Registration is now open for the Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF) annual conference, this year taking place in Halifax, West Yorkshire on Saturday 16 November 2024.
For further details and a booking application, please visit the NERF website (here).
The following news item appeared in Peebleshire News on 21 June 2024 (thanks to the blog reader who sent this in):
A pensioner will stand trial at Selkirk Sheriff Court later this year charged with four wildlife offences.
Seventy-three year old Thomas Ebner, from Reston, is accused of causing a protected animal unnecessary suffering and setting in position a snare.
He is also charged with using a snare and failing to fit a tag, and also using a snare and not indicating what species it was intended to catch.
Ebner has pleaded not guilty to all four charges and a trial date was set for September 19th 2024.
ENDS
UPDATE 4 Sept 2024, from Border Telegraph:
A pensioner will stand trial next year on a charge of causing a fox unnecessary suffering. 74-year old Thomas Ebner, of Lakeside, Reston, denies setting the snare which caused the fox to be suspended by the neck on a broken fence line causing it to foam at the mouth and thrash about in an attempt to escape.
It allegedly happened at Old Castles Farm, Chirnside on April 25th 2023. He also pleaded not guilty to three other charges regarding the illegal use of a snare. A trial date has been set for 4 February 2025.
ENDS
Meanwhile, we are still waiting to hear when the Scottish Government will announce the commencement of the full ban on snares, which was part of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.
The Bill was voted through Parliament on 21 March 2024 and received royal assent on 30th April 2024, but without setting a commencement date for this part of the new Act, snares are still being used (legally) across Scotland.
How hard can it be to set a date?!
Scottish Greens MSP Ariane Burgess has lodged the following Parliamentary question to get some clarity from the Minister:
NB: As the Ebner case is live, comments won’t be accepted about his trial until criminal proceedings have concluded. Comments about the Scottish Government’s feet-dragging (pun intended) on the commencement date for the snare ban will be accepted.
UPDATE 25 September 2024: Scotland’s landmark ban on snares will commence 25 November 2024 (here)
Press release from Cumbria Wildlife Trust (5th September 2024):
CUMBRIA WILDLIFE TRUST ASKS PUBLIC TO HELP BUY SKIDDAW FOREST AND CREATE ENGLAND’S HIGHEST NATURE RESERVE
Cumbria Wildlife Trust announces the launch of a major public appeal to help buy Skiddaw Forest, including the summit of Skiddaw.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust announces the launch of a major public appeal to help buy Skiddaw Forest, including the summit of Skiddaw. The charity aims to restore a huge, lost area of Atlantic rainforest as part of its 100-year vision for bringing back wildlife to the lower slopes of what will be the highest nature reserve in England.
Thanks to a partnership with Aviva, £5 million has been raised and additional support has been secured from charitable funders towards the asking price. Now the charity needs to rise the final £1.25 million and is appealing to the public to secure the purchase.
Stephen Trotter, CEO of Cumbria Wildlife Trust, says:
“This is a unique and exciting opportunity to create England’s highest nature reserve and, working with farmers and the local community, we urgently need to put more wildlife back into a much-loved and spectacular part of Cumbria. We’re extremely grateful to Aviva and other donors for the contributions already made towards the purchase of Skiddaw Forest.
“Now we’re asking the public to give whatever they can to help us secure this site and to bring more nature to this very special place.
“Skiddaw Forest offers a unique opportunity for wildlife and climate resilience at a major scale in the Lake District National Park. We have to reverse the decline of nature in National Parks to help address the impacts of the climate emergency and the wider wildlife crisis.”
Claudine Blamey, Chief Sustainability Officer, Aviva, says:
“We’re delighted to see Skiddaw in the Lake District chosen as the latest site in our partnership with The Wildlife Trusts, creating England’s highest nature reserve in such an iconic location. Restoring temperate rainforest, peatlands and other habitats on Skiddaw will help the Lake District become more climate ready and provide communities and visitors the opportunity to experience the wonder of British rainforests for years to come.”
Mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington, says:
“As a lover of the Lake District fells, and a keen advocate for the environment and biodiversity, I can’t think of a better organisation to manage Skiddaw Forest than Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Their tireless work has really helped to put wildlife into the consciousness of the public and put nature back onto the map.”
Writer and television presenter Julia Bradbury, says:
“This is an amazing opportunity for nature recovery on such a large scale. I’m delighted Cumbria Wildlife Trust can begin restoring precious montane habitats on this iconic Lakeland fell which is still close to my heart in so many ways. Our natural world needs a lot of help and it’s visions like this that can make a tremendous difference. Let’s help keep these wild spaces protected for generations to come.”
If you’d like to help secure the future of Skiddaw Forest for nature, please visit here or call Cumbria Wildlife Trust on 01539 816300.
ENDS
Cumbria Wildlife Trust has provided the following images showing the boundary line of the proposed nature reserve and a map showing the proposed restoration work on temperate rainforest and peatland:
Since launching its appeal on Thursday, Cumbria Wildlife Trust has already raised half a million pounds of its £1.25 million target.
If you want to help support this project please visit the crowdfunder page HERE.
There’s also a good piece about it in the Guardian here.
Last month I blogged about what looked to be the collapse of the hen harrier brood meddling sham, after hearing persistent rumours that no broods were meddled this year (see here).
I submitted an FoI to Natural England seeking confirmation of this and yesterday they responded and told me, “no requests came in this year” [from any grouse moor owners] and therefore no hen harrier broods were meddled in 2024.
For new blog readers, hen harrier brood meddling is a conservation sham sanctioned by DEFRA as part of its ludicrous ‘Hen Harrier Action Plan‘ and carried out by Natural England, in cahoots with the very industry responsible for the species’ catastrophic decline in England. In general terms, the plan involves the removal of hen harrier chicks and eggs from grouse moors, rear them in captivity, then release them back into the uplands just in time for the start of the grouse-shooting season where they’ll be illegally killed. It’s plainly bonkers. For more background see here and here.
I also asked Natural England how many hen harrier broods were available for brood meddling this year. NE claimed not to hold any information about that, but it’s common knowledge that there were multiple broods on Swinton Estate this year, and at least one additional brood on a neighbouring estate, so it seems that brood meddling could have taken place this year, had either of those estate owners chosen to use the opportunity.
So why didn’t they?
I’d suggested a few plausible but speculative hypotheses in my earlier blog (here) but one hypothesis I didn’t examine was that the Moorland Association might have thrown its toys out of the pram and withdrawn from the brood meddling trial in retaliation for the pressure its members were coming under from the NWCU’s new Hen Harrier Taskforce, which is using an approach similar to that used to tackle serious and organised crime and applying it to target those who continue to persecute hen harriers on grouse moors.
The Moorland Association had accused the Taskforce police of “bypassing regulation” (here) but instead of meekly deferring and backing away, as has happened for at least two decades, this time the police told the Moorland Association it was “wasting time and distracting from the real work of the Hen Harrier Taskforce” (see here) and subsequently booted the Moorland Association off the national Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG), see here, a move warmly welcomed by many in the conservation sector.
The Moorland Association isn’t used to this sort of humiliation. It’s been used to getting its own way, benefiting from the power and influence of some of its members, including the dukes and lords who held sway with the establishment figures of the day. It all seems to be falling apart now though, so it wouldn’t come as any surprise to learn that the Moorland Association had decided to pick up the ball and walk off the pitch, leaving DEFRA and Natural England’s brood meddling ‘trial’ in the gutter.
There’s some evidence to support this theory – I’m told that aside from not engaging in brood meddling this year, some grouse moor owners have also refused access to Natural England staff who wanted to go on to estates and fit satellite tags to other, non-brood meddled hen harrier chicks.
In my FoI to Natural England I asked how many satellite tags NE fieldworkers had fitted to hen harrier chicks this year. This is the response:
That’s an interesting (and short) list. I’m guessing that the three nests in Northumberland are at Kielder (non-grouse moor) and I’m pretty sure that the Cumbria nest is subject to an ongoing police investigation and that the ‘singleton’ chick was a rescue job. The inclusion of the nest in Lanarkshire is a bit bizarre because as far as I’m aware, NE fieldworkers aren’t licenced to tag chicks in Scotland.
