RSPB boss Beccy Speight apologises for warden stomping on seabird's head
Responds to member who cancelled subscription to charity after seeing graphic video of worker carrying out killing. Despite the incident, warden still a valued employee who was quoted in annual report
Nowhere on the RSPB’s Complaints Policy and Procedure document does it say CEO Beccy Speight will respond with a personal letter, should you find yourself dissatisfied with any aspects of the charity’s policies or services. But apparently she does.
Had I known that earlier, I would have been writing letters every week to complain about everything the RSPB does, from polluting the Lake District with plastic and metal tree guards to spending millions on stoat genocide. The thought of the £180K-a-year-earning charity boss fretting over an in-tray filled with queries about smuggled dodo eggs or pterodactyl persecution would be hysterical.
Beccy wrote the letter to a long-time member who was appalled by the video of a ‘warden‘ on Coquet Island stomping on the head of a great skua (bonxy if you’re Scottish) as the bird desperately tries to escape. Somehow the video managed to get on social media. She was so appalled she cancelled her membership.
I know a little bit about the RSPB, but I’m not familiar with its policy on dispatching birds. I’m sure it doesn’t involve standing on their heads.
The stomper, Ibrahim Alfarwi (should really be al-Farwi), must be a valued employee as he is still working for the RSPB but somewhere else. Also, he was quoted in the RSPB’s 2022-2023 report, released in October 2023:
“We have lost more than half of our Roseate Terns, resulting in the lowest productivity on Coquet Island since 1985. Watching our beloved birds dying without being able to help them was very difficult, and seeing an entire Roseate Tern family dead is something I will never forget.”
Ibrahim Alfarwi,
Warden at RSPB Coquet Island off the Northumberland coast
In the letter, Beccy admits knowing about the incident - which happened in 2022 - and said the video surfaced in March 2023. The inclusion of al-Farwi’s quote in the report tells us Beccy and her gang were hoping the public wouldn’t find out.
“I hope the explanation below can help restore your faith in us as an organisation,” begs Beccy.
“I want to reassure you that the RSPB is completely committed to maintaining the highest standards of the management of birds on all our nature reserves,” she insists. This seems a little far-fetched, having done some research into birdlife at Geltsdale reserve, for example, which has seen a steady decline since the RSPB took over.
It’s no surprise to find out bird-stomping “breaches the high standards and procedures that we expect from our staff”, including “not wearing the appropriate PPE” during an avian flu outbreak. Apparently he had only “been instructed to catch the bird in order to prevent further suffering and the spread of bird flu”.
“The practice in the video fell short of what is required,” says Beccy. Presumably she was shown the ‘official‘ version of the video where the bird flees to safety and donors resume their direct debits.
Not wanting to end the letter on a downer, she adds a short plug for the charity’s work on the tiny little rock off England’s North East coast (easily the best part of the country): “On a happier note, we are currently getting ready for the busy breeding season at Coquet Island, with our wardens starting the necessary maintenance tasks and will continue to work hard to look after what is an important nature reserve, home to puffins, eiders, fulmar, kittiwake and the UK's only colony of Roseate terns, Britain's rarest nesting seabird.”
No mention of great skuas in that list.
