Category: News

Scottish farmers & landowners join forces with NatureScot to fight judicial review on beaver killing

Beavers are slightly off topic for this blog, although they featured on here earlier this year when Scottish charity Trees for Life was crowdfunding to support an application for judicial review against NatureScot (formerly SNH) for allowing too many beavers to be killed under licence instead of exploring all other non-lethal avenues first (see here).

The Trees for Life crowdfunder was successful (here), helped along by many of this blog’s readers (thank you) and also by a £5K contribution from Wild Justice.

[Photo by Scotland: The Big Picture]

Trees for Life applied to the court for permission to proceed with their judicial review and the Scottish Court of Session granted that permission in February 2021, which means that a judge considered there was a valid legal challenge to be made with every chance of success (see here).

The case is due to be heard this year.

Meanwhile, on a slightly tangential note, the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) has been whipping up hysteria about white-tailed eagles in western Scotland and the apparent ‘need’ to control them (which includes a proposal for ‘problem’ eagles to be shot) but I’ll be blogging about that separately.

The reason I raise that now, in this blog about beavers, is because the NFUS has written to its members about the Trees for Life judicial review on beavers, and it has announced it is joining forces with landowners’ lobby group Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) to help support NatureScot to try and defend the judicial review.

Why? Because according to the NFUS, if Trees for Life wins the judicial review, along with ‘uninformed pressure’ from conservationists, then there may be implications for the ‘control’ (killing) of other species including ‘sea eagles, badgers, geese and ravens’.

Here is a copy of the letter from the NFUS to its members, dated 7 April 2021 (thanks to the blog reader who sent me a copy):

It’ll be fascinating to read the NFUS / SLE legal argument for killing beavers as a first instead of a last resort; a legal argument that they ‘strongly believe is not understood by Trees for Life‘.

We’ll need to wait for court papers to emerge before any of this is made public.

NatureScot Chair Mike Cantlay writes puff piece for Scottish Gamekeepers’ rag

How come, if Scottish gamekeepers feel so downtrodden, unheard, overlooked, side-lined etc (e.g. see here), the Chair of Naturescot is writing puff pieces for their quarterly rag?

In the Spring 2021 edition of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association’s newsletter, Mike Cantlay blows some serious amounts of smoke up the SGA’s backside. It’s a shame his organisation isn’t as enthusiastic about revoking General Licences on shooting estates where there is strong evidence that raptor persecution continues.

Mike Cantlay isn’t the SGA’s only friend at NatureScot.

The recently-updated list of Board Members includes one David Johnstone, former CEO of Scottish Land & Estates whose responses to raptor persecution incidents leave a lot to be desired (e.g. see here and here) as does his view on vicarious liability (see here) and grouse moor licensing (e.g. see here and here).

Ah, nothing like a modernising, forward-thinking progressive to join the NatureScot Board, eh? Which Scottish Government Ministers approved the current intake of Board Members and how many candidates with expertise in wildlife, science and nature conservation were overlooked in favour of landowning Lord Johnstone?

Langholm Moor Community Buyout: re-advertising for an Estate Manager

In November last year the largest community buyout in south Scotland realised its ambitious goal by raising enough money to buy some moorland from Buccleuch Estates in Langholm with the intention of turning it from a former grouse moor in to a thriving nature reserve for the benefit of the local community, the environment and for visitors from further afield (see here).

The buy-out was officially completed in March this year (see here).

[Langholm Moor. Photo by David Lintern]

The Langholm Initiative, the organisation behind the buyout, is re-advertising a vacancy for an Estate Manager. This position was previously advertised in January but for whatever reason it’s now available again.

Here is the job advert:

ESTATE MANAGER

Salary: £35,000

Full-time, permanent

Closing date: 30th April 2021

This role is being re-advertised.

We are seeking to recruit an experienced and enthusiastic Estate Manager who has the skills and passion to help create the new Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, as well as over-seeing the day-to-day running of the first large-scale comunity owned estate in the south of Scotland.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of an ambitious project, and the post-holder will work closely with the appointed Development Manager.

