Game-shooting industry getting twitchy at prospect of regulation

The UK game-shooting industry is ratcheting-up its attempts to appear reasonable and law-abiding as the prospect of enforced regulation looms large.

Tomorrow (Saturday) the RSPB announces the results of its year-long review of its policy on gamebird shooting. There has been very little hint of what its new policy might be, but many of us are hoping its a lot stronger than its former policy and if it is, that will result in even more pressure being placed on Governments to introduce statutory enforcement to regulate the currently out-of-control gamebird shooting industry.

In a rather pathetic attempt to head this off at the pass, today saw the shooting industry in England and Scotland put forward a plea to the respective Governments to support what it calls ‘a new blueprint for the future of shooting’ in the form of a document called ‘The Principles of Sustainable Gamebird Management’, drafted by the GWCT.

The thing is, it’s not a ‘new blueprint’ at all. It’s the same old set of unenforced and unregulated ‘principles’ that the industry has failed to implement year after year. Had these principles been adhered to and self-regulated, the industry wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in now.

In Scotland a coalition of game shooting organisations operating under the banner of RELM (Rural Environment and Land Management) is using these principles as yet another way of trying to persuade the Scottish Government not to introduce a licensing scheme in response to the Werritty Review.

Here’s a desperate press release from Scottish Land & Estates, on behalf of fellow RELM members BASC, Scottish Gamekeepers Association, Countryside Alliance and SACS, explaining why new legislation apparently isn’t required:

As usual, many of the claims made in this statement are brazenly misleading. The Heads up for Hen Harriers project is a greenwashing sham that is definitely not delivering the tangible conservation results it was supposed to (see here), the Muirburn Code is repeatedly ignored, even during a global pandemic (e.g. see here), golden eagles are still being persecuted in areas of high-intensity grouse moor management (see here), as are hen harriers, resulting in significant population decline (see here), peregrines have been systematically removed from many former territories on grouse moors (see here) and merlin populations are suffering due to the intensification of grouse moor management in some areas (see here).

Tomorrow we’ll learn what the RSPB intends to do and sometime soon we might learn what the Scottish Government intends to do….and then the public can decide what it intends to do.

Change is in the air.

Lou Hubble to leave National Wildlife Crime Unit

Chief Inspector Louise Hubble is leaving her role as Chair of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) in November.

In a letter to colleagues last month, Lou wrote, ‘I am writing to notify you that my  two year secondment to the NWCU, which was extended by twelve months last year, concludes in November 2020.  Following discussions with Hampshire’s Chief Officer Group it has been decided that I will return to Hampshire in November 2020.  I do not know at this time which role I will be going in to but after 21 years as a Wildlife Crime Officer I hope to still be involved in the world of wildlife at some level.  I will certainly continue to enjoy my passion for wildlife in my spare time regardless of my policing role‘.

[Lou filming with Chris Packham in the raptor persecution hotspot of Strathbraan, Perthshire. Photo by Ruth Tingay]

It’s not clear whether she jumped or was pushed, but I reckon most of us will have our own view on that. If you work in wildlife crime enforcement in the UK and you’re seen to be doing a decent job, you can expect to be targeted by those who would rather you kept your mouth shut and who have the influence and connections to try and make sure you do.

Lou experienced this first hand (see here and here).

Lou’s departure is really disappointing news, not just for her personally – she is as passionate and focused about her role as anyone you’re likely to meet – but for those of us with long memories about some of the former heads of the NWCU, Lou’s departure signals not just a huge loss for wildlife crime enforcement, but also a weariness that her replacement, whoever that may be, will be starting from scratch, all over again.

There’s still a big question mark over the usefulness and effectiveness of the NWCU as a whole – undoubtedly the unit excels in some areas but is less effective in others and there are still some ‘personalities’ in there that make partnership-working a challenge, to say the least. But Lou wasn’t one of those. She was/is highly respected by those of us in the conservation community for her hard work and high standards.

If you’re reading this, Lou, thanks for your efforts.

Police Supt Nick Lyall found guilty at misconduct tribunal

The name of Police Supt Nick Lyall should be familiar to readers of this blog. Nick, whose day job was Head of Operations at Bedfordshire Police, was also the latest incumbent tasked with chairing the poisoned chalice of the RPPDG (Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group) in England and Wales.

