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Press Release

LOSING SIGHT OF ECOLOGY

13 March 2006

‘We condemn this decision by NERC’s Council which is both short-sighted and wrong-headed.’

This was CPRE’s [1] reaction today (Monday) to the news that NERC was pressing ahead with its decision to close four of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology’s (CEH) research sites at Banchory, Dorset, Monks Wood and Oxford.[2]

Tom Oliver, CPRE’s head of rural affairs, said: ‘The protestations of NERC’s Council have a ring of desperation about them. If all the work done by CEH is so vital, why single it out for savage cuts.

‘The NERC idea that sites and science can be separated shows ignorance of the tried and tested methods employed by these internationally renowned research stations.

‘This is not the end of the story. We and others will be subjecting NERC to close scrutiny over their efficiency, their ability to spend public money wisely and to deliver the environmental science that today they say is so vital.’

Tom Oliver concluded: ‘We call on the Government urgently to intervene and undertake a full scale review of NERC and its planning process. In the meantime this decision should be put on hold.’

- END –

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Sir Max Hastings. Patron: Her Majesty The Queen.

2. See NERC press release 13/06, issued 13 March 2006. This press release announced the outcome of the NERC Council’s meeting on 8 March, confirming plans to restructure the CEH but making some amendments. As a result of these amendments ‘up to 40 of the 200 posts at risk in the business plan will be saved,’ says the Press Release.



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