Boxing Day is almost upon us and I hope everyone will be attending a meet, wherever they are. A listing of meets has been published by the Hunting Office (view it here) whilst our team is busy briefing the media on "where we are" and organising places for Boxing Day filming, with the help and support of hunts. Hunts are keen to use this platform not only to show the country how unified and determined they are to ensure their long term future, but also to ridicule the Hunting Act at every opportunity. And we bring you two documents so you too can make the case for scrapping the Act – whether to your friends, colleagues or helping to defend hunting by calling radio talk-shows and writing to newspapers.

The Independent Panel on Forestry recently published its progress report. The Panel was established in March 2011 to advise on the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England and on the role of the Forestry Commission in implementing policy. There is some encouraging news for the shooting community as the panel has specifically mentioned the economic value of shooting, as these quotes demonstrate:

"Woodland is a critical part of most lowland game shoots (40% of the 1.9 million shooting days in the UK) particularly in England”

“There is widespread appreciation among respondents of the economic benefits that sustainably managed commercial woodlands provide. They provide livelihoods directly, by providing employment, often in remote areas where other opportunities are scarce e.g. forestry work or game and wildlife management.”

“Woodland management activities can include the felling of trees followed by re-planting, the control of deer or cutting to maintain open space. these activities are undertaken in order to achieve one, or a number of, woodland management objectives. These can include timber production, benefiting wildlife, provision of access, game and sport management and conservation.”

The panel will be producing a full list of recommendations next year but it seems from the paper that while they believe there is a place for a Public owned forest estate, the emphasis needs to be on creating more woodland and managing it better. We already know that woods used for shooting are some of the best managed in the country, whilst also providing jobs and income, and this acknowledgement is welcome.

Last week the Transport Secretary, Justine Greening, announced she was postponing the decision on the future of HS2, the high-speed rail project running from London to Birmingham, in order to review all the relevant factors. The Alliance welcomed this decision as we believe that the Government has failed to make a sound business case. The decision will now be announced in the New Year, giving us all the opportunity to raise our concerns once more about the project.

Whether you live along the route or elsewhere in the country, it is important you make your voice heard, which you can do by emailing the Transport Secretary or your MP with your concerns. All you need to do is click here, click on "email your MP" or "Transport Secretary" and fill in your details – it is as simple as that. 

Richard Bacon, MP for South Norfolk has put down an Early Day Motion (EDM), which welcomes the report by The Countryside Alliance Foundation (TCAF) on food labelling: ‘Honest, Fair, Simple.’ The EDM calls for mandatory country of origin labelling to be extended to all meat products. You will be aware that an EDM is a way for MPs to draw attention to an event or cause and that MPs register their support by signing individual motions.

The EU has approved the retention of tapeworm controls for dogs entering the UK. This derogation, which takes effect on 1st January 2012, will help keep the UK's dog and fox population free of the killer tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis. People can be infected by ingesting tapeworm eggs from dog or fox faeces which results in a long, painful and often fatal disease. As one European researcher said recently: “Lyme disease is a small problem compared to this”.