The RPPDG had been nothing more than a pantomime of so-called partnership, having achieved precisely nothing towards tackling illegal raptor persecution despite years and years of meetings (since 2009!), mainly because the group membership was dominated by representatives of the game-shooting industry who took every opportunity to frustrate any attempt to change the status quo. This wasn’t helped by a succession of weak Chairs who either didn’t have the interest or drive to bring about change. This ‘Priority Delivery Group’ was neither a priority nor a delivery group – it was simply a sham group the game-shooting industry, and Government, could point to to pretend they were addressing raptor crime.

Nick brought a change of pace and enthusiasm to the role and he was widely supported by the conservation community for his efforts and most importantly, for his willingness to be open and transparent with both sides (e.g. see here).

Nick achieved a massive amount in just over 12 months, much of it behind the scenes including some highly significant meetings with, let’s call them, ‘well known sporting agents’. There is no doubt whatsoever that the game shooting industry as a whole was feeling the heat, partly thanks to Nick’s efforts, and this was recognised last year when he received the WWF Wildlife Crime Operation of the Year Award for his vision of turning Operation Owl from a regional to a national awareness-raising campaign.

Earlier this year Nick was suspended by Bedfordshire Police pending an investigation in to claims he had lied about an alleged affair with a police colleague. At a tribunal last week he was found guilty of misconduct and another hearing is now scheduled to determine his future with the police.

This is a major blow for those of us interested in tackling the ongoing slaughter of birds of prey on the UK’s game-shooting estates, although judging by the disgraceful social media gloating being done by certain BASC staff members, not everyone shares our disappointment.

It’s highly unlikely Nick will have any further involvement in the RPPDG so another Chair will have to be appointed and the whole cycle starts again.

Watch this space.

And Nick, if you’re reading this, thank you for your hard work and commitment to tackling these appalling crimes.

Man charged for wildlife offences relating to illegal trapping of a bird of prey

A 38-year-old man has been ‘cautioned and charged’ for wildlife offences in relation to the illegal trapping of a bird of prey on 26th August 2020 in Aberdeenshire, according to Police Scotland.

PC Davis is quoted as saying:

“Police responded to a report of a trapped bird of prey which was recovered safe and well and released unharmed.

Police Scotland take wildlife crime seriously and appreciate the assistance we get from our communities.

If you have information or concerns you can contact us on 101“.

The species ID of the trapped raptor has not been published, nor have any further details of the location, type of trap etc.

As this individual has been charged, comments on this case will not be published on this blog until criminal proceedings have finished. Thanks for your understanding.

[Tweet from Aberdeenshire North Police earlier this afternoon]

What happened next with licence application for out-of-season muirburn on Leadhills Estate

Further to yesterday’s blog where it was revealed that earlier this summer, Mark Osborne, the agent/manager at Leadhills Estate had applied to SNH for an out-of-season muirburn licence to allow him to set fire to parts of the grouse moor after being sprayed with toxic glyphosate (see here), here’s what happened next.

[Setting fire to the grouse moors at Leadhills in previous years. Photo by Ruth Tingay]

SNH’s licensing department sent Osborne’s 2020 licence application to other members of staff for their comments. It’s interesting to note that Leadhills Estate applied for a similar licence in 2019 but this was refused, for reasons not yet known. Those documents have been requested from SNH via a Freedom of Information request but haven’t yet arrived.

It’s not known how many members of staff were invited to comment on Osborne’s 2020 licence application, or from which departments, because SNH has chosen to hide some internal correspondence on this issue (for example, there is no indication in the material released under a Freedom of Information request that Leadhills Estate’s status of being subject to a General Licence restriction for ongoing wildlife crime was even considered at this stage) but the following response was given by SNH’s Uplands and Peatlands Officer, who, alarmingly, doesn’t seem to think there’s any issue in principle with spraying the grouse moor with glyphosate and then setting fire to it, but does argue that this could be undertaken during the muirburn season (starts 1st Oct) and doesn’t require a special out-of-season licence:

Subsequently, SNH decided to refuse this latest licence application and notified Osborne on 14 August 2020 as follows:

On 18th August 2020 Osborne appealed the decision, stating that the glyphosate spraying had already been undertaken:

On 21st August 2020 SNH wrote back to Osborne to say they were treating his appeal as a formal complaint. Osborne wrote back the same day and said he wasn’t making a formal complaint, he was appealing SNH’s decision to refuse the out-of-season muirburn licence:

More to come on this saga…..