This post is funded by the Esmee Fairburn Foundation. For more information on the role and application process, please click here to download the job pack from the Langholm Initiative website.

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This ‘downtrodden gamekeeper’ act is fooling no-one

As campaigning for the forthcoming Scottish election gets in to full swing, I’ve been reading more and more about poor ‘downtrodden’ gamekeepers, how they’re not listened to, how hard done by they are, how they’ve been ‘vilified’ etc etc.

This article in last week’s Herald is a classic example, although pay close attention to who wrote it – Clare Taylor, Political Affairs Editor at The Scottish Farmer – her reference to farmers being “plagued” by the return of White-tailed eagles and commentary about “a growing obsession with rewilding” gives you a good idea about her environmental aspirations.

The truth is, rural affairs already have a very loud voice in the Scottish Parliament, in the shape of Fergus Ewing, Minister for Tourism and the Rural Economy who called himself “a friend in Government” to the Scottish Gamekeepers Association recently. Such a good friend in fact that he’s auctioning off a Holyrood tour (that should be free) to help the SGA’s fundraising activities (see here).

Clare Taylor’s tweet, promoting her biased article in the Herald, made me laugh:

After proclaiming that the Scottish Government ‘must stamp out the vilifying of individuals’, what does she think the accompanying photograph shows? Er, could it be a bunch of Scottish gamekeepers vilifying Chris Packham outside Perth Concert Hall, protesting about him having a job?

And are these the same gamekeepers who routinely vilify and abuse those of us campaigning against environmentally-damaging, unlawful and unsustainable grouse moor management (see here and here)?

And are these the same gamekeepers who continue to shoot, trap and poison birds of prey in the Scottish countryside?

Clare’s article includes a quote from the co-ordinator of Scotland’s Moorland Groups. That’ll be Tim (Kim) Baynes then, a Director of the landowners’ lobby group Scottish Land & Estates – hardly someone without connections to politicians and civil servants, is he? Yet another influential voice speaking to power on behalf of gamekeepers.

Although Scottish Land & Estates’ CEO, Sarah-Jane Laing, was on here last week in the comments section claiming that ‘The Regional Moorland Groups which exist across Scotland are not part of the SLE structure‘.

Really? Well why then does Tim Baynes’s job description, on the SLE website, say that he’s the co-ordinator of those seven moorland groups??

And what about those seven regional moorland groups? They’re an interesting bunch. Grouse moors in five of those seven regions have been in the last three years, or currently are, under police investigation for alleged raptor persecution crimes (grouse moors in the regions covered by the Angus Glens Moorland Group, Grampian Moorland Group, Tomatin Moorland Group, Tayside & Central Moorland Group and the Southern Uplands Moorland Group).

And there are more ongoing police investigations linked to grouse moor management and raptor persecution that are yet to be publicised. Believe me, the public will be appalled when the news comes out and it’ll be a bloody brave (or desperate) politician that puts their name down to support this continued criminality.

Police investigate as dead buzzard is found tied & hanging from a tree in Fife

This is a bit bizarre – there’s an article in today’s National about a police investigation, triggered by the discovery of a dead buzzard that had been tied to a tree and found hanging.

Police Scotland say that their enquiries show the buzzard had died of natural causes before being tied to the tree.

Here’s the article, written by Laura Webster:

POLICE have launched an investigation after a dead buzzard was discovered hanging from a tree.

According to investigating officers, the bird, found in Fife, died from natural causes before being strung up.

A member of the public spotted the buzzard close to the cycle path from Tayport to Newport on Monday.

Fife’s wildlife crimes liaison officer, Constable Ben Pacholek, said:

“Our enquiries show that the buzzard died from natural causes before being tied to the tree. But this was a reckless and needless act, leaving a dead bird hanging in a public place that has caused distress within the local community.

