Fears badger cull could hit Welsh tourism
Apr 23 2008 by Andrew Forgrave, Daily Post
http://tinyurl.com/4ucrfo
WILDLIFE lovers are threatening to boycott Welsh tourism and produce
if Wales presses ahead with badger culls.
Tourism operators have reacted with alarm to a potential public
backlash if the killings go ahead.
Tourist information centres in Wales have already received emails from
disgruntled wildlife lovers threatening to shun Wales as a holiday
destination.
Dylan Evans, a partner at Anglesey Sea Zoo, is annoyed tourism groups
and other stakeholders were not consulted about the planned cull.
The Assembly Government announced the initiative as part of a package
of measures aimed at eradicating bovine TB (bTB).
Mr Evans said: “These days people vote with their wallets, so it’s
im****tant perceptions are managed.
“I am concerned at the wider impact on the rural economy in Wales. If
an unjustified cull of hedgehogs was planned, people would be against
it. It’s the same with badgers – there’s no scientific proof that
badgers spread the disease.”
In last week’s Assembly debate on badger culling, Labour AMs Lorraine
Barrett and Irene James warned of a backlash from “the public
throughout Wales, the UK and the world”.
In a sign of the passions the policy is likely to generate, 25 Dyfi
Badger Group members dressed in badger suits visited NFU Cymru’s
Aberystwyth office as the cull was being announced.
Staff in the union’s offices are being advised to block off their
letter boxes and to be vigilant for suspicious packages.
The Animal Liberation Front has warned it will hit farmers “in their
pockets” by tearing down fences and damaging buildings.
Philip Hughes, manager of the Rhug estate, Corwen, which has a shared
interest in food and tourism, admitted badger culling could harm
Wales’ image, but added: “While I can’t see it having a positive
impact on product buying decisions, at least farmers will have a
product to sell.”
But Ray Wood, of outdoor pursuits group Snowdonia Active, said he was
unaware of any planned boycott.
He added: “I can’t imagine it would have the same impact as the 2001
foot-and-mouth outbreak.”
Esther Roberts, managing director of North Wales tourism, said it was
believed a single badger lover had targeted tourist information
centres with angry emails.
She said: “When culling trials were carried out in England, they had
no impact on visitor numbers, and I imagine it will be the same here.”
The Assembly Government said it “fully understood” the im****tance of
both tourism and agriculture to the Welsh rural economy. But a
spokeswoman said: “There is no single solution to eradicating bovine
TB.”
Culls, in bTB hotspots, are unlikely to start before the autumn and,
initially, are likely to focus on south-west Wales.
The Badger Trust is seeking a judicial review of the plans. It claims
96% of the public opposed the policy, adding: “There will be a
damaging impact on tourism and on public sup****t for Welsh farm
produce”.
************************
The government appointed Independent Scientific Group on bTB spent
eight years evaluating the effects of badger culling on TB in cattle,
which cost 11,000 badgers their lives and taxpayers ?34 million. It
concluded that, ‘badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to
cattle TB control in Britain’.
DEFRA’s recent public consultation about a badger cull received
submissions from 47,000 respondents, ninety-five per cent of whom
opposed a cull. Despite all this, a badger cull will go ahead in Wales
and may open the way for a mass cull in the rest of Britain, too.
Contact the Welsh Assembly Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones to
urge her to reconsider: elin.jones@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
DEFRA’s Hilary Benn and urge him not to sanction a badger
cull: Hilary.Benn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
|
