Month: September 2019

Inaccurate reporting of Wild Justice’s successful legal challenge against DEFRA on gamebird releases

Following on from yesterday’s news that DEFRA has conceded the legal challenge from Wild Justice on the annual release of millions of non-native gamebirds (see here), it seems so-called journalists from mainstream pro-shooting papers are falling over themselves to report events inaccurately.

For example, this is how Colin Fernandez (Environment Correspondent!) of the Daily Mail has reported it:

The headline (and the second paragraph of the main text) is wholly inaccurate (and will undoubtedly be the subject of a complaint). Neither Chris nor Wild Justice ‘tried to ban the release of gamebirds into the countryside’ with this legal challenge. On the contrary, Wild Justice was seeking regulation, not a ban. Had the ‘Environment Correspondent’ and the headline writer(s) at the Daily Mail bothered to do their homework and actually read the details of the legal challenge, they would have seen that it was about whether DEFRA was required to undertake assessments of the ecological impact of releasing non-native gamebirds in to the countryside, and absolutely nothing to do with calling for a ban on gamebird releases.

And why single out Chris? This legal challenge was made by Wild Justice, not by Chris alone – why try and vilify him? It’s irresponsible reporting like this that results in death threats.

It’s not just the Daily Mail. Journalist Helena Horton at the pro-shooting Telegraph is also struggling to report with accuracy:

Again Chris has been singled out and again it is falsely claimed that he called for the ‘banning’ of gamebird releases.

And these people are paid to write this garbage?

It’s not the first time the Telegraph has been caught out publishing false information about Wild Justice (see here).

If you want to read an accurate report of Wild Justice’s latest legal challenge, try this account on the Wild Justice blog.

 

DEFRA concedes legal challenge from Wild Justice on non-native gamebird release

In July, Wild Justice launched a legal challenge against DEFRA about an alleged failure to assess the ecological impact of releasing millions of non-native gamebirds (pheasants and red-legged partridges) in to the countryside every year (see here).

A pre-action protocol (PAP) letter was sent to DEFRA (this outlines the legal challenge and offers DEFRA an opportunity to respond before formal papers are lodged at court seeking leave for a judicial review) and Wild Justice launched a crowdfunder with a target of £44,500 to ensure the case could proceed through the courts.

DEFRA was due to respond to the PAP letter within three weeks but managed to procrastinate for nine weeks (see here) before finally conceding the legal challenge today:

Wild Justice will be commenting further on this in the coming days.

For now, a massive thank you to all those who supported the crowdfunder – those funds are now ring-fenced to continue the legal challenge if DEFRA’s promised review and subsequent decision-making is deemed inadequate.

UPDATE 12 Sept 2019: Inaccurate reporting of Wild Justice’s successful legal challenge against DEFRA on gamebird releases (here)

Hen harrier brood meddling letter: you won’t see this on the Moorland Association’s website

News of this year’s Hen Harrier Brood Meddling trial continues to trickle through.

Yesterday, Mark Avery posted a fascinating email from one member of the Scientific Steering Group to all the others, outlining concerns about the safety of the brood meddled birds once they’ve been released back to the wild (er, yes, this has been the most glaring flaw in the brood meddling plan – has the scientific steering group only just recognised this?!).

Here’s another letter that’s been brought to our attention (thanks to the blog reader who sent it), this time written by senior figures at Natural England, Police and the Moorland Association and addressed to Moorland Association members (predominantly grouse moor owners) and some sporting agents:

Gosh, you won’t find a copy of this letter on the Moorland Association’s website – although it should be right up there, pinned to the front page, to be read first before all the usual propaganda about the so-called ‘triumph’ of this year’s breeding success (less than 5% of the country’s carrying capacity is nowhere near a triumph) and how grouse moor owners have apparently been ‘voicing their support’ for Hen Harrier Day! Really? Where was that, then?

‘Stop killing hen harriers’ is this letter’s message, writ large.

It’s interesting that we’re already a third of the way through September and as yet we’ve not heard of any of this year’s satellite-tagged cohort ‘disappearing’. Most unusual.

Police Supt Nick Lyall – one year on

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!

South Yorkshire police commit to improved responses to wildlife crime

Last month we blogged about how Stephen Watson, the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, had come under increasing pressure to improve his Force’s responses to reports of wildlife crime in the region following a number of failures to deal with raptor persecution incidents including the poisoning and shooting of protected species.

Criticism of the Force’s approach to wildlife crime had come from various groups including the Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust and the RSPB, supported by Supt Nick Lyall, Chair of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group.

