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New paper links raptor persecution to driven grouse moors in Peak District National Park

A new scientific, peer-reviewed paper, published in the journal British Birds, links the illegal killing of birds of prey with driven grouse moor management in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park.

Full citation: Melling, T., Thomas, M., Price, M. and Roos, S. (2018). Raptor persecution in the Peak District National Park. British Birds 111 (May): 275-290.

Unfortunately we’re not permitted to publish the full paper [UPDATE: paper now available at the foot of this blog] but here is the abstract and a number of the figures:

The RSPB has published a blog about this research which is well worth a read – here.

At the end of the RSPB blog, RSPB Investigator Mark Thomas writes: “It’s going to be interesting to see the response to our paper“.

The response will be the same one we’ve seen to every other scientific paper linking illegal raptor persecution to driven grouse moor management (and there have been many):

  1. Conservationists will be appalled (but not surprised);
  2. The grouse shooting industry will either (a) ignore it or (b) try to undermine the credibility of the authors and the science;
  3. The statutory authorities will either (a) ignore it or (b) they’ll acknowledge it and say raptor persecution ‘won’t be tolerated’ and then do nothing.

We still need to work on increasing public awareness about the illegal persecution of raptors on driven grouse moors and encourage more voters to apply pressure to their political representatives. Good progress has been made in the last few years but there is much, much more to do.

Scientific papers such as this latest one all help build the evidence, although if they sit behind a journal paywall they have limited value. Please help spread the word about this paper, especially on social media, and if you’re a resident of the Peak District National Park or if you live nearby and your MP’s constituency extends in to the Park, please send a copy of the paper’s abstract to them and ask that they contact Wildlife Minister Therese Coffey at DEFRA to demand she takes action.

In fact, even if you’re not a Peak District resident, this is a National Park that is there for all of us to enjoy, so please send a copy of this paper’s abstract to your local MP, wherever you live, and ask him/her to demand action from Minister Therese Coffey on your behalf.

The illegal killing of raptors on grouse moors in this National Park (and many others) has been going on for decades. It’s all documented. It will continue to go on unless we demand change. Please act.

UPDATE: Here is the paper in full:

raptor-persecution-in-peak-district-np_melling-et-al-2018_british-birdsDownload

‘No justification’ for raven cull licence, says RSPB Scotland Director

RSPB Scotland has published a further damning statement on the SNH raven cull licence.

Written by Director Anne McCall, here’s a short excerpt:

‘Considering all of the above, RSPB Scotland maintains that there is no justification for this extreme course of action, and will continue to pursue that SNH withdraw this licence. Alternatively, the option is always open for those who have sought the licence to voluntarily pause any culling in order to allow time and space for the SNH Scientific Advisory Committee to conduct a thorough and meaningful analysis. Choosing not to pause a cull in order to make sure the science is in order has to beg the question why on earth is this being done at all?‘

To read the full statement, please see here.

Buzzards found poisoned & decapitated in Co Cork

Reported on BirdWatch Ireland’s facebook page on 24 April 2018, news of three dead buzzards found in a field at Ring, near Clonakilty, Co Cork.

The birds were found in January and collected by staff from the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) to be sent for post-mortem. X-rays showed no sign of lead shot but two of the buzzards had missing heads and one had a missing leg.

Toxicology results have revealed high levels of the highly toxic pesticide Carborfuran as well as two rodenticides.

The NPWS is investigating and calling for information.

More details on the BirdGuides website (here).

Photo of the dead buzzards in evidence bags [photo by NPWS]

Green MSPs seek urgent meeting with SNH re: raven cull licence

For the benefit of those not on Twitter, last night MSP Mark Ruskell (Scottish Greens) tweeted that he is seeking an urgent meeting with Scottish Natural Heritage to discuss the raven cull licence. His colleague, Alison Johnstone MSP, will join him.

Well done and thanks to both of them for holding SNH to account.

SNH refuses to say whether raven cull licence has been suspended

In a desperate attempt to regain the narrative, this afternoon Scottish Natural Heritage has issued a further statement to try and justify its ridiculous decision to grant a licence to gamekeepers, permitting the mass killing of ravens in a noted wildlife crime hotspot, on the basis of ‘seeing what happens’.