Anyway, the table is clear that Natural England didn’t satellite tag many (any?) hen harrier chicks on grouse moors in England this year. I guess we’ll have to wait for Natural England’s end of season report to find out more details – that report is expected sometime this month, along with an updated list on the fates of all the satellite-tagged hen harriers that NE has been monitoring for several years, including all those subject to ongoing police investigations.
We can all speculate about why grouse moor owners might not want to support the continued satellite-tagging of hen harriers by NE (here’s a big clue, here’s another, and here’s another) but fortunately there are other landowners who do support it and provide open access to not only NE field staff but also to those from the RSPB, so hen harrier tagging will continue, with or without support from the grouse shooting industry.
The main question now is what will Natural England do about the hen harrier brood meddling ‘trial’? The licence for the seven-year ‘trial’ has now expired and we should expect a robust scientific review of whether it has addressed the questions it set out to answer (spoiler alert – it hasn’t).
It should also include an assessment of why brood meddling didn’t take place this year and whether that reduces the (misplaced) confidence NE senior staff have previously placed in the grouse shooting industry as a ‘partner’ in this ludicrous pantomime.
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:
REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform is attending the SNP’s annual conference which starts today.
We have a stand (#17) all weekend where conference delegates can drop by for a chat and pick up copies of our various reports:
On Saturday we’re hosting a fringe event (Sidlaw Room, Level 2) from 12.30 – 13.30hrs on the subject of land reform. Here are the programme notes:
LAND REFORM, TAXATION & POWER: LEVERS FOR RESHAPING SCOTLAND’S LAND
This land is your land but huge swathes of Scotland have been dominated by large landowners and sport shooting interests, enabling unequal land ownership models to persist. In the meantime carbon credits are providing green finance but can it be done better and for the public good instead of private profit? Join us at an opportune time – with an imminent new land reform bill – to discuss levers for progressive change which can be used to achieve transformational land reform for our people, wildlife and environment.
Our panel of speakers will include Max Wiszniewski (REVIVE Campaigns Manager), Dr Helen Armstrong (Sustainable land use consultant at Broomhill Ecology), Dr Craig Dalzell (Head of Policy & Research at Common Weal) and Kate Forbes MSP, Deputy First Minister.
If you’re attending the conference, drop by and say hello!
Press release from International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), 21 August 2024:
Wildlife criminals: Public want them punished, but they routinely get off scot-free, study shows
Criminals who inflict immense suffering on wild animals, such as beating to death, poisoning, or smuggling across borders illegally, are evading justice and penalties in the UK, according to new research.
This is despite new poll findings showing that 97 percent of the respondents believed those who torture wild animals should be punished.
The report ‘System set to fail – prosecuting wildlife crime’ was commissioned by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) from criminologists at Nottingham Trent University (now at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)) and the University of Gloucestershire. It extensively documents first-hand accounts of those working on the front line of wildlife crime, providing a bleak overview of why so many cases do not result in prosecution.
It revealed cases were often unsuccessful due to a lack of resources, training, inconsistent approaches to gathering evidence, and the absence of a centralised recording system for wildlife crime.
In addition, a poll carried out by YouGov has shown that there is overwhelming support for wildlife crime to be taken seriously. Specifically, it found:
“Britain’s wildlife is in trouble. This research tells the demoralising tales of enforcers often fighting losing battles against criminals enjoying a lucrative free-for-all to exploit wildlife for greed. It’s a system set to fail”, Catherine Bell, Director of International Policy, IFAW said. “Wildlife crime presents low risk – high reward opportunities to organised gangs, who are often linked to drugs, firearms and other violent offences.”
“If the new government wants to signal their commitment to protecting nature, then this is a golden opportunity”, Bell added.
