Congratulations to Police Supt Nick Lyall for surviving his first year as Chair of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG).
He’s had an exceptionally busy year – and has written a blog about what he’s been up to here.
[Nick filming with Chris Packham earlier this year. Photo by Ruth Tingay]
Nick’s put himself (and his ridiculous rapper coat!) around a lot in the last 12 months and it’s been refreshing to have someone in this role who’s been so willing to listen and engage, and most importantly, be available. That this is all done in Nick’s spare time, including during periods of annual leave, is even more impressive (worth remembering this when you read his blog about what he’s been doing for the last 12 months).
And what of the RPPDG? When Nick took it on it was nothing more than a pantomime of so-called partnership, having achieved precisely nothing towards tackling illegal raptor persecution despite years and years of meetings, 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 has set about changing this, first by bringing in more conservation-driven organisations (and, unbelievably, having his integrity questioned by some as a result) and then by introducing the group’s first ever Tactical Delivery Plan, which sounds like police jargon but is actually a mechanism for delivering results. We look forward to hearing more details about this Delivery Plan, and importantly, seeing some results, in the near future.
Well done, Nick – keep going, please!
Raptor Persecution UK 
Well done Nick , You might want to ditch the coat though , definitely no sneaking up on anybody in that.
Ive found a dead buzzard with a ring and wing number who do i contact?
Hi Michelle,
It depends on the circumstances.
If it looks dodgy (potentially illegally killed) you need to call the Police on 101 AND RSPB Investigations Raptor Crime Hotline: 0300 999 0101.
If it doesn’t look suspicious then follow the links on this BTO page to find out how to report it:
https://app.bto.org/euring/lang/pages/rings.jsp
And how many moor owners are in the chokey?
Through his blog and other reports on his work, Nick is showing that a high level of commitment and dedication is essential for the effective fulfilment of the role of Chair of the RPPDG. Given the fact that this is a Government backed group, am I alone in thinking that it is wrong that he should have to do all of this work in his own time?
I had failed to notice that he was working in his own time. That is outrageous and indicative of the effort being made to avoid tackling raptor persecution.
A really decent bloke and I’m sure as such once he got switched on to what’s really happening and who’s responsible for it he won’t want to walk away from it at all. That as a serving police officer he has been at the receiving end of abuse on social media shows how nasty and ludicrous the opposition are. I hope not too far down the line he gets some official recognition for his efforts. Who is it best for us to contact to make that more likely?