Part of the latest statement is reproduced from the quote SNH provided to The Times yesterday, and there’s a bit of extra PR gloss (i.e. this is a “limited trial“) applied for good measure. Noticeably, the statement does not include the words ‘raven cull’.

Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, the statement fails to address any of the serious concerns raised about the licence. Perhaps that’s deliberate, because answering those questions would undoubtedly expose the flawed process behind this licensing decision, like issuing the licence first, in secret, and then assessing its scientific credibility sometime later but only after being challenged by sceptical conservationists.

Here’s the latest SNH statement:

It also hasn’t escaped our notice that SNH has avoided answering the very simple question we posed this morning: Has the raven cull licence been suspended whilst the Scientific Advisory Committee undertakes its review?

We put this straightforward question to the SNH media team this morning and they were unable to answer it. One of them told us that he had been told to tell us to put this question in writing to SNH Chair Mike Cantlay, which we have now done.

We’ll take that response, along with the content of the above statement, to indicate that SNH has NOT suspended the raven cull licence, despite this morning’s (deliberately?) misleading headline suggesting that SNH is having a ‘rethink’.

Please keep writing to SNH Chair Mike Cantlay (chair@snh.gov.uk) and please keep signing and sharing this petition (here).

This is a long way from being over.

Is the raven cull licence still active whilst SNH review takes place?

This morning The Times ran an ‘exclusive’ on the controversial raven cull licence, headlining its article with ‘RETHINK ON RAVEN CULL AFTER OUTCRY BY CONSERVATIONISTS’:

Many on social media are heralding this as a ‘win’ for conservationists, but we’re a bit more cynical. It looks to us like SNH is trying to hoodwink everyone with a bit of savvy PR.

The article in The Times focuses mostly on the email sent to SNH by Chris Packham, but provides very little detail about SNH’s planned ‘review’ by its Scientific Advisory Committee. It does, though, use the past tense when describing the cull (‘The cull, which was planned to take place over five years….’), which suggests the cull licence has been suspended while this review takes place, but doesn’t explicitly state that the licence HAS been suspended.

Now have a look at the full statement given by SNH to The Times yesterday:

A spokesperson for Scottish Natural Heritage said:

‘We need to get a balance between species –  bringing back waders from the brink, whilst still maintaining a healthy national population of ravens. 

‘Given concerns about the future for local ground nesting waders, the Strathbraan Community Collaboration for Waders (SCCW), approached us in 2017 with a request for a licence which would help us understand the decline of these important species.  SNH considered this request, following due process and have granted the licence, attaching clear conditions for SCCW to follow.

‘The information SCCW gather throughout the trial will contribute to the wider work for waders and will be made available to others who are also working to save these endangered birds to allow us all to learn and make progress in conserving some of our most threatened species.

‘SNH is confident about the rationale behind this licence.  However, in recognition of the concerns expressed, we have asked our Scientific Advisory Committee – a group of respected external experts – to review as speedily as possible how this particular case fits with the wider work on adaptive action to save waders and to report on whether the methods agreed for this trial fit with the wider body of work underway.’

ENDS

Does it say anything about the licence being suspended while the review takes place? No, it does not. We suspect that the licence is still active and SNH has put out this statement simply to calm the critics and pretend that it’s having a ‘rethink’.

It’s also worth noting the following in the SNH statement:

‘SNH considered this request, following due process and have granted the licence,….’

If SNH had followed due process, surely the Scientific Advisory Committee would have had sight of the licence application and been consulted BEFORE the decision to issue a licence was made, no? Well apparently not, if the Scientific Advisory Committee is only now being asked to review the licence.

What the hell? Isn’t SNH the government’s statutory scientific advisory agency?

We’ve contacted SNH this morning to ask for clarification about whether the licence has been suspended during the review. The media team didn’t know and apparently will be getting back to us.

We await the response with interest.

UPDATE 12.30hrs: The SNH media team has responded. They are unable to answer this very straightforward question and have been told to ask us to put our request in writing to Mike Cantlay: chair@snh.gov.uk

We have done this.

UPDATE 17.05hrs: SNH refuses to say whether raven cull licence has been suspended (here)

Chris Packham’s email to SNH re: raven cull licence

Further to the news that Scottish Natural Heritage has issued a multi-year licence to allow the mass culling of ravens in Highland Perthshire, ‘just to see what happens’, which prompted a surge of criticism from the Scottish Raptor Study Group (here), RSPB Scotland (here), OneKind (here), Mark Avery (here) and thousands of members of the public, Chris Packham has added his voice.

Here’s his email to Mike Cantlay, Chair of SNH:

Good morning Mr Cantlay,

I hope you are well.

I write with reference to the licensing of the raven cull. I’ll keep it short, I imagine you’ve had a fair few emails about this.

If you had asked a team of the very best PR executives to come up with a plan to incinerate the last vestiges of credibility, to banish any dwindling reserves of integrity and to destroy any remaining trust between conservationists and SNH, then it’s my bet that they would have suggested this. Top work.

As it stands the already beleaguered reputation of SNH lies in bloodied tatters, and, whilst I am not a PR person I would suggest that to reverse this ill judged and ruinous decision – as quickly as possible – would be a jolly good idea.

Yours

Chris Packham,

Conservationist

ENDS

[Photo: RPUK]

Still no response from SNH since we blogged about this raven cull licence last Friday.

If you’d like to add your voice to those of us in opposition to the licence, please email Mike Cantlay, Chair of SNH: chair@snh.gov.uk

You can also sign this petition HERE

Grouse Moor Management Review Group: 1st meeting report

In May last year Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham announced her intention to establish a Grouse Moor Management Review Group, in response to the damning findings of the Golden Eagle Satellite Tag Review which had revealed that almost one third of satellite-tagged golden eagles had disappeared in highly suspicious circumstances on or close to intensively managed driven-grouse moors (see here).

The membership of the Grouse Moor Management Review Group was announced in November 2017 (see here) and the panel was expected to report back its findings to the Cabinet Secretary in early 2019.

The Group held its inaugural meeting on 16 January 2018 at the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Chair (Prof Alan Werritty) outlined the background and context for the Group, and the following terms of reference were agreed:

‘The Group will examine how to ensure that grouse moor management continues to contribute to the rural economy while being environmentally sustainable and compliant with the law. The Group will recommend options for regulation including licensing and other measures which could be put in place without new primary legislation‘.

[Photo of intensively managed driven grouse moor, Cairngorms National Park, by Ruth Tingay]

Prof Werritty noted that the Cabinet Secretary had also commissioned a socio-economic study to be undertaken in parallel with the work of the Group, with interim findings to be made available later in the year.

According to Prof Werritty’s report of this first meeting, in addition to identifying a schedule for meetings, the Group agreed the following framework:

January to July 2018: gathering evidence and identifying key issues:

  • Meeting 2. Evidence 1 (Environmental law relevant to grouse moors, current licensing systems and Codes of Practice, wildlife crime)
  • Meeting 3. Evidence 2 (Predation/raptors and mountain hares)
  • Meeting 4. Evidence 3 (Muirburn and medicated grit, call for written evidence)

September to December 2018: written and oral evidence, visit to estate(s), socio-economics:

  • Meeting 5. Written evidence reviewed and oral evidence from key stakeholders
  • Meeting 6. Visit to grouse shooting estate(s)
  • Meeting 7. Review input from socio-economic study

January to March 2019: drafting report and recommendations:

  • Meeting 8. Review evidence and initial drafting of report and recommendations
  • Meeting 9. Finalise report and recommendations

At the first meeting in January 2018, the Group heard presentations from three of the Group’s special advisors, as follows:

  • Adam Smith (GWCT): Grouse moors and their management: an introduction
  • Ben Ross (SNH): Current regulatory system governing grouse moor management
  • Des Thompson (SNH): Raptor persecution and driven grouse moors

[Photo of satellite-tagged golden eagle Fearnan, found illegally poisoned on a driven grouse moor in the Angus Glens. Image by RSPB Scotland]

RSPB Scotland blog in response to mass raven cull licence

Further to the news that Scottish Natural Heritage has issued a multi-year licence to allow the mass culling of ravens in Highland Perthshire just ‘to see what happens’ (see here), RSPB Scotland has just published a blog in response.

