The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) has announced it is terminating the Yorkshire Dales National Park Bird of Prey Partnership because it’s been ‘unsuccessful’ at tackling crimes against raptors.
The Yorkshire Dales Bird of Prey Partnership 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 Yorkshire Dales ‘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).
It’s no surprise to me that the Yorkshire Dales ‘partnership’ has also failed. Two of the ‘partners’ had already walked away (the RSPB in 2023 here and the Northern England Raptor Forum in 2024 here), both citing familiar complaints about the behaviour of another ‘partner’, the grouse moor owners’ lobby group, The Moorland Association.
What is surprising, but is very welcome, is that the YDNPA has closed down the partnership after five years, instead of letting it limp on pointlessly for 12 years like the Peak District National Park Authority did, in the futile hope that progress would come.
Instead, the YDNPA says it will be ‘pursuing a different approach’ to tackling the illegal killing of raptors in the Dales.
It looks like the YDNPA is taking heed of the views of residents and visitor alike, who repeatedly cite illegal raptor persecution as one of their highest concerns about the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
I blogged last week about how the new five-year Management Plan for the YDNP made no mention of the ‘partnership’ in its work plan but instead it had proposed, ‘Support implementation of the national Wildlife Crime Strategy to end the illegal killing and disturbance of birds of prey and other wildlife by 2028′.
That has been confirmed in a press release from the YDNPA:
The police’s National Wildlife Crime Strategy (2025-2028) has not yet been published so we’ll have to wait and see what, if anything, is ‘new’ in there in terms of a strategy for tackling the illegal persecution of birds of prey and how the YDNPA can help support it.
In the meantime, congratulations to David Butterworth, Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, for not accepting the status quo – I imagine that’s not a comfortable position to be in.
UPDATE 4 September 2025: Statement from Northern England Raptor Forum on collapse of Yorkshire Dales Bird of Prey ‘partnership’ (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
A good decision, the right decision, no decent organisation or individual should be associating themselves with criminality.
not a comfortable solution, but ban shooting of ANY birds., especially for ‘sport’. The loss of jobs would be minimal. The Moorland Assoc can go for a long walk!
A very short sighted view. Look at all the moors no longer managed for shooting, the biggest sufferers are raptors and waders.
Agree to an extent about waders, because even though conservation minded new owners may improve habitat for waders – they don’t usually do enough to prevent or mitigate growth of fox and crow population. But on raptors I disagree completely with you. Langholm for example, small and surrounded by forestry (and foxes) still has typically two pairs of harriers nesting each season. Compare with the grouse moors in Moorfoots and Lammermuirs – a vast contiguous area of highly esteemed pristinely keepered ground. Pretty much zero foxes and crows…but guess what – zero harriers too. I used to advocate strongly for grouse management people to just dial back the intensity, to just go easy on the raptors, accept less grouse but at least you have a sport that can just about be justified to many more people. Best of both worlds type of thinking. Not now though, the industry just will not have it. I signed the petition to ban it last time and will sign it next time as things stand.
Re: Yorkshire Dales
“A very short sighted view. Look at all the moors no longer managed for shooting, the biggest sufferers are raptors and waders.”
I bet you can’t quote ANY survey data to support that view…
Well this is indeed good news. In particular thanks to the Northern England Raptor Forum and the RSPB for taking a brave stance that led to the demise of this obviously ill fated initiative.
I notice that the YDNP are about to publish the final BoP evidence report shortly. What will replace it? I would recommend an annual statement from the YDNP highlighting an up to date status of key birds of prey in the Dales. From my point of view it could be restricted to just key species of current interest – Hen Harriers, Red Kites, Short-eared Owls and Peregrines. This should be a key deliverable under their new management plan.
Ian Court has done a grand job in producing the current annual report. Perhaps he could team up with the RSPB and NERF?
Well done to the NP. Lets now see all parties get behind the proposed police undercover approach. Might be an idea for the NP also to send similar (as the police did) letters to the landowners requesting that the police be allowed to install hidden cameras without advance notice. And I would love to see the feeble replies / excuses of those landowners (will be most if not all) that refuse. It would really show up the nature of the gameplay that has being going on for decades.
they all work for banks and so do the legislators i v heard this nonsense all my life we re all i mute jail ????
Hit these areas in the purse and stop spending your tourist pound. Advertise the issue so tourists can choose to go elsewhere. Local communities are obviously not giving the info leading to prosecutions..,.. begs the question. UK countryside full of people with “interests”. Depressing. I’ve stopped visiting and spending money in these areas …. At the pace of turning tide I will be dead before people find their honour/morals/honesty.
Most folk in these areas have nothing to do with the shoots and as far as wildlife crime is concerned they are usually totally opposed but know as much as you or I and can provide no evidence. Collective punishment is never the right way to go.
really look forward to the “evidence” report, because all the evidence I have seen over the last few years is that the RSPB have been embarrassingly failing at every hurdle yet the gamekeepers on the shooting estates have reached record success levels – u lot are embarrassing – talk about honesty – u should be ashamed
Really what are you smoking because it certainly damages either your judgement or your honesty. Then again delusion has many causes.
i have researched the rspb & find them to be liars & profiteers with an estimated value of £1/4 billion
I’d go back to taking the medication if I were you because nobody on here wants to hear your delusional rubbish, because that is what it is. You ought to be familiar with the definition of the word “Liar” given there are those in the game lobby who regularly do it when it comes to raptors and persecution: Example ” we are totally intolerant of bird of prey persecution”. I’m sure if needed RSPB could speak for themselves but as a charity their activities are regularly overseen by the Charity Commission, more than can be said for most organisations in shooting.
Precisely which “lies” are you referring to? Provide evidence (not your opinion) in support of your claims, or be seen by all here as a liar yourself.
So much for Mr Morris’s “research”.
“record success levels”….at replacing functioning ecosystems with lead-strewn, poisoned, environmentally damaging playgrounds, teeming with completely unnatural populations of parasite/disease-ridden Red Grouse. For no reason other than to provide targets for those who lack the intelligence to do something positive with their lives.
Well done.
Re: Yorkshire Dales
“really look forward to the “evidence” report, because all the evidence I have seen over the last few years is that the RSPB have been embarrassingly failing at every hurdle yet the gamekeepers on the shooting estates have reached record success levels”
If that were true you would be able to provide a reference to the ‘evidence’, but you can’t, can you? You’re just ‘making it up’ as you go along…
Stop the subsidies to these shooting estates. Working with and supporting local farmers and landowners will be far more productive in the long term.
A law of landowners vicarious liability is required. This would would hit landowners in rhe pocket and bring about a change in behaviour.
Its not made much difference in Scotland.
Maybe more should be done regarding the grouse lot… Tagged and tracked BoP are continuously “disappearing” within managed grouse lands.
Maybe grouse from those areas should start going missing as a warning to the rich landowners that continue to run these shoots…
Grouse are entirely wild and in their own right fantastic birds, we should neither blame them nor damage their lives or ecology just because they are the victims of unnatural populations due to a total lack of predators on most intensive grouse moors. They are as much victims in this as our biodiversity, predators and climate change.