UPDATE 19th October 2020: SNH considers appeal from Leadhills Estate to undertake out-of-season muirburn (see here)

Kestrel shot and killed in West Yorkshire

Every report of a shot raptor is shameful, but there’s just something even more senseless about shooting a kestrel.

[Photo by Annette Cutts]

A kestrel has been shot and killed in the Pudsey area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, according to a tweet from West Yorkshire Police’s Leeds Wildlife and Rural Crime Team today.

No further details have been made available yet, i.e. date, specific location or type of weapon etc.

If anyone has any information please contact West Yorkshire Police on 101 and quote the crime reference number #13200496679.

Licence application for out-of-season muirburn on Leadhills Estate

Do you remember back in April, during lockdown, Scottish Greens MSP Andy Wightman secured an amendment to the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill (Emergency Bill) that meant that ALL muirburn was banned (temporarily, until the emergency regs were revaluated on 30 Sept 2020) (see here). This temporary ban was intended to relieve pressure on emergency services, who frankly had better things to do than attend wildfires that had resulted from poorly-managed muirburning on grouse moors.

And do you remember the Leadhills (Hopetoun) Estate in South Lanarkshire? You know, Lord Hopetoun’s gaffe with it’s very very very long history of people finding illegally poisoned, shot and trapped birds of prey, illegally-set traps and poisoned baits on the estate? A history that continues and has resulted in the estate currently being the subject of a three-year General Licence restriction after Police Scotland told licensing authority SNH there was ‘clear evidence’ of ongoing wildlife crime, although insufficient evidence to identify an individual suspect (see here).

Well, that information provides the backdrop for the next few blogs about Leadhills Estate.

Jaw-dropping audacity on every level.

First of all, take a look at this. It’s an application from well-known grouse moor manager/agent Mark Osborne to SNH, made on 15th July 2020, asking for an out-of-season licence to set fire to parts of the grouse moor on Leadhills Estate.

Have a read of the licence application details, consider the necessity of the proposed work, consider the estate’s current status of being sanctioned, and consider whether it would be appropriate for SNH to approve this application.

More to come…..

UPDATE 6 October 2020: What happened next with licence application for out-of-season muirburn on Leadhills Estate (here)

UPDATE 19 October 2020: SNH considers appeal from Leadhills Estate to undertake out-of-season muirburn (here)

UPDATE 11 November 2020: SNH grants licence to Leadhills Estate for out-of-season muirburn (here)

UPDATE 13 November 2020: Political questions being asked about out-of-season muirburn licence issued to Leadhills Estate (here)

Birds of prey illegally poisoned in Staffordshire/Peak District National Park

It just never bloody stops.

Do you remember way back in May, during lockdown, Staffordshire Police asked the public to be vigilant after the discovery of a dead buzzard and two dead peregrines in the Peak District National Park? Officers suspected those protected raptors had been illegally poisoned and the corpses were sent for toxicology (see here).

Then in early June another peregrine was found dead in suspicious circumstances and that, too, was sent for toxicology analyses (see here).

[One of the illegally poisoned peregrines. Photo by Staffordshire Police]

Well guess what? The toxicology results are in and all four raptors were illegally poisoned with the same (unnamed) pesticide, and at least two of the incidents involved a pigeon bait which had been laced with the pesticide.

These illegal raptor poisonings are in addition to the confirmed illegal poisoning of a buzzard and a kestrel in Derbyshire at the beginning of lockdown (see here) and a shot buzzard found with horrific injuries in the Peak District National Park during the middle of lockdown (see here).

