AIREDALE and Bradford RSPB Local Group is holding a 5Oth anniversary event, a talk by Professor Ian D Rotherham entitled Nature Reserves, Wildlife Spectaculars - the Reality and Myths of Ecotourism

The meeting, on Friday October 14, will commence earlier than usual in order to allow time for the group's AGM and also the mark its 50th Anniversary.

An ecologist and countryside historian, Professor Ian Rotherham is an authority on wildlife conservation and tourism. He has worked on tourism issues with Government agencies and conservation bodies across the UK and internationally and is involved in some aspects of rewilding. He has written extensively on the impacts of fenland drainage, the widespread historic destruction of wetlands and the consequences for birdlife. Working on the ecology and history of peatlands including the often forgotten impacts of community-based peat cutting, his books include ‘The Lost Fens - England’s Greatest Ecological Disaster’, ‘Peat & Peat Cutting‘, ‘Yorkshire’s Forgotten Fenlands’, and ‘Peatlands: Ecology, Conservation and Heritage’. Current projects include re-wetting and rewilding lowland drained fens to enhance biodiversity and to support local economic regeneration. Ian led the economic studies on RSPB Old Moor in South Yorkshire. Time: 7pm at the Kirkgate Centre, Shipley, BD18 3EH Price: £3.00 (Accompanied children free). For more information about the group visit rspb.org.uk/groups/airedaleandbradford