

Paul Hobson makes a call to arms to help restore that glorious, evocative, countryside, spring sight and sound the flight and cry of the Peewit

Last summer I worked as a volunteer on the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust/National Trust’s badger vaccination program in the Edale valley. On many of the days when I was tramping uphill or down dale I would stop to chat with the local farmers whenever our tracks crossed.

Our conversations often roamed far and wide but one chunter stuck firmly in my mind, the changing sounds of spring. Both myself and the farmer recollected just how quiet spring had become. In many ways it reminded me of a book I read in 1978 when I was studying for my degree in Environmental Science The book was titled Silent Spring and had been written by one of the most influential environmental scientists of the last millennium, Rachel Carson. mentioned this to the farmer and we chatted about how successful the book had been in revealing the hidden cost to the wildlife of indiscriminate pesticide use. We both agreed that her message was still relevant today. Spring on many farms is just too quiet!