Staffordshire Police has issued a press statement about the latest four killings, as follows:

£1,000 reward for information after birds of prey poisoned

Reward offered for information after bird of prey poisoning incidents in Staffordshire during Covid lockdown.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has offered a £1000 reward for information leading to a conviction after four birds of prey were found dead in Staffordshire.

The appeal follows three separate incidents over a three-week period during Covid lockdown. 

On Saturday 16 May, a common buzzard and peregrine falcon were sadly discovered dead in a wooded area of Longnor. On Tuesday 19 May a second peregrine falcon was found dead at Beeston Tor near Wetton. On Thursday 4 June, a third peregrine falcon was found dead in a quarry near Waterhouses. 

[The latest poisoning victims. Photos via Staffordshire Police]

Two of the incidents occurred in the Peak District National Park, and a few of the locations are believed to be near peregrine falcon breeding sites.

As there were no visible signs of injury, and following contact with Natural England the birds were submitted for post mortem examinations and toxicology tests to establish the cause of death as part of the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme (WIIS). The scheme investigates the death or injury of wildlife and companion animals that may have resulted from pesticide poisoning.

The results show that all four birds of prey were illegally poisoned by the same pesticide, and that at least two of the incidents involved a pigeon bait which had been laced with the pesticide. 

A police investigation into the circumstances is underway as all birds are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To kill or injure one is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine and/or up to six months in jail.

Officers are asking local residents and visitors to these areas to report any suspicious behaviour they may have witnessed in the days leading up to the discovery of the birds and to continue to be vigilant for the signs of criminal activity, including dead or injured birds, poisoned bait and traps.

Detective Inspector Tim Boulton, of the Staffordshire Police Rural and Wildlife Crime Unit, said: “To find out that these birds have been deliberately targeted and poisoned is truly dreadful. We are working to ensure those responsible are identified and brought to justice. 

“It is extremely concerning that a harmful substance has been placed in the countryside putting not only wildlife, but also people and pets at risk too. 

“If a member of the public comes across a dead bird or suspicious object, please do not touch or move anything. Please take photographs if you can and make a note of your surroundings and landmarks to help officers to locate it. Every piece of information may be crucial in prosecuting an offender.

“We would like to thank Natural England and the Peak District Natural Park for their assistance so far and we are incredibly grateful for the reward offered by the RSPB. 

“Any information, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem, could help with our on-going investigation. Someone out there knows who poisoned these birds, so please do the right thing and get in touch with the police directly or any of our specialist partners.”

Mark Thomas, RSPB Head of Investigations, commented “Peregrines are the fastest birds in the world, yet all too often the lives of these magnificent creatures are cut short by illegal persecution like poisoning.

“For incidents like this to repeatedly happen in a National Park is all the more alarming. If you have any information about any of these cases, or if you come across what you believe may be a poisoned bird of prey, please call the police immediately. You are our eyes and ears.”

Sarah Fowler, chief executive of the Peak District National Park, added: “I would to thank those individuals who have reported these incidents to the police, and it remains completely unacceptable that illegal activity against wildlife is taking place in and around the Peak District. The nature of poisoning witnessed in these cases is deeply worrying for species both within and outside our National Park boundary.  

“These incidents are particularly concerning in a year where many birds of prey – including the peregrine falcon – have successfully bred in other areas. We will continue to support the police in their investigations, and welcome any information from the public that may help capture those involved and bring them to justice.”

Dave Slater, Natural England’s Director for Wildlife Licensing and enforcement cases, said: “Raptor persecution is a national wildlife crime priority and a priority for Natural England. We are a committed partner with the Police and NGOs in tackling these despicable crimes. We would urge anyone witnessing or suspecting persecution to contact the police.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call one of the services listed below:

Staffordshire Police: 101 quoting incident number 232 of 16 May. You can also report online at http://www.staffordshire.police.uk/report or by sending a private message to Staffordshire Police on Facebook and Twitter.

Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111

RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime hotline: 0300 999 0101.

ENDS

Unregulated release of millions of gamebirds continues to draw attention

The unregulated annual release of millions of non-native gamebirds in to the UK countryside (~47 million pheasants + ~10 million red-legged partridge) continues to draw attention, much to the dismay of some in the commercial shooting industry who probably wish the scrutiny would all disappear so they could get on with doing what the hell they like, as they have done for decades.

