Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF) latest to walk away from Yorkshire Dales/Nidderdale sham Bird of Prey ‘partnership’

The Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF), a collective of regional raptor fieldworkers, is the latest organisation to walk away from the Yorkshire Dales/Nidderdale Bird of Prey Partnership.

You may recall this so-called ‘partnership’ in Yorkshire was established in 2020, with representatives from the grouse-shooting industry, the raptor conservation community, RSPB, Natural England, Police, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and the Nidderdale AONB (now renamed Nidderdale National Landscape) Authority.

The ‘partnership’ was modelled on the similar (now disbanded) ‘bird of prey partnership’ in the Peak District National Park, which, unsurprisingly given the participants from the grouse-shooting industry, was an abject failure (see here).

The RSPB was the first organisation to walk away from the Yorkshire Dales/Nidderdale Bird of Prey ‘partnership’ in May 2023, citing well-evidenced concerns about the toxic behaviour of the grouse moor owners’ lobby group, the Moorland Association (see here).

Later that year, in December 2023, the CEO of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority wrote a damning press release about continued raptor persecution in the Park and said that the ‘partnership’ was preparing to publish another evidence report but that, “Sadly all of this will count for little whilst the persecution of birds of prey continues” (see here).

That report (covering confirmed and suspected illegal raptor persecution crimes in the area during 2022-2023) was duly published earlier this year in May 2024 and demonstrated that the so-called ‘partnership’ was failing to have any significant effect on the rampant criminality associated with driven grouse moors in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale National Landscape (see here).

Set amidst this background, at the end of August 2024 NERF wrote to the Yorkshire Dales/Nidderdale ‘partnership’ secretariat to say it was suspending its involvement in the ‘partnership’ following the Moorland Association’s recent expulsion from the national Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG), another so-called ‘partnership’ set up to tackle raptor persecution, that one failing miserably since its establishment in 2011.

If you recall, the Moorland Association was booted off the RPPDG in July 2024 by the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) because Andrew Gilruth (Moorland Association CEO) appeared to be trying to sabotage the NWCU’s new Hen Harrier Taskforce, set up to tackle the illegal killing of hen harriers on grouse moors in England and Wales (see here and here). Quite reasonably, I think, the NWCU called out Gilruth/Moorland Association for “wasting time and distracting from the real work of the Hen Harrier Taskforce” (here).

In light of this, NERF told the secretariat that by remaining on the Yorkshire Dales/Nidderdale Bird of Prey ‘partnership’ with the Moorland Association, NERF “risks facing reputational damage by association“.

It looks like NERF’s long-standing patience has finally run out. I applaud them for walking away from this absurd charade.

Here’s a copy of NERF’s letter: