A couple of days ago we blogged about those raven-killing licences that have been issued by SNH and the well-dodgy procedures in place to ensure these licences are issued all above board and in line with the regulations, e.g. issued for ‘livestock protection’ as opposed to game management (see here). We also mentioned the raven-killing livestock protection licence that had apparently been issued at Langholm this year.
Since then, someone has been in touch (thank you – you know who you are!) to tell us that the raven-killing livestock protection licence at Langholm needs closer scrutiny. Why? Well, remember that these raven-killing livestock protection licences are issued under the pretext of protecting livestock (i.e. in this case, sheep)? Well, according to our informant, the sheep have been removed from Langholm as part of the heather regeneration scheme!
We tried to find verification of this but all we could find were two pieces of information:
1. Simon Lester, head gamekeeper at Langholm, quoted on the Langholm Moor blog on 10th Sept 2012: “The silver birch is encroaching on to the moor now the sheep have been removed to help heather regeneration” (blog link here).
2. A statement in a recent MSc disseration: “Since 2009, a programme of sheep stock reductions and off-wintering has been implemented across the Moor (SNH, 2010). This has resulted in a zero-stocking density for a large proportion of the central and southern areas of the Moor” (Donald Scott, Sept 2012, “Habitat Condition Assessment for Langolm Moor”, MSc Imperial College London, see link here).
The SNH publication cited is this: SNH (2010). Stock changes in Langholm Moor under the Scottish Rural Development Scheme. Briefing Note.
Unfortunately we haven’t been able to find an on-line copy of this document. If anyone has a copy we’d be interested in reading it.
Let’s assume that the information we’ve received is accurate and the sheep have indeed been removed from Langholm – in that case we might be asking why would SNH, who are project partners in the Langholm Project (and therefore presumably know what’s going on), issue a raven-killing livestock protection licence if there weren’t any sheep left to ‘protect’?
According to the Langholm Project website (see here), the SNH contact is Des Thompson. Here’s his email address if anyone wants to get clarification about this situation: Des.Thompson@snh.gov.uk
Raptor Persecution UK 