There’s been a flurry of media coverage recently, and there’ll probably be a lot more in the coming weeks as Wild Justice’s legal challenge goes for judicial review at the High Court in early November.

That legal challenge featured in The Guardian the other day:

There’s an especially interesting couple of lines in that Guardian article, as follows:

‘Christopher Graffius, BASC’s communications director, said the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust had guidelines on how many birds could be safely released and estates that broke the rules had been sanctioned‘.

Yes, there are voluntary guidelines, but as such they are largely unenforceable and a guideline is very different to a ‘rule’. It would have been useful if Christopher had elaborated on how many estates had ‘broken the rules’, which ‘rules’ did they ‘break’, how many estates were subsequently sanctioned, what was the sanction and who imposed it? These details are important if BASC’s claim of the industry’s effective self-regulation is to be taken seriously.

Meanwhile, in Scotland there was a story last week about red-legged partridge being driven by the crateload through the Cairngorms National Park. This blog written by Nick Kempe of ParkswatchScotland is as thought-provoking as ever:

As Nick pointed out in his blog, he didn’t know the final destination for those non-native red-legged partridge but there are no rules about releasing them inside the Cairngorms National Park, or in any other so-called National Park in the UK for that matter. It really is quite astonishing when you consider the hoops that, quite rightly to a point, have to be jumped to reintroduce a native species anywhere in the UK.

It would be interesting to know where those red-legged partridge were heading. Presumably not to be released to replenish a shoot because that would be a breach of one of the ‘five golden rules’ of the Code of Good Shooting Practice, and we all know how law-abiding the shooting industry is, right?

Then yesterday there was another interesting article in The Guardian where it was claimed that pheasants ‘could wipe out Adders in Britain within 12 years’. You can read that article here.

October 1st marked the opening of the pheasant-shooting season in the UK and seeing as though gamebird shooting is exempt from the Covid restrictions that the majority of us are having to live with, there’ll be pheasants being shot from the skies as this is typed.

Keep an eye out for piles of dumped shot gamebirds along hedgerows, roads, laybys, local woodland, fields etc. It happens every year and is a widespread problem; the photographs exposing the reality of unregulated gamebird shooting in the UK. E.g. see previous reports of shot dumped birds in Cheshire, Scottish borders (here), Norfolk (here), Perthshire (here), Berkshire (here), North York Moors National Park (here) and some more in North Yorkshire (here) and even more in North Yorkshire (here), Co. Derry (here), West Yorkshire (here), and again in West Yorkshire (here), N Wales (here), mid-Wales (here), Leicestershire (here) and Lincolnshire (here).

Call to ban peatland burning on grouse moors as burning season opens

RSPB press release (1 October 2020)

Mayors, councils, local communities, and RSPB unite in support of the call to urgently ban peatland burning on grouse moors.

The RSPB is today calling on Government to implement an immediate end to the burning of precious peatlands on moors managed for grouse shooting. The call, which comes on the first day of this year’s burning season, is being supported by city mayors, councils, and local communities. A ban is also supported by a wide range of environmental NGOs.

[Routine burning on a Yorkshire grouse moor. Photo by Ruth Tingay]

Beccy Speight, RSPB Chief Executive Officer, said: “In a climate and ecological emergency, the continued burning of precious peatlands is simply not acceptable and undermines the UK Government’s legal obligations to restore nature. The Government has long promised to end the burning of peat, it has widespread public support, and the Secretary of State, George Eustice, now needs to make good on this pledge.”

Healthy wet blanket peat bogs are home to peat-forming sphagnum mosses, cotton-grasses, and carnivorous plants, which support a diverse range of breeding birds, including breeding dunlin and golden plover. They are also a crucial carbon store. UK peatlands (in the uplands and lowlands) store an estimated 3,200 million tonnes (Mt) of carbon.

However, the RSPB says that one of the most significant pressures on these places is that they are routinely and deliberately burned, largely to support a single industry – grouse shooting.