I would urge members of the public to be respectful and considerate towards wildlife at all times. All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

If anyone knows anything about what happened or saw anything suspicious, then please contact us on 101.”

ENDS

Scottish Minister Fergus Ewing under fire for auctioning Holyrood tour for Scottish Gamekeepers’ fundraiser

Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing has been accused of breaching Parliamentary rules by ‘flogging’ access to Holyrood in a silent auction organised by the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA).

Lot #59 in the SGA’s annual auction, donated by Fergus Ewing MSP, is squeezed in between a week’s holiday in a cottage in Strathbraan (a well-known raptor persecution hot-spot) and an offer of a smock and half a pig. Here’s what Fergus Ewing is offering (closing date 7th May 2021):

Amusingly, one of the people who has questioned whether the Minister’s actions are appropriate is Edward Mountain MSP, a Conservative candidate who will be challenging Fergus Ewing for the Inverness and Nairn constituency in the May election.

Along with Fergus Ewing, Ed Mountain is also a long-time supporter of the SGA, and is even a “proud” SGA member (see here).

It isn’t clear who went to the press about this (although as an SGA member, Ed Mountain would certainly have had access to the silent auction lots because the auction booklet was included in the mail out of the SGA’s most recent quarterly rag) but today the Scottish Daily Mail was running a story on it:

‘That tour has not taken place’, says the SNP spokesman. No, because the auction doesn’t close until 7th May!

To be honest, there are much bigger fish to fry than this but the reason I’m blogging about it is because the SGA has been wailing quite a lot recently about how it has been ‘overlooked’ by the Scottish Parliament. In my opinion this is completely untrue – the SGA has just as much access to politicians as any other organisation, illustrated quite well by the players in this latest tale.

I plan to blog a bit more about that shortly.

Peregrine shot & killed in North Wales

North Wales Police have published a tweet about a peregrine that was found dying on Tuesday lunchtime near the Osprey Centre at Porthmadog, North Wales.

It was taken to the RSPCA’s Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre for a veterinary examination.

According to the Police, the vets said it had ‘probably been shot’ as there was an entry and exit wound. There are no further details.

Unfortunately this young peregrine died of its injuries.

If you have any information that could help this investigation, please contact North Wales Police and quote reference 21000222577.

Reintroduction & Rewilding Summit – this Saturday

The exciting Reintroduction & Rewilding Summit takes place this Saturday (10th April), launching online from 10am.

Co-hosted by the Birds of Poole Harbour and the Self isolating Bird Club, the day-long event will be hosted by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin with a wide variety of guests and speakers.

For more details and to register for this free event, please click here

It’s a packed programme and the schedule has now been released:

Horror for wildlife on a burnt Scottish grouse moor

The environmentally damaging consequences of setting fire to upland heather moorlands as part of the routine ‘management’ for grouse shooting are well documented, with some of these fires leading to increased carbon emissions, increased flood risk, increased air pollution and threats to other ecosystem services.

With the intensification of grouse moor management in some areas of Scotland comes an increase in the extent and intensity of rotational heather burning. These fires have even been lit on areas of deep peat (forbidden by the voluntary Muirburn Code, which many land managers seem to simply ignore) causing damage to protected blanket bog habitat – in fact 40% of the area of land burned for grouse moor management in Scotland is on deep peat (see here).

In November 2020, in response to the Werritty Review on grouse moor management, then Environment Minister Mairi Gougeon announced there would be a statutory ban on burning on peatland except under licence for strictly limited purposes such as habitat restoration. She also said that the Government would revisit the definition of ‘peatland’ and consider whether a tighter and stricter definition was required.

This was an excellent result and we are now all waiting to see the election results in May in the hope that the new Scottish Government can get on with these and other commitments it made, notably the introduction of a licensing scheme for grouse shooting.

Meanwhile, the horror of grouse moor burning continues apace. These photographs were taken four days ago on a grouse shooting estate in the Angus Glens on 1st April 2021.

