Countryside Alliance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Countryside Alliance (CA) is a British organisation promoting issues relating to the countryside such as food, farming and country sports (hunting, shooting and angling).
It was formed in 1998 from three organisations: the British Field Sports Society, and two other organisations (the Countryside Business Group and the Countryside Movement) which were formed with help from the British Field Sports Society.
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[edit] Organisation
The organisation covers mainly England and Wales, and is split into 10 regions:
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Countryside Alliance Scotland covers the country of Scotland and the Countryside Alliance Ireland both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
[edit] Campaigns
The focus of its campaigning has been to defend hunting especially fox hunting, opposing the ban on fox hunting and other forms of hunting with hounds, which came into effect (in England and Wales) in February 2005. Amongst other causes, the Scottish Countryside Alliance campaigns against the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, which banned hunting north of the border.
Opponents of the Alliance claim that this is the sole focus of the organisation, a claim it denies, saying that this campaigning is a response to the government's "preoccupation with the issue". Supporters of legislation have questioned the credibility of the Countryside Alliance claims to speak for the countryside when polls suggest people in rural areas are divided in their support for/opposition to hunting with hounds in much the same proportion as the urban population. [citation needed]
In response, the Countryside Alliance points to its campaigns try to preserve rural life in other ways, such as encouraging tourism (particularly important after the 2001 outbreak of foot and mouth disease), encouraging consumption of local seasonal food and trying to keep rural Post Offices and pubs open.
The Countryside Alliance mounted a series of legal challenges to the Hunting Act 2004 that banned hunting with hounds (integral to the sport of, for example, fox hunting) in England & Wales from February 18, 2005, which have not so far met with success.
Following the first conviction under the Hunting Act 2004 on August 4, 2006, the Countryside Alliance reaffirmed its belief that legislation was "illogical and unclear"[1] and vowed to support the appeal of the conviction.
[edit] Membership & Affiliations
The CA claims 100,000 members (October 2002), and also claims that 400,000 supporters participated in its September 22, 2002 "Liberty & Livelihood March" in London, a figure accepted by the Metropolitan Police Service.
The CA is not affiliated to any particular political party. According to disclosures in the UK Data Protection Register, the CA carries out research on the backgrounds of those it considers to be its opponents. [2]
On 22 July 2005 its new chairman was confirmed as Labour MP Kate Hoey who represents the inner-London constituency of Vauxhall.
