| Curtain Cider 2008-02-22, 9:25 am |
| About time someone stood up for the important value of insects. All
species should be respected, they all have their place in the world.
February 22, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/yv7mrf
Insects’ right to life will be decided in court
Valerie Elliott, Countryside Editor
Many people do not think twice about trampling over a spider or beetle
while walking on grass. But insects have rights, too, and today in the
High Court a charity is to defend the right for the creepy-crawlies to
live undisturbed on the West Thurrock marshes along the Thames in
Essex.
Buglife, the conservation trust for invertebrates, is fighting for the
right to survival for endangered species including a rare spider that
resembles a teddy bear - the distinguished jumper (Sitticus
distinguendus).
This creature is found on the West Thurrock marshes, one of only two
of its habitats left in Britain. More importantly, it is found on the
Government’s biodiversity conservation list, which requires that the
species be protected.
Yet Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation has approved the
development of a gigantic distribution centre for the Royal Mail and
car parks that would concrete over an area the size of 15 football
pitches and threaten the spider with extinction.
The plan would destroy 70 per cent of the flower-rich grassland and
warm soil that provide vital nourishment for the distinguished jumper
and 36 red-listed species, whose survival is considered to be
threatened.
The land may look an unremarkable piece of scrub and its wildlife
population is barely visible, but for Matt Shardlow, director of
Buglife, it is as important to Britain as the rainforests to Brazil.
He has decided to use £30,000 to bring a judicial review application
against the government-appointed corporation in the first legal
challenge under recent wildlife protection laws. The Natural
Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 places a legal duty on all
public bodies to have regard to the conservation of important species.
Mr Shardlow believes that the corporation failed in this duty and
should have identified an alternative site where development would
have caused less damage to wildlife.
He said: “The planet is on the crest of the biggest extinction event
since the dinosaurs died out . . . It is generally accepted that
pushing species towards extinction is immoral; this case will tell us
if our laws and planning policies enshrine this principle and protect
the future health of the planet.”
Buglife also claims that the corporation failed to protect important
conservation species and failed to conduct a thorough environmental
impact assessment.
The bug’s day in court today is before Mr Justice Mitting. He has to
decide if the development corporation followed the correct procedures
as set out in the law. If he finds against the body, he can order a
new planning process.
In path of the bulldozers
Distinguished jumper, right (Sitticus distinguendos)
Brown-banded carder bee (Bombus humilis)
Redshanked bumblebee (Bombus ruderarius)
Saltmarsh shortspur beetle (Anisodactylus poeciliodes)
Humpbacked red ant (Myrmica bessarabica)
Source: Buglife
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