Author | Lightnews

Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · 19d

🦌 We will be chatting about sustainable #deer management and what needs to happen in the The Scottish Parliament to ensure wild places have the freedom to thrive and people are connected to nature.

Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · 19d

🎤 I'll be chairing a great panel including Deirdre Stewart from the Association of Deer Management Groups, Duncan Orr-Ewing from @rspbscotland.bsky.social and @scotlink.bsky.social, and @alasdairallanmsp.bsky.social.

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · 19d

🎗️ I'm at the @snp.org conference to speak on behalf of #WildPlaces for @johnmuirtrust.bsky.social, along with my colleagues Wendy and Benjamin.

📆 If you're attending, come along and say hi, and don't miss our fringe event on Monday from 12:30-13:30, in the Conference suite 4.

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Jul 17

This week my coffee jar has been playing host to a caterpillar transforming into.... we shall see!
Feeling like a kid running down the stairs every morning to see how the metamorphosis is going 😂

Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Jun 3

This.
@scottishgreens.org

No National Park: A betrayal of working-class communities

Green activist in Dumfries and Galloway Laura Moodie writes for Green Left Scotland about who will really lose out from the scrapping of plans for a new National Park.

open.substack.com

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · May 21

"The stars are for everyone" 💯

Brendan Paddy @bjpaddy.bsky.social · May 21

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Supreme Court backs wild camping on Dartmoor

The Supreme Court upholds the legal right to wild camp on Dartmoor in Devon in a landmark case.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Thomas Widrow

Scottish Greens @scottishgreens.org · May 6

🚨 BREAKING: From September 1st peak rail fares will be scrapped for good in Scotland!

🟢2023: Greens scrap peak rail fares.
🟡2024: SNP bring them back
🟡2024: thousands join Green and trade union calls for the SNP to reverse their decision
🟢2025: SNP reverse their decision

Peak Rail Fare Scrapped For Good. Scottish Greens.

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Apr 23

Excited to be on a panel Monday eve to chat rewilding and wild places on behalf of @johnmuirtrust.bsky.social with colleagues from @scotwildlife.bsky.social, @treesforlife.bsky.social, @highlandsrewilding.bsky.social, Mossy Earth, and the Alladale Estate 🌳🌳

Book a free ticket at the link!

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Reposted by Thomas Widrow

Iris Duane 🇵🇸🇺🇦 @irisduane.bsky.social · Apr 16

It has never been more true than today.

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Apr 8

Some good news to finish the working day!
A good step in the right direction for nature recovery, but now we need to accelerate.
@johnmuirtrust.bsky.social @treesforlife.bsky.social @rspbscotland.bsky.social @wtscotsocial.bsky.social
@scotwildlife.bsky.social
@n-t-s.bsky.social
@scotlink.bsky.social

#naturalenvironmentbill #naturerestoration | Thomas Widrow

📢 Breaking news - first time in history Scottish landowner is forced to manage estate for nature recovery 🎉 Minister Jim Fairlie has confirmed a "control scheme" (under section 8 of the Dee...

www.linkedin.com

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Apr 7

Scotland's efforts to reform land management and ownership are failing. Max, from REVIVE, explains why in this piece for the Herald:
www.heraldscotland.com/politics/vie...

Keep at it! @foescot.bsky.social @leagueacs.bsky.social @raptorpersuk.bsky.social

#landreform #landreformbill #politics

Scotland's Land Reform Bill is broken, here's how to fix it

Scotland's land is the foundation of our communities, economy, environment, and future prosperity, yet just 421 people and companies own half of all…

www.heraldscotland.com

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Reposted by Thomas Widrow

The Ferret @theferret.scot · Apr 6

🔴 Who’s lobbying Scotland? Fossil fuel giants, influential PR firms and the short-term lets industry are among the top lobbyists influencing the Scottish Government since John Swinney became first minister, The Ferret has found. theferret.scot/lobby...

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Reposted by Thomas Widrow

Chris Packham @chrisgpackham.bsky.social · Mar 17

I finally sit down for a one on one with gamekeeper Glenn Massacre (@mrhenrymorris.bsky.social) and it gets HEATED !

We discuss what constitutes 'vermin' and how he ALWAYS follows the letter of the law .