Police, legal experts and NGOs cite wildlife crime’s ‘non-notifiable’ status as a major source of its inequality under the law. This means incidents do not have to be reported by the police to the Home Office which would use them to compile national crime statistics. As a result, such statistics are hidden in violence, suspicious circumstances offences and anti-social behaviour incidents, preventing clear oversight of the situation.
“Research consistently shows wildlife crime doesn’t get the priority or the resources it deserves. Instead, we have a system reliant on the diligence and dedication of individual enforcement staff. We need better systems in place to provide the necessary support to investigate and prosecute these crimes,” Dr Angus Nurse, research lead and Professor of Law and Environmental Justice at ARU said.
Wildlife crimes occur under a veil of secrecy often in remote places, so overstretched police forces have difficulty allocating resources to investigate and prosecute them. Plus, in June, the Metropolitan Police’s wildlife crime unit was scaled back, with the unit’s detectives being redeployed.
To tackle the problem IFAW is calling on the new government to show that they are committed to taking wildlife crime seriously in the first 100 days of government by introducing new measures. These include:
IFAW has launched a petition calling on the new Labour Government to consider and implement these measures. To sign it, please visit the IFAW website here.
ENDS
The report can be read/downloaded here:
Police Scotland appeal for information (26 August 2024):
APPEAL FOR INFORMATION FOLLOWING DEATH OF OSPREY IN PERTHSHIRE
We are appealing for information following the death of an osprey in Perthshire.
On Monday, 12 August, 2024 the injured osprey was found in distress by a gamekeeper in the Glen Doll area. The SSPCA was called and the bird taken to the wildlife resource centre in Fishcross for treatment, however it had to be euthanised due to the severity of the injuries.
Following further investigations, x-rays revealed the osprey had been shot and Police Scotland was contacted.
Officers are appealing for anyone with information on what happened to contact them.
Detective Constable Daniel Crilley, Wildlife Crime Investigation, said: “It’s illegal to kill any protected species and we’re working with partner agencies to fully investigate the circumstances.
“Information from the local community is vital and I’d ask anyone who was in the area around 12 August and thinks they may have information which could assist our enquiries to come forward. We’re keen to speak to anyone who may have seen anything suspicious or has information about shooting activity in the area.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting reference 1671 of 26 August. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
ENDS
It’s unusual for an Osprey to be shot in the UK, given that they’re a fish-eating specialist and therefore no threat to gamebirds such as red grouse, pheasants or partridges.
Police Scotland’s appeal for information doesn’t say what type of gun was used (shotgun or air rifle) which would have been evident from the x-ray, nor the extent of the osprey’s injuries (i.e. was it able to still fly? If not, it was obviously shot close to where it was found), so it’s quite difficult to comment in detail.
However, given it was found on the opening day of the annual grouse shooting season, in the Angus Glens, an area dominated by driven grouse moors and with a long, long history of illegal raptor persecution, then it’s difficult not to perceive this osprey has been shot by somebody out on a day’s grouse shooting.
Perhaps a case of mistaken identity? One too many sloe gins? Something similar has happened before, that time it was a buzzard shot during a pheasant shoot (see here).
Oh, and the osprey shooting happened inside the Cairngorms National Park.
What better advertisement for the gamebird shooting industry, eh?
This will be an interesting investigation to follow. If it was shot on a moor when a grouse shoot was taking place, how will that impact on the estate’s new licence?
One to watch.
REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform is hosting it’s annual national conference at Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 10th November 2024.
This year’s theme is land reform and the event will be hosted by leading land reform campaigner Dr Lesley Riddoch.
REVIVE National Conference for Land Reform:
A turning point for our people, wildlife, and the environment
Sunday 10th November 2024, Perth Concert Hall.
Doors open 11:05. Conference programme (to be released shortly) begins at 12 noon.
REVIVE are thrilled to invite you to the launch of Scotland’s next major push for land reform – a turning point that aims to empower people to change the face of Scotland.
Just 433 people own half of Scotland’s private land. A large amount of this land is used by a few people to kill our wildlife for ‘sport’ while our environment suffers