Author: RaptorPersecutionUK

This morning, Wild Justice’s petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting passed 100,000 signatures, which means the Westminster Government will now consider it for a debate in Westminster Hall.

There are loads of reasons why driven grouse shooting should be banned, but one of the main ones is the ongoing illegal persecution of birds of prey that is directly linked to this filthy so-called ‘sport’.

Raptors have been legally protected in the UK, at least on paper, since 1954, and yet 71 years later, criminal gamekeepers continue to shoot, trap, poison, stamp on, pull the heads off, pull the wings off, pull the legs off species such as golden eagles, red kites, hen harriers, white-tailed eagles, buzzards, peregrines, short-eared owls, goshawks etc because they’re perceived as a threat to the hundreds of thousands of red grouse that their paying clients want to shoot for a bit of a laugh. Wild Justice chose a few case studies to highlight these crimes as part of the campaign and these were well-received on social media. For those who are not on social media you can watch the eight short videos on YouTube here.

Many, many thanks to all this blog’s readers who supported the campaign, by not only signing the petition, but also by sharing it with others.

The petition remains open until 22 May 2025.

We await a decision on if/when a debate will happen.

Press release from National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU)

The national enforcement campaign to protect our nesting wild birds is underway for 2025.

The taking of wild bird eggs is a serious crime which threatens bird populations across the UK and internationally.  However, this activity remains an illicit hobby for some determined individuals. Whole clutches of eggs can be taken from some of the UK’s rarest birds and stored in secret collections.

In 2024, Operation PULKA dismantled a transnational egg trading network and highlighted the harm caused by this illegal activity.  In the region of 20,000 eggs were seized in coordinated warrants from nominals throughout the UK.  High value collections were also seized in Australia and Norway. 

Police forces and partner agencies will be working hard this nesting season to protect wild birds from criminals.  Information from the public is a vital part of identifying suspicious activity and catching criminals.  

Detective Inspector Mark Harrison from the UK NWCU said: 

“At this time of year one of my favourite things to do, is stand outside in the morning with a brew and listen to the birds singing as the breeding season gets underway. 

“But for some people this is when they are plotting, planning, visiting areas and checking for nests, getting their cameras, drones and climbing equipment ready. They may have to prepare a hide in their vehicle or check incubators are working correctly. For them this is a busy time of year.  Their interest in birds is far removed from mine.

“At the end of 2024 my team led Operation Pulka and worked with police forces across the UK to execute warrants at numerous addresses during which thousands of bird’s eggs were seized. This highlighted that egg collecting is still a threat to our wildlife.

“Add to this the threats to birds at this time of year from criminals wanting to take wild birds and launder them into the pet and falconry trades, criminals who want to kill certain birds due to some conflict with their hobby or business. Even overly keen bird photographers can disturb nesting birds and commit offences.

“Operation EASTER is one of the NWCUs longest standing operations for the protection of wild birds at this crucial time of year. We will help to co-ordinate the policing response, ensuring dedicated Police Wildlife Crime Officers receive up to date intelligence, operational support and access to specialist investigators from the NWCU. With the help of our partners and the public we can make a difference.

“We need the public and people who spend time out and about in our countryside to be our eyes and ears. To be aware of this criminality and to take the time to report anything suspicious or any information about this criminal activity to the police”.

If you have any information on egg and chick thieves, or those who disturb rare nesting birds without a licence, you should contact your local police by dialing 101 – ask to speak to a wildlife crime officer if possible. Get a description/photo and vehicle registration if safe to do so. Nesting will be in full swing in April so please contact the police if you see anyone acting suspiciously around nesting birds.

Information can also be passed in confidence to Crimestoppers via 0800 555 111.

ENDS

A couple of weeks ago I published a press statement from Scottish charity Trees for Life about NatureScot’s ‘mystifying lack of backbone’ in relation to a delayed licensing decision on the release of beavers in Glen Affric.

I also mentioned concerns about NatureScot’s recent decisions and behaviour in recent months relating to grouse moor licensing and the monitoring of Schedule 1 raptor species.

Criticism of NatureScot continues, this time with an opinion piece by farmer and conservationist Tom Bowser from the excellent Argaty, a rewilding estate in Doune, Perthshire, which was published in The National yesterday.

It’s reproduced below.

SOMETIMES I wonder what sort of democracy Scotland really is.

We have a government policy designed to grow our small beaver population by translocating these biodiversity-boosting animals to new parts of the country. Repeated surveys show that most Scots wish this to happen. We have the world’s most thorough official guidance, leading applicants through how to attempt such wildlife relocations.

Yet when Forestry and Land Scotland and Trees for Life followed this guidance, conducting a gold-standard two-year consultation on proposals to relocate beavers to Glen Affric, the national nature agency, NatureScot, stalled on granting a licence, citing concern among the local community.

Yet two-thirds of the Glen Affric community supported the proposals, and NatureScot itself had previously called the consultations “exemplary”. What is going on?

