Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Richard Benyon's Facebook 'war on ragwort' sparks spat with ecologists

8:16 AM | Posted by Free Game Zone | | Edit Post

Minister

natural environment forced to eliminate "aggressive" as the conversation Facebook

When the Minister of the natural environment and fisheries, Richard Benyon, last week posted a photo on Facebook of himself valiantly pulling ragwort plants in the mocking eye of a cow probably thought that the image of a true fellow as difficult weeds that go well with voters.

After all, a pretty yellow plant that seems to arise during the night in the fields and hedgerows, is among the most damaging to Britain, with a reputation for killing the horses and animals pasture eat it. It has its own Act of Parliament and of the code, and the costs of local councils and government agencies millions of pounds a year to spray herbicides.

"I do not like tansy. May not be the topic of the moment, but I am at war for those who spread leave this vile weed. Target is now the General Directorate of Roads "written assurance Benyon in the wall of their Facebook page.

But the cries do not sound. Instead, the minister responsible for biodiversity is in a struggle with some of the environmentalists in Britain. Hours after the message about the "vile weed" over 30 people had complained that it was environmentally illiterate, the perpetuation of myths or simply wrong to put on the soles of companies herbicides.

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"Minister of the natural environment does not even seem to know the DEFRA [Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] orientation - having the right information - cattle are usually worse than if you eat plants dried in hay, "he wrote Gedge, Dusty, a prominent environmentalist and urban designer of green roofs. Attacked his science:". There is a science very clearly in the dynamics of the target population, indicating that the loss of habitat with a mosaic of habitats has a very serious, there is a chapter on one of groundsel books, "wrote another.
  • and attacked his ecological knowledge: "At least 30 insects and 14 species of fungi are totally dependent on groundsel, and about one third of the insects are rare or common groundsel is a critical source for hundreds of nectar. species of butterflies, bees, butterflies, flies and other invertebrates, helping to maintain what remains of its population was greatly reduced in the area of ??the UK, "said Matt Shardlow, director of invertebrates Buglife society.
  • But Newbury MP Benyon, the properties of the family earns about £ 200 000 per year on agricultural subsidies in the EU, no turning back. As his colleague Nicolas Soames Conservative MP, who in 2009 called the "scourge" of groundsel national "shame", Benyon responded, saying his critics were "unnecessarily aggressive" and that he was not advocating the ethnic cleansing of the 'groundsel, but I wanted to meet "a severe infestation of a poisonous plant."
The more people angry. "There is a campaign against groundsel. We are told that kills hundreds or thousands of animals each year. We are told it is dangerous to touch or you have cancer, if you do. We have said that is a danger to dogs. None of this is true, "said one." In fact, there is a severe infestation of ragwort at the moment. There are a lot of hysteria on the rise, but the government is studying last field actually indicates a decrease. Ask your staff to check for you. "

was too much for Benyon, who retired from the debate and, shortly thereafter, removing the thread of his Facebook wall.

Richard Benyon said: "I am very aware of the importance of biodiversity groundsel, but what many people do not realize that their presence can be extremely dangerous for livestock, especially horses and people should be. aware of the dangers and benefits and take steps to protect their animals if they are at risk. "

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