Wildlife chief quits

Field sports/ conflict of interest

THE chief executive of the British Field Sports Society, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, has been driven to resign as president of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust because of a "conflict of interest" over blood sports.

Mr Hanbury-Tenison, who took the helm of the pro-hunting lobby a fortnight ago, was asked to resign by the Wildlife Trust earlier this month.

The trust owns and manages 3,500 acres of nature reserve in the West Country and has banned all hunting on its land. Mr Hanbury-Tenison agreed to step down from his honorary position after being approached by members of the trust. The resignation was described as "amicable".

Trevor Edwards, director of the trust, said: "We confronted Robin once it became public that he had taken up the post. The conclusion that we all reached was that Robin's active promotion of field sports and very public stance on the issue was at odds with our own stance."

Last week Mr Hanbury-Tenison commented: "I personally see no conflict over the two roles because I believe that field sports are an integral part of the countryside. The point about my British Field Sports job is that I will be actively promoting field sports. The trust is firmly neutral on the matter so I thought it better to resign my position. I absolutely saw their point."

Mr Hanbury-Tenison, who shoots pheasant on his 1,000-acre estate, is a conservationist and champion of rainforest inhabitants. In 1969 he helped found Survival International, a charity defending native peoples. It was thought that his appointment as head of the British Field Sports Society would help win back public support for hunting.