Pat Thompson, RSPB Senior Policy Officer said: “The burning is done to ensure grouse have reemergent young shoots of heather to eat season after season. This not only directly releases carbon into the atmosphere but degrades the remaining peat – making it poorer for wildlife, less able to slow the flow of water thus increasing flood risk and reducing water quality. All these effects are felt both immediately by communities downstream and by wider society in terms of increased carbon emissions and the cost of treating water.

England’s upland peatlands are also increasingly vulnerable to changes in climate, particularly pro-longed periods of drought which dry out the surface vegetation making them vulnerable to accidental fires in spring and summer.”

Peatland in the English uplands can be legally burnt between 1 October – 15 April. Burning in the uplands is increasing with research finding a seven-fold increase in burning on peatland in
England from the 1940s to the present time with burning increasing at a rate of 11% per annum between 2001 to 2011 in Great Britain.

Dr Thompson added: “To give an idea of the scale of this issue, grouse moors in the northern uplands extend to something in the region of 2226 square kilometers. Many of these grouse moors lie within Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas, a statutory designation that describes their huge importance for wildlife on a European level. The designation restricts a range of activities in these places, and so special consent must be obtained from Natural England in order to carry out burning.

Information from Natural England suggests there are over 400 consents to burn blanket bog on grouse moors in north England’s European protected areas, covering around 950 square kilometers of the deep peat soils this precious habitat depends on. This simply must stop.”

Peat burning is also not welcome in many local communities, and the call for a ban has recently been echoed by Mayors, local councils and residents in the North of England:

Jamie Driscoll, Mayor of the North of Tyne Combined Authority, said: “Burning upland peat habitats is a destructive process. It results in greenhouse gas emissions, brings flood risks, and is damaging to wildlife. I fully support the RSPB’s campaign calling on the government to implement an immediate end to this practice.”

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, said: “Upland fires in 2018 and more recently in the dry spring this year have created significant issues in upland areas of Greater Manchester – both from an environmental and public safety perspective. We are acutely aware of the environmental impact that upland fires, whatever their cause, can have on the environment.

Recent work by Natural England, which will inform Defra’s forthcoming national peat strategy, highlighted that the 2019 Winter Hill fire alone released c. 90,000 tonnes of Carbon equivalent (tCO2e)”

Councillor Scott Patient, Lead – Climate Change and Resilience, Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council said: “In Calderdale, we know that moorland fires have a broad range of ecological and public health impacts including degrading peatlands, releasing harmful gasses into the atmosphere and surrounding valleys, putting added pressure on our fire services (themselves stretched throughout the pandemic) and decreasing biodiversity whilst possibly contributing to flooding in communities downstream. We hope to see legislation introduced promptly to end the use of burning in the management of grouse moors. Beyond this, we will continue to work in strong strategic partnerships with small and larger landowners to further develop a complete and sustainable catchment plan to help best protect our residents and natural environment”

Cllr Rob Walker, Colne Valley Ward Councillor, Kirklees Cabinet Portfolio: Environment and Culture, said: “Whilst Kirklees Council do not own any moorland used for grouse shooting I am concerned about the damage done to biodiversity and the regeneration of healthy peat bogs by the practice of burning heather to promote the commercial rearing of grouse. I believe in working with land managers to promote more sustainable techniques that will enrich our countryside.”

Dongria Kondh Co-ordinator, Treesponsibility, and Hebden Bridge resident said: “The peatlands here on the moors above Hebden Bridge form part of the biggest carbon sinks in Britain, they are precious to our community, to wider society and for nature. They cannot be restored to full health while the burning continues. Reports that Environment Minister George Eustice is attempting to backtrack on his predecessor’s commitment to ban managed burning on peat bogs are deeply worrying. In January, this year the UK parliament’s Climate Change Committee called for an immediate cessation of rotational burning, and ignoring their report would seriously undermine the government’s credibility as hosts of the COP26 Climate conference next year. A ban needs to be implemented now.”

ENDS

There’s also some interesting commentary from Mark Avery on this topic this morning (see here)

The temporary ban on muirburn in Scotland, implemented during the Coronavirus lockdown after Andy Wightman MSP drew the Scottish Parliament’s attention to the ongoing burning of grouse moors despite there being a respiratory virus pandemic (here) has now finished and grouse moor managers are now free to set the moors alight again.