Please sign our petition to ban driven grouse shooting now govpetition.uk/700036

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Reposted by Thomas Widrow

Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · Mar 16

beaver's return

Comic by Stephen Collins for the Guardian. Script as follows:

Scene is a British WOODLAND by a RIVER. A NATURALIST is stood next to a cage, and TV NEWS REPORTERS are filming him and the cage.

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NATURALIST:
And now It is my great honour

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NATURALIST:
to reintroduce the first wild beaver
back into Britain

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[Cut to the BEAVER’S CAGE. Its door is open and the Beaver is leaned nonchalantly up against the opening, smoking a cigarette.]

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BEAVER:
Well, well, well.

5
BEAVER:
Look who's come crawling back.

6
BEAVER:
Got a rubbish ecosystem have ya?

7
BEAVER:
Not happy with the *critical anti-flood infrastructure* engineered by the flippin *badgers*?

8
BEAVER:
I almost didn't recognise you without one of my ancestors on your head…

9
BEAVER:
First you wipe us out… now you ask us to come back and build dams for free…
You actually expect me to be *pleased* don’t ya?

NATURALIST:
I'm so sorry I…I…

10
BEAVER:
“Ooh la la, the Brits have come crawling back…”
Do I look like *Michel flippin’ Barnier*?

11
NATURALIST:
I-if there’s some kind of… *remuneration* we could offer I-I’m sure…

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BEAVER [throwing cigarette to the ground]:
Unlimited pond weed, two tickets to Abba Voyage.

NATURALIST:
Done.

[ends]

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Mar 14

We didn't hike the whole ridge, literally beelined to the top from the village off path. And none of us had any idea what we were getting ourselves into. I wish I had come across Ramblers back then so I could have avoided some cold sweats 😅

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Mar 14

That it was. Not quite a trial by fire, more like a trial by scree haha

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Mar 14

My first munro was Liathach. A uni pal took a few of us out to Torridon. I looked up the wall of rock and asked half jokingly, half panicking how the hell we were meant to go up there. He pointed to the top, drew an imaginary line down to us and calm as a cucumber said "like that". Don't recommend 😂

Ramblers Scotland @ramblersscotland.bsky.social · Mar 14

As the days slowly lengthen & temperatures rise, are your thoughts shifting towards tackling one of Scotland's 282 #Munros?⛰️

By definition, no mountain is ever 'easy'!

But here's our list of 10 easier Munros for aspiring summit baggers armed with suitable skills, fitness, experience & forecasts.👇

The easiest Munros to bag in Scotland

What is a Munro? What is Munro Bagging? Why should you want to ‘bag’ a Munro? And where should you begin? Your questions answered.

www.ramblers.org.uk

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Mar 10

Aaah that makes a lot more sense!

Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Mar 9

That's a beautiful photo! Fionn Loch is near Suilven right?

Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Mar 9

Sometimes you just know it's time to head into the hills.

#wildplaces #wildmoments #highlands #beinndreagmor #shenavall

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Feb 25

It's called a Carbon Emissions Land Tax, or #CELT for short.

Yes the acronym is awesome and no, there's no good reason to not implement it asap. Just a lack of political leadership.

Check out www.johnmuirtrust.org/celt for more and sign the petition 😇

It's time for a Carbon Emissions Land Tax

Learn about our land tax to lock up carbon emissions, unleash biodiversity and strengthen rural communities in Scotland. Sign the petition today!

www.johnmuirtrust.org

Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Feb 25

Turns out after abandoning our 2030 #climate targets we're now on track to miss our #netzero targets entirely. Who could've possibly predicted that one...

And btw, I've been working on a policy proposal that would soak up around a third of emissions we'd need to slash.

@johnmuirtrust.bsky.social

Scotland ‘likely to miss net zero climate target by up to 20m tonnes’

Exclusive: Top officials and climate policy experts believe delays in cutting emissions make it improbable 2045 target will be met

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Thomas Widrow

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · Feb 22

Worst. Episode. EVER.

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Feb 20

...regulations that protect nature. A repeat of what's going on down south?

3. The updates to the National Parks aren't nearly as ambitious as they could have been

4. Once again, it looks like large landowners and powerful estates have had their way re deer management.

Stay tuned for more...

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Thomas Widrow @thomaswidrow.bsky.social · Feb 20

Analysing what's in the #NaturalEnvironmentBill just dropped by ScotGov on my way back to Inverness.

First impressions:

1. Good to see nature targets are in there, but we've all seen what happens when the climate targets weren't met... Nothing.

2. Very worrying provisions to weaken...

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