Archived News

20th August 2010

For a long time the countryside has been littered with the remains of balloons released at events, parties or balloon races, but now it’s the turn of the Chinese lantern.

Today we collected 31 lanterns which were recently seen flying from the direction of Hayley Conference Centre. 

I'm sure Dick would rather be driving a tractor instead of litter picking

Chinese lanterns are becoming a real hazard in the countryside; with a sharp increase in the number of fires in standing crops and straw bales and the unnecessary number of livestock deaths as a result of these lanterns.  There is also a risk to wild animals such as deer, pets and buildings in towns and countryside alike.

The lanterns were picked up over an expanse of land with crops and cattle and tinder dry woodland and I’ve no doubt that we'll discover more.

Apart from the major health and safety issues caused by these lanterns with their candle, bamboo and or wire; I just don’t see why it can be deemed acceptable to willingly release a large paper bag into our countryside when in a different situation the accidental dropping of a very small sweet wrapper or the like, can result in a large fine.  The world has truly gone mad!

To me, the issue is not whether the paper is bio-degradable or whether the so called eco version of the lanterns, don’t have wire. They still have splintering bamboo which can be ingested by animals and get stuck in their throat causing an agonising death.  The paper is meant to be fire retardant but some of those we collected have clearly been burnt.

It’s a mess across the fields which we will clear up time and again, but why should we have to?

Without regard for where these lanterns might fall or the dangers they may cause, people are ultimately launching hazardous balls of litter into the sky which our family and staff are having to pick up.

We happen to farm in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) but all corners of Britain have beautiful countryside which should not be littered by these ugly paper bags which blow about and get caught up in trees and crops.  Even if they do begin to make them in biodegradable material these bags will still hang around for weeks on end and ruin the stunning scenery of the great British countryside.

The National Farmers Union has been campaigning to reduce the release of Chinese lanterns since the summer of 2009 and it has lobbied the government on this issue. Last summer the NFU wrote to the RSPCA on the matter, asking it to voice concerns on Chinese lanterns and their impacts on animal welfare.

They are particularly concerned when grass is cut and ensiled for winter feed, and the wire is chopped up and subsequently contained in hay or silage. This can also be a problem in relation to the bamboo frames. Lanterns pose further welfare risks to livestock, as well as other animals, if the wire entangles itself around the animal’s foot and becomes embedded into the skin.

There’s an informative piece on the NFU website and some ideas of how we can help http://www.nfuonline.com/Our-work/Campaigns-and-Lobbying/Westminster/Join-our-lobbying-effort-on-Chinese-lanterns/