I would encourage Scottish readers to send a copy of the photo of the lizard with its singed tail and the photo of the devastated moorland habitat to your local political candidate and ask them whether they support this kind of environmental Armageddon.

Scottish Gamekeepers Association on the attack about ‘misleading’ information – oh, the irony

The latest target in the Scottish Gamekeepers Association’s (SGA) rifle sights is the Scottish Green Party.

I say latest, I’m not sure I can remember the SGA ever supporting any policy of the Greens, and some members of this political party have long been targets for personal abuse by some SGA Committee Members and supporters, so this current attack is just more of the same.

It all stems from a short piece in a regional campaign newsletter, currently being distributed by supporters of the Scottish Greens:

Of course, anybody challenging the status quo of grouse shooting is going to be a target for hatred and it will come as no surprise whatsoever to learn that candidate Maggie Chapman has been subjected to disgraceful misogynistic abuse on Facebook by SGA supporters, on the SGA’s own Facebook page. It appears that real women can’t have short hair AND breasts. It’s all too confusing if you still think it’s the 1950s. I’ll bet she was wearing trousers too. Shocking. The misogyny centred on Maggie’s appearance – god help us if they’d realised she was actually standing for election.

The SGA’s reaction to the Scottish Green Party’s campaign newsletter has been astonishing, although actually it shouldn’t be astonishing at all in light of their recent antics in relation to the death threat received by Chris Packham (see here). It seems they’ll complain about anything in their quest to resist progressive modernisation and so this time they’ve threatened to write to the Electoral Commission to complain about what they call ‘misleading information’ about grouse moors.

Here’s what the SGA published on its website earlier this week:

On the face of it, this SGA statement might seem like reasonable comment, especially as it was citing the results of a recent Government-funded study in to the socio-economic and biodiversity impacts of grouse shooting.

The thing is, the SGA isn’t accurately reporting that study’s findings. At all. In fact some might argue it was deliberately mis-reporting the findings.

How so?

Well, in the summary report of that study being cited by the SGA, the authors are quite clear about how the study results should be interpreted. In fact they couldn’t have been clearer (underlining added by me):

Furthermore, the small set of case study samples that the study used are also kind of skewed in favour of grouse shooting. This is not a criticism of the study authors, they have been totally upfront about it, but it just emphasises the caution urged by the authors on how these results should be interpreted; caution which the SGA has ignored:

There were nine case studies that involved some sort of grouse shooting, but only two involving rewilding/conservation. There’s absolutely no way that the study results can be seen as being representative of these land-use differences across Scotland, as the SGA is trying to claim.

I’d encourage the Scottish Green Party to study the summary report closely, and also read some wider research commissioned by REVIVE (especially this one) to rebut any complaint the SGA may make to the Electoral Commission about so-called ‘misleading information’.

The supreme irony of this latest attack is that the SGA is accusing the Scottish Greens of promoting ‘misleading information’ about grouse moors. The SGA are the masters of ‘misleading information’ (i.e. utter rubbish), and here is a small selection from over the years:

‘Professional gamekeepers do not poison raptors’ (May 2011)

‘It is unfair to accuse gamekeepers of wildlife crime’ (June 2011)

‘Will these very large creatures [white-tailed eagles] differentiate between a small child and more natural quarry?’ (September 2011)

‘Raptors are thriving on game-keepered land’ (July 2013)

‘I strongly believe the goshawk was never indigenous to the United Kingdom and there is absolutely no hard evidence to suggest otherwise’ (September 2013)

When asked whether gamekeepers are involved with the poisoning, shooting & trapping of raptors: ‘No they aren’t. We would dispute that’ (March 2014)

‘In the last ten years we have stamped out poisoning. We’ve absolutely finished it’ (October 2014)

‘We kill animals because probably we’re the doctors and nurses of the countryside’ (January 2015)

‘Grouse moors are a birdwatcher’s paradise’ (December 2020)