The RSPB is issuing its first objections to fracking proposals over concerns that the controversial drilling technique will harm wildlife and the climate.
The charity has lodged a letter of objection with Lancashire County Council to a proposal by Cuadrilla at Singleton near Blackpool (Lancashire). The drilling site is close to an internationally important protected area for Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans, and could cause disturbance to the birds. The RSPB is also officially objecting to the contentious plans to explore for oil and gas at Balcombe (Sussex) on the grounds that no Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried out, and because increasing oil and gas use will scupper our chances of meeting climate targets.

 Harry Huyton, RSPB head of climate and energy policy, said: "Balcombe has hit
the headlines as the battleground in the debate over fracking. The public there
are rightly concerned about the impact this new technology will have on their
countryside. These are not just nimbys worried about house prices — there is a
very real public disquiet about fracking. We have looked closely at the rules in
place to police drilling for shale gas and oil, and they are simply not robust
enough to ensure that our water, our landscapes and our wildlife are safe."

 "Cuadrilla boss and former energy secretary Lord Howell claims that when he
made his much-publicised howler about fracking the 'desolate northeast', he
actually meant the northwest. Singleton in Lancashire is right in the heart of
the northwest and is on the doorstep of an area which is home to thousands of
geese and swans who will arrive from as far away as Siberia to roost and feed
next month and stay for the winter. There may not be as many local residents as
in Sussex, but this area is protected by European law because it is so valuable
for wildlife and Cuadrilla has done nothing to investigate what damage their
activities could do to it."

The RSPB has called on Lancashire County Council to ensure Cuadrilla has
carried out a full Environmental Impact Assessment before it goes ahead with any
work. The charity has also joined with other wildlife and environment groups to
call on the Government to rethink its shale gas policies.

 Mr Huyton added: "Government figures show that in the north of England there
is potential for 5,000 sites and a total of up to 100,000 wells. The idea that
these will not have an impact on the countryside is very difficult to believe.
Fracking is technology largely untested in the UK and we really have no idea
what the impact will be on our wildlife. We do know, however, that concentrating
our resources on extracting fossil fuel from the ground instead of investing in
renewable energy threatens to undermine our commitment to avoiding dangerous
levels of climate change."

Burning patches of peatland to encourage Red Grouse alters the UK's upland stream ecosystems, scientists say. The study, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, says an influx of material from burnt peatlands affects water quality in some upland streams which, in turn, affects their biodiversity.

Dr Sorain Ramchunder, who led the study, said "In streams where burning has taken place nearby, higher sediment and organic carbon levels are associated with a decline in mayflies, stoneflies and other macro-invertebrate species...macro-invertebrates are an important part of the freshwater community. They are a good indicator of how clean the water is, and of the general health of the ecosystem."

Grouse shooting is an important part of the upland economy, pulling in an estimated £190 million every year. Older grouse prefer to shelter in taller heather, while the young feed on fresh shoots. To create a mosaic of habitats to suit those needs, landowners routinely burn patches of vegetation, while leaving others to mature. Previous studies had focussed on the effect of burning on peatland carbon stores, amid fears that the practice might release long-stored carbon into rivers and the atmosphere, inflating the costs of cleaning water for use from the tap, and exacerbating climate change.

This study is the first to look at the effect of burning on stream health. Ramchunder and collaborators at the University of Leeds analysed water and macro-invertebrate samples from ten sites. Five were affected by burning, while the other five remained unburned. In burnt catchments, they found higher levels of material being washed into the streams from the surrounding land. This, says Ramchunder, is not only damaging stream ecosystems, but could also have effects on birds that come to the river to feed on invertebrates.

But Ramchunder is anxious that any new measures to control burning take the economic needs of the uplands into account, claiming that "Any regulation needs to be done with sensitivity, because grouse management is an important source of income in the UK uplands...but the health of the ecosystem can have important economic implications too. The increasing cost of cleaning the water is just one example of this."

Co-authors Dr Lee Brown and Professor Joseph Holden are now finalising the NERC-funded EMBER project, examining the effects of burning on soil hydrology and chemistry as well as taking a more in-depth look at river chemistry and macroinvertebrates.

Peatlands cover about 3% of the Earth's surface and burning is common. In the tropics, local populations often rely on 'slash and burn' agriculture, where peatland is burned to make way for food crops. A recent study showed that the destruction of tropical peatland forests was causing them to haemorrhage carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, raising concerns about their potential contribution to climate change.