Here’s a short excerpt:

“Now – to this research licence. In the first instance, we doubt very much that the proposal in this case has anything to do with the given reason for the research licence request – ostensibly to ‘improve understanding of factors affecting key wader species’. In light of previous loud complaints by estates in this and other grouse shooting areas about raven predation of red grouse, we and many others see this raven research proposal as simply a rather transparent mechanism whereby a perceived pest species can be removed to benefit red grouse, with the conservation of wading birds as a by-product.

We would have hoped that, on receipt of such an application, the location for the study would have set some alarm bells ringing amongst SNH staff, since this area has been clearly identified by the Scottish Government, the police and other authoritative commentators for many years as a raptor persecution “black hole”, where golden eagles and other protected raptors suspiciously disappear without trace or explanation”.

To read the RSPB Scotland blog in full, please see here.

For those who oppose the raven cull licence, please consider sending an email to SNH Chair Mike Cantlay: chair@snh.gov.uk

Please also consider signing this petition HERE

UPDATE 27 April 2018: ‘No justification’ for raven cull licence, says RSPB Scotland Director (here)

Raven cull update & what you can do to help

There has been a phenomenal public reaction to the shocking news that Scottish Natural Heritage has issued a multi-year licence to allow the mass culling of ravens in Highland Perthshire just ‘to see what happens’ (see here).

A few updates for those who might have missed them:

Statement from Robbie Kernahan, Head of Wildlife at SNH:

“We understand the concerns over wildlife crime in Strathbraan, but we are also clear that the granting of this licence is wholly unconnected to the issues concerned.

This licence is about a pressing and complex conservation issue. It  is a large-scale collaborative trial which will help improve our understanding of factors affecting key wader species, populations of which are declining at an alarming rate. We are satisfied this licence will not affect the population of ravens overall, and is over a five year period.

The licence places significant responsibility and expectations on all those involved – to be able to show that this approach can work and will help deliver what are essentially shared objectives.

Trust is a key element of this and this presents a great opportunity to develop that trust and relationships with all involved. If it becomes apparent that actions are not being carried out in accordance with the terms of any licence then we will have no hesitation in removing the licence”.

UPDATE 23 April 2018: RSPB Scotland responds in full to raven cull licence (here)

Statement from Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species & Land Management at RSPB Scotland:

“We are extremely concerned about the likely scale on impact of this research licence on the local raven population in the Strathbraan area of Perthshire. We are also very surprised that SNH have issued such a research licence  in the vicinity of Strathbraan, which has an appalling and well documented track record of illegal persecution of raptors, noting also the very recent “suspicious” disappearance of a satellite tagged white-tailed eagle in this very same area.

We, together with local raptor workers who have been monitoring ravens in the area for decades, could have helped SNH with this background detail to the licence application if we had been consulted.

We will be seeking a high level meeting with SNH shortly to discuss. We will be pressing for the research licence to be revoked on the back of the white-tailed eagle incident, and instead consideration given by SNH to removing the use of the Open General Licence in this area, as is within their powers”.

Both RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Raptor Study Group are working hard behind the scenes to stop this licence in its tracks. We hope to have more news on that in due course.

It’s also worth noting here that, as we understand it, many SNH staff members are opposed to this licence on scientific and ethical grounds, but it seems their advice was ignored by the decision-makers.

In the meantime, please continue to send emails to the Chair of SNH, Mike Cantlay. It’s crucial that he/SNH understands the strength of public anger and opposition to this licence. Emails to: chair@snh.gov.uk 

A number of well-intentioned people have started a variety of petitions opposing the cull licence. Some are more accurate than others but all are helpful in raising awareness. We’d recommend signing this one: SIGN PETITION HERE

Thank you