Taking a stand……

I’m not late to the party honest I just had to find the time to write this blog rather than just a share and donation (I will share & I have personally donated anyway). What am I going on about? Read on my feathery friends……..

On Friday morning my friend Ruth launched a crowd funder for our friend Chris Packham. This was towards the litigation costs for the libel action Chris is pursuing against Field Sports Channel Ltd. Now first things first, although I’m not as close to Chris as Ruth is (fellow Wild Justice directors & friends) I do consider Chris a mate. He has always been a massive supporter of Raptor Aid and whenever I’ve needed his help, I’ve sent him a message and he’s stepped up, when really he’s probably got other things he could be doing. A classic example is Raptor Aid’s Philippine Eagle Foundation fundraiser, trickling along at circa £2000, I asked Chris if he could give it a nudge on his socials. Not only did he do that but himself, Megan and his team did a whole episode on SIBC and we smashed £10,000 in donations for the Philippine Eagle Foundation (many other people helped I should add). Thats just one example, there are many other times he’s supported Raptor Aid and for that I’m truly grateful and glad he’s on our side.

Chris for me is an individual who really knows his stuff, and if he doesn’t he research’s it, he has one of those minds that clearly absorbs new information and retains it readily (Kinda annoying - I have to read things a million times over then watch a YouTube tutorial video). He’s also a fantastic orator and synthesises the knowledge he holds on a specific topic easily making him an incredibly valuable asset to anything he is involved with. He’s also not afraid to speak out and put his name to issues he believes in, the greatest of all in my eyes being that of climate change, biodiversity loss and the injustices our natural world faces. All of this however means he ends up in the cross hairs of individuals, organisations and the media. Is he perfect? Well I don’t think any of us are but that doesn’t mean he or anyone for that matter should feel in fear of their and their families safety and be in the position where they have to take libel action against another individual or organisation for publishing alleged defamatory material.

I knew things were going on regarding this particular case and also the abuse that Chris (and others including Ruth) get thrown at them. In my opinion when you look and read about what Chris deals with on an all to frequent occasion it seems like a form of terrorism, people don’t agree with what he supports and believes in so they resort to threats, intimidation and even an arson attack at his home, its madness really. Whilst a lot of these actions are by small minded individuals or possibly groups, it’s the media (and I include social media) that often fan the fires that burn inside these people and give them the belief and desire to carry out such idiotic actions. Here is a classic example from only this month.

What on earth?

This is a front page article from a UK newspaper right at a time when the world is seeing the greatest loss in biodiversity. I’m not sure of the size of readership and demographic of the Daily Star but I really hope most people did the right thing and just recycled this copy. In the UK one species of gull is on the red list and nine are on the amber list as birds of conservation concern yet apparently humans are the victims and chips and ice cream are under threat! Just to throw a bit of irony into the mix and in case you missed the small print the Daily Star are proud to love animals!

We should be embracing wildlife and championing our love and support for it, like what is currently being shown on BBC Wild Isles, not inciting further hatred towards species because we’ve pushed them to the edge!

So back to the crowd funder and libel case regarding Chris. This is off the back of a published article and a video accusing Chris of dishonest and unethical behaviour ( You can read more on the Crowd Funder page). Chris is obviously in the spotlight as a tv presenter and naturalist whose programmes are watched by millions so some might say it comes with the territory, if Chris wants to support X, have an opinion on Y and champion Z he can’t complain when someone else publishes something about him. That something has to be true and backed up with clear, factual based evidence and not cast aspersions or try to assassinate someones character though, it doesn’t seem that any of this is. Hence why Chris is in a position where he is taking action. These sort of articles and videos can have a ripple effect, they can stoke the fire of hatred and add further fuel to individuals who aren’t prepared to discuss and air their opinion in a polite, sensible manner. Eventually these people want to vent and react in terrible ways and they want a target.

One such example of this has appeared on Twitter towards my friend Ruth a hugely respected biologist with a PhD on raptors. I hope many of you reading this have come across her work because she is an absolute shining light when it comes to birds of prey, bringing things to light and questioning in the correct way when things need to be questioned. Have a look at what appeared on Twitter after the launch of the Crowd Funder……..

Bitter Twitter……

Awful right! This is just typical of what individuals like Ruth and Chris (and many others I should add) have to put up with. The Crowd Funder has barely been on the web and someone has mocked this up. Maybe this person is a Daily Star reader because it’s odd how they have gone for a similar layout to the gull hating tabloid. In the end, however I know Ruth and Chris are big enough to look past this as they have done time and time again and all it does is stir up more harrassment.

Growing up something that was said to me on a couple of occasions when arguing with my siblings was if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all - I’m glad it sank in!

You can find out more about the crowd funder and support - HERE.

Jimmi

Raptor Aid CIO Chair

P.S

I typed this late afternoon today and then had to pop out before I finished and proof read (I still miss grammatical things - apologies). I have just seen on Ruth’s blog Raptor Persecution UK this post - Click me. If you think what I have said is just pandering to a celeb mate or banter as I’ve heard some people call it then Ruth’s most recent post is damming & pretty much says it all really. I needn’t have waffled on other than to show my support. Looking at the crowd funder its incredible how generous people have been - Thanks for caring.