Archived press release

More research needed on wildlife, not less

9 January 2006

Friends of the Earth today (Monday 9^th January) urged the Government to reject proposals to close four of the UK's leading wildlife research labs, including Monks Wood research centre in Cambridgeshire, responsible for pioneering work on a wide range of ecological subjects, including the impacts of climate change.

The environmental campaign group has written to Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Alan Johnson and Margaret Beckett (DEFRA) urging them to block proposals for cost-savings by the Government-funded Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) which funds the Monks Wood research centre, which is internationally renowned as a centre of excellence in ecological research, as well as three other laboratories in Scotland, Dorset and Oxford [1].

The DTI is currently consulting on the proposals [2] which will bring savings of around £2 million and affect some 200 jobs. The cuts are, however, estimated to cost £45 million to implement. A final decision is expected in March this year.

Friends of the Earth Executive Director Tony Juniper said:

"It is incredible that cutting funding for these crucial research centres is even being considered. They have a fundamental role to play in our understanding of a whole range of environmental challenges, including the impacts of climate change. We need more research on wildlife, not less. Ministers must urgently review these proposals and recognise the valuable research work that these centres carry out.

The Monks Wood centre, which hosted the BBC's Spring Watch programme, pioneered work on DDT and pesticides in the 1960s, and more recently revealed how changes to the climate were affecting the behaviour of wildlife, suggesting a fundamental shift in the pattern of the seasons, with spring arriving three weeks earlier. The research centres were also involved in assessing the impacts of GM crops on wildlife, with their findings contradicting claims made by industry that no harm would be caused.

Notes

[1] Copies of the letter are available from the press office at Friends of the Earth.

[2] www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/latestpressrelease/2005-57ceh.asp

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust