Rewilding Study by the University of Oxford

[rewildingpreferences]

Establishing rewilding preferences in British farmers and gamekeepers

Free Online Survey Software by SurveyMonkey: Closed Survey

This survey is currently closed. Please contact the author of this survey for further assistance.

www.surveymonkey.co.uk

We are a group of researchers from the University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology, looking for volunteers, aged 18+ and employed in either the farming or gamekeeping sector, to take part in a short survey looking into rewilding preferences. Participants must be:

• 18 or over
• Based in the UK
• Work in either the farming or gamekeeping sector

If you are interested in participating and giving your opinion on rewilding policy in the UK please follow the link: INSERT LINK. No identifiable data will be collected and all responses are anonymous. This project has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee [R63720/RE001]. You can drop out at any point during the survey. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. If you are interested in participating and giving your opinion on rewilding policy in the UK please follow the link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7B2JYYM

 

[Doing it for the kids]

Bit of an odd survey.

Would I prefer one meat eating apex predator or another!? Neither thanks!

 

[Raider112]

Not got time for that but all this fashionable stuff about planting trees and releasing wild animals that don't belong here is the ultimate in stupidity if it means abandoning our own local food supply in order to destroy rain forests and ship our food in from thousands of miles away.

 

[B'o'B]

@rewildingpreferences I'm afraid the University of Oxford's reputation on this forum has been somewhat tainted by a previous survey in this thread

Lynx Reintroduction Survey

Have your say on the reintroduction of Lynx to the UK by completing a new survey by researchers at the University of Oxford. www.biologysurveys.wixsite.com/lynxsurvey The Lynx UK Trust has recently claimed that it is now a ‘near certainty’ that Lynx will be reintroduced into the wild in the UK...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

From the looks of @Doing it for the kids reply it seems that you are maybe asking questions in a way which only allows answers that you (or the people you are undertaking the research for) want to get, rather than the genuine feeling of the responder.

 

[Exfarmer]

A very childish attempt to get people to answer in a fashion which would justify the reintroduction of species, which would probably have serious affects on both environment and farming.
If you ask, do you prefer wolves to lynx , or lynx to Sea Eagle etc. you will have respondents apparently supporting the introduction of these species

 

[pycoed]

What a ridiculous survey! Whoever designed it (I struggle to believe that it was a university student) should be sent down immediately.

1 Would you prefer to be garroted or stabbed?
2 Which would you prefer: to have an eye poked out or your tongue cut out?
3 Have you stopped beating your wife? (Y/N)
etc. etc. ad nauseam

 

[Raider112]

To think that I would have done it if I had more time. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[melted welly]

Establishing rewilding preferences in British farmers and gamekeepers

Free Online Survey Software by SurveyMonkey: Closed Survey

This survey is currently closed. Please contact the author of this survey for further assistance.

www.surveymonkey.co.uk

We are a group of researchers from the University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology, looking for volunteers, aged 18+ and employed in either the farming or gamekeeping sector, to take part in a short survey looking into rewilding preferences. Participants must be:

• 18 or over
• Based in the UK
• Work in either the farming or gamekeeping sector

If you are interested in participating and giving your opinion on rewilding policy in the UK please follow the link: INSERT LINK. No identifiable data will be collected and all responses are anonymous. This project has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee [R63720/RE001]. You can drop out at any point during the survey. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. If you are interested in participating and giving your opinion on rewilding policy in the UK please follow the link: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7B2JYYM

Your survey reads like a conversation at a 4 year old’s birthday party

“Do you like moose or owls?”

Owls

“Do you like beavers or lynx”

And so on.......

 

[Ffermer Bach]

The survey has one question that is very poor, regarding environmental stewardship, I am in Glastir entry, but I was not asked about it, I was only given the option of saying if I was in an English scheme and to be honest I have no idea about any English environmental schemes. I would have thought the person who created the questionnaire (or their supervisor) would have a little more knowledge. If that is the type of thing Oxford university puts out, I think it reflects very badly on our higher education system.

As to the other questions, I am not sure that the honest answers I gave give you any idea about my knowledge or preferences with re-wilding.

Basically I dislike the idea of anything that can kill my lambs and I am sure all other sheep farmers will feel the same. Eye opener looking at Alan Savory's youtube video, showing protecting the cattle on his ranch from Lions by the way!

I think if you want to have a coherent idea about re-wilding, speak to Sir Charles Burrell (Knebb Estate), who will give a very interesting and thought provoking talk, his presentation at Groundswell may be available on youtube.

 

[slackjawedyokel]

I wonder if there *is* a department of zoology as such at the minute. The marvellous concrete structure was condemned at fairly short notice a few years ago due to its stupendous asbestos content.

(I was a biology student myself there in the mid 90s, and my attitude to this modern fad for rewilding is broadly in line with most in the farming community!)

 

[B'o'B]

Oh dear, the reputation of the University of Oxford takes another hit from a poorly designed biased survey and the Research Ethics Committee fails in its role policing this same issue once again.
@rewildingpreferences you have undermined the reputation of your University and your supervisor and the Ethics Committee have not been effective in there roles which should prevent you from allowing such a poor survey to go public.
Farmers and Universities should be working together, however your survey undermines such a partnership.

 

[steveR]

I am like many here, more than happy to assist Students with their research work and have done so several times on a practical basis and also, in responding to Surveys either on a personal basis or from the odd one here.

This is a shocking piece of work. Heavily loaded questions with an underlying, and hugely incorrect assumption, that as a Farmer involved with the CSS, I would be interested in rewilding the area I manage with apex predator and long extinct animals. Most of the animals "suggested" have no place in a modern British landscape, and would not be welcomed anywhere that livestock farming is taking place. ie most of it...

I am afraid that I got through to the second page and exited.

This sort of "research" reflects badly on the individuals who have posed the questions in the survey in such a manner, and also on any Supervisor who allows such work to go live.

I would email the Supervisor with my views, but unfortunately, unless you do so immediately on entering the survey, the address is no longer available...

 

[slackjawedyokel]

I think most farmers have a similar point of view re. Introducing apex species.

We have had decades of ‘dealing’ with one protected black and white species which has caused untold loss and misery and yet the majority of the general public seem to think that it’s still all the fault of farmers.

The actions of opinion formers on this topic (Monbiot, Packham etc) is only likely to entrench opinions further; by supporting rewilding farmers may be making a rod for their own backs.

 

[B'o'B]

I would email the Supervisor with my views, but unfortunately, unless you do so immediately on entering the survey, the address is no longer available...

They won’t even let you cut and paste from the introduction screen, so I took a screenshot.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Well, I'm glad I haven't just splashed 40K of tax payers (or my parent's!) dough on a degree from Oxford as it appears at least one faculty there is infested with monkeys! Jaysus wept, where was that thread on TFF the other day about having a degree?

 

[slackjawedyokel]

I tend to steer well clear of surveys that funnel you into picking options that are not what you’d want, because they can then be used to misrepresent your views.

On your farm, would you like someone to come up and kick you:
a) in the shins?
b) in the ‘nads?
c) in the head?

Spool forward a few months and a report comes out saying that most farmers want to be kicked in the shins, so that should now become policy.

 

[primmiemoo]

It isn't research being promoted in the survey, it's self-fulfilling prophesy based on short-term fad.

I'd much rather have food produced from a flora and fauna rich, carbon sequestering, farmed environment with me as apex Steward, and to shuffle off this mortal coil reasonably assured that the next generation and their children's children's children have the same chance of knowing where their next meal will come from as I have been fortunate to know.

We'll need capacity to feed refugees from climate change stricken parts of the World, in the medium to long term, as well. It would be a shame to have to spell that out to an Oxbridge bod, though.

[Edited to remove repetition.]

 

[Longlowdog]

Over 24 hours and they haven't been back in defence of their monstrosity.

 

[steveR]

Over 24 hours and they haven't been back in defence of their monstrosity.

Indefensible possibly?

I had a look at the Research unit that is affiliated to the Uni. The Supervisor is a research fellow I think.

Big budgets backed by...??

 

[Flat 10]

I'm glad I went to Cambridge................
Seriously that survey is a complete disgrace. Oxford ought to be ashamed of that.