Since submitting their plans, the applicants have already been made to wait three long months to hear from NatureScot. Now they face a whole summer in the wilderness as the agency demands further consultation. But with community support already demonstrated after two years of engagement, what else can there possibly be to consult on?

NatureScot’s decision is stranger still given that Strathglass, where the proposal’s opponents reside, already has an established beaver population. If this application is too controversial to proceed, what hope have we of assisting the spread of beavers and allowing them to help us fight biodiversity loss and climate breakdown?

Something is very wrong at the heart of NatureScot. This is but the latest in a string of examples where it has acted against the interests of wildlife and communities.

Reaction to its controversial Glen Affric indecision has been brutal. The BBC, Herald and Scotsman wrote stories of “beaver betrayal”. Wild Justice’s Ruth Tingay detailed NatureScot’s “glaring disregard” for conservationists and “pandering” to landowners.

Springwatch presenter Iolo Williams summed the mood up: “NatureScot = not fit for purpose”.

They are right to be angry. Scotland is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries, ranking 212th of 240 surveyed for intactness of biodiversity. Where is the leadership from those charged with restoring nature?

Let’s return to beavers. Their deadwood-filled wetlands are scientifically proven to boost biodiversity. Their dams store water in times of deluge and drought. The environmental crisis is the greatest threat humankind faces. Scotland’s nature agency ought to be encouraging the spread of beavers. Right?

Unfortunately, the opposite seems true. Every beaver translocation applicant has faced bureaucratic burdens and legislative inconsistency. I know this because I’ve been through it.

Despite having beavers living in the wild just five miles away, it took me many months to obtain a licence to translocate other families to my farm, Argaty. Time and time again I was told that our proposal to move these much-needed animals from areas where they were destined to be shot was “novel and contentious”. At that time, NatureScot was dispensing licences in less than 24 hours to farmers wishing to kill beavers.

As if stalling other applicants wasn’t bad enough, NatureScot refuses to even consider relocating beavers to any of its own, highly suitable National Nature Reserves. That it won’t jump its own bureaucratic hurdles tells you all you need to know about NatureScot and its nightmarish processes. This is not a nature agency Scots can be proud of; it is one we should be embarrassed by.

Why the lack of interest in helping Scotland’s beavers?

Part of the answer lies at the political level. By changing Inheritance Tax rules, the UK Government has alienated the farming community. Seeing the opportunity to win rural votes ahead of an election year, John Swinney seems hell-bent on throwing the farmers every bone he can. Even if that means throwing biodiversity under the bus.

We’ve seen a refusal to countenance lynx reintroduction, a commitment to maintain basic subsidy payments to farmers (paying them per farmable acre owned, rather than properly rewarding environmentally sensitive food production). The list goes on.

Is the stalling of beaver translocations another SNP gift to National Farmers’ Union lobbyists?

Much of the blame surely lies with Holyrood. NatureScot lives in fear of its SNP paymasters, who have cut the agency’s funding by 40% in the last decade. It’s a brave civil servant who defies the politicians, angers the farmers and brings further cuts.

But NatureScot is not exempt from criticism. For years they handed out beaver cull licences as though they were sweeties. The annual slaughter of one in 10 of these animals only came to an end when Trees for Life took NatureScot to judicial review and shamed it into change.

NatureScot’s cowardice over the Glen Affric beaver proposal may have triggered conservationists’ anger, but this storm has been brewing for years. NatureScot is riven with problems. Grouse shooting industry lobbyists have infiltrated its boardroom; traditional “kill everything” attitudes dominate its directorship.

There are good people within the agency, but they are too few and the enemies within are too many. As an organisation, it does not know whether it exists to stand up for nature or to simply serve the whims of its masters.

In 2021, when Trees for Life had proved the illegality of NatureScot’s beaver cull policy, celebrated Scottish writer Jim Crumley called for a “new nature-first agency”. Perhaps it’s time to make the idea a reality.

As climate breakdown and biodiversity loss ravage Scotland, we need an agency properly funded by, but independent from, government. One that is led by evidence and is willing to speak truth to power.

We need an agency willing to champion co-existence with wildlife, brave enough to overcome resistance to vital change, humane enough to support everyone through that difficult process. The only people in this agency’s boardroom and upper echelons would be those with a proven record of defending nature. This is the agency Scotland needs.

The politicians we require are those willing to make that change. If John Swinney and his heir apparent, Kate Forbes, think that the opponents of nature restoration are the only rural voters he needs to win over, he has made a grave mistake.

Tom Bowser is the owner of Argaty, a working farm based on the Braes of Doune in central Scotland, which aims to produce food in an environmentally sensitive manner and to make a home for nature. Tom is author of A Sky Full Of Kites: A Rewilding Story and the forthcoming Waters Of Life: Fighting For Scotland’s Beavers.

ENDS

Tom’s latest book is due out 1st May 2025. It is available for pre-order from the publisher here.