There was a meeting between all parties in July 2019 which offered an opportunity for a frank exchange of views and Chief Constable Watson was told of the perception that South Yorkshire Police ‘are not interested or active in tackling wildlife crime as there is a conflict of interest between the officers leading on wildlife crime and their personal involvement in the shooting industry‘.

In August Liz Ballard (Chief Exec, Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust) and Mark Thomas (RSPB Investigations) wrote an open letter to Chief Constable Watson to follow up on several action points from the July meeting.

As a result, the Wildlife Trust is reporting a number of ‘encouraging replies’ from Chief Inspector Mark James, South Yorkshire Police’s lead for Wildlife and Rural Crime. Commitments have been made to complete a systems review of wildlife crime reporting and responses, participation in this month’s Operation Owl UK awareness-raising weekend, and an invitation to the Wildlife Trust to attend the South Yorkshire Police wildlife crime conference in October, amongst other things.

Liz Ballard said: “Inevitably, we will only know if the commitments and improvements proposed have had any affect when local people and organisations tell us they feel they are being listened to and getting the right response from the police, and when the statistics show an increase in the reporting of wildlife crime and an appropriate result. The Trusts offers our support to South Yorkshire Police and we hope they will become a leading Force for tackling wildlife crime.”

This appears to be a good response to criticism by South Yorkshire Police – let’s hope they can deliver. Well done Liz Ballard and colleagues, and Mark Thomas and Supt Nick Lyall for holding this police force to account.

Bye then, Therese Coffey

Dr Therese Coffey MP has been promoted out of DEFRA and is now Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, following the resignation of Amber Rudd, according to today’s media.

There won’t be many in the conservation world sad to see her go. Despite (in spite of?) her scientific credentials, Dr Coffey has been the epitome of wilful blindness when it comes to the illegal killing of raptors on grouse moors; totally disinterested and apathetic time and time and time again.

This is the Environment Minister who sat through the 2016 Westminster Hall debate on banning driven grouse shooting playing with her phone and rummaging around in her handbag (here). The Environment Minister who was happy to pose on the grouse moor at Wemmergill Estate where the corpses of two shot short-eared owls had been found previously (here) and where a satellite-tagged hen harrier disappeared (here). The Environment Minister who was happy to rely on sophistry instead of addressing the issue of lead ammunition (here). The Environment Minister who couldn’t be arsed to issue a statement after the publication of research showing that 72% of satellite-tagged hen harriers were considered to have been illegally killed on driven grouse moors (here). The Environment Minister who couldn’t be arsed to offer a full explanation about why she refused to instigate an independent inquiry in to the (un)sustainability of English grouse moors (here). The Environment Minister who stifled attempts to improve wildlife crime reporting because she misunderstood the limitations of the current reporting structure (here).

There will be others from different conservation fields who share our disdain, including Friends of the Earth who criticised Dr Coffey last year for her enthusiastic promotion of the weedkiller Round Up which contains highly toxic Glyphosate (here).

Sorry to see her go? Not one tiny bit, although judging by her voting record her move to the Dept of Work & Pensions should be of grave concern to the sick and disabled.

Operation Owl: national awareness campaign 21-22 Sept 2019

Operation Owl originated as a multi-agency initiative led by North Yorkshire Police in 2018, designed to raise awareness of illegal raptor persecution across the county (see here), and especially in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, North York Moors National Park and the Nidderdale AONB, all known to be areas where raptor killing is rife.

Earlier this year, Police Supt Nick Lyall (Chair, Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group) took the brand and expanded it to become a national campaign, fully endorsed by the National Police Chiefs Council (see here).

As a follow on to this, in two weeks time (Sat 21 – Sun 22 Sept) there will be a nationwide raptor persecution awareness campaign under the banner of Operation Owl.

This campaign is being coordinated by Sgt Stuart Grainger, one of the leading lights of North Yorks Police Rural Task Force. In addition to inviting as many regional police forces as possible, Stu is also encouraging participation from non-police organisations and individuals.

The coordinated message from this campaign has been listed by Stu as follows:

The first seven points are uncontentious no-brainers. However, points 8 and 9 look to be clumsily expressed. Sure, educate the public on the difference between legally and illegally-set traps, that’s an important distinction, but the promotion of ‘good estate management practices’ is highly contentious. It’s that word ‘good’. Just because something is lawful doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ‘good’ and definitely shouldn’t be promoted as such by the police!

That minor point aside, this national awareness campaign deserves everyone’s full support. If you have an organisation that would like to get involved, please email Stu Grainger to help him coordinate: stuart.grainger@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

If you’re not part of an organisation but would still like to get involved on social media, there’s no need to sign up, just look for the #OpOwl2019 hashtags during the campaign weekend and join in!

 

What happened to this buzzard, caught in a trap on Leadhills Estate?

This buzzard was caught inside a crow cage trap on the Leadhills Estate in January 2019. It isn’t illegal to catch a buzzard in this sort of trap – it’s seen as accidental by-catch – but it is illegal for the trap operator not to release it immediately upon discovery and it’s also illegal to not check the trap at least once within every 24 hour period.

The trap, which was padlocked so was inaccessible to anyone without a key, was being filmed covertly by RSPB Scotland and their camera captured some interesting goings on in the night, with ‘somebody’ (unidentified, natch) rocking up on a quad bike, entering the padlocked trap, appearing to strike at something on the ground, removing something from the trap, and then driving off. As the cameras continued to roll, at dawn it became apparent that the buzzard was no longer in the trap.

Watch the video here:

According to a detailed blog (here) written by RSPB Scotland Head of Investigations Ian Thomson, there were at least two 24 hour periods where the trap was not checked by the trap operator, but despite a Police Scotland investigation, the trap operator could not be identified (presumably because the estate refused to divulge that information).

Nobody has been charged with anything relating to the operation of this trap.

Just as nobody has been charged for the witnessed shooting of a hen harrier on this estate in 2017 (here), or for the witnessed shooting of a short-eared owl on this estate in 2017 (here), or for the shooting of a buzzard found on this estate in 2018 (here), or for the savagely barbaric trapping of a hen harrier on this estate a couple of months ago (here). In fact, according to the RSPB, there have been a total of 72 confirmed raptor persecution incidents recorded on this estate since 2003 and only two of them have resulted in a successful prosecution.

Not only have there been no charges brought, but no civil sanctions either, such as a restriction on the use of the General Licence, which SNH has had the authority to impose since 1 January 2014 if there is sufficient evidence (from Police Scotland) that wildlife crimes have taken place but insufficient evidence to secure a criminal prosecution.

Great, isn’t it?

What are Britain’s uplands for? Debate in North Yorkshire tomorrow

This should be an interesting day tomorrow, with guest speakers including Martin Holland (Chair of Goathland East Moor Regeneration Group and a Goathland Parish Councillor), Andrew Johnson (Duchy of Lancaster), George Winn-Darley (Moorland Association regional rep & grouse moor owner [Spaunton Moor]), Rachel Pickering (North York Moors National Park Authority) and Robert Frewen (Country Land & Business Association).

The event will be hosted and chaired by Anne Gray of the Heather Trust (formerly of Scottish Land & Estates).

For those of us in to raptors, the North York Moors National Park, which is saturated with driven grouse moors, represents one of the major raptor persecution blackspots in the country. Indeed, these grouse moors were identified in the recent scientific paper on hen harrier persecution as being one of the worst of the so-called Protected Areas for hen harriers. Can’t imagine why. Perhaps this issue will be raised in tomorrow’s debate?

Hope to see some of you there!

NB: You need to book here

Raising awareness of eagle persecution at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

Many thanks to multi-award-winning author Gill Lewis for inviting us to share the stage with her at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival to raise awareness about eagle persecution on Scottish grouse moors.

Gill was there to present on a couple of her new books, including Eagle Warrior, which was inspired by the suspicious disappearance of golden eagle Fred in the Pentland Hills in 2018. She generously shared an hour-long slot so the audience could hear not just just about her book but also about the long-term killing of golden eagles on driven grouse moors and the Scottish Government’s apparent reluctance to do anything much about it.

[Photo by Olivia Robertson]

[Photo by Olivia Robertson]

Thanks also to Kirsten Lamb of publishers Barrington Stoke who turned up to the event with a big pile of postcards, pre-addressed to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, allowing audience participants to draw pictures of eagles and write a personal message to Ms Sturgeon urging her to take action.

We ended up with 42 postcards, some created by children as young as five years old and others created by a Professor and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh! It was brilliant to meet nine-year-old Freddie (now ten!) who’d previously drawn a postcard and had managed to get a response out of Ms Sturgeon, which is more than the rest of us had managed. Here are some of the cards drawn at the Festival:

At the end of the session a few of us decided to walk across the road to Bute House to hand deliver the cards but we were told at the door that we’d need to post them. The cards are all now individually stamped so hopefully someone in the First Minister’s office will make sure they land on the right desk. Perhaps Golden Eagle Species Champion Andy Wightman MSP should call in to her office and ask to see the cards and could put them on display somewhere at Holyrood, along with all the other cards that have been sent in in recent months.

Thanks again to Gill, Jane Sandell (Chair), Kirsten Lamb and everyone at the Book Festival who made us so welcome. Thanks also to the fantastically engaged audience who responded with such energy and purpose. We’re aware that some audience members were intent on taking cards back to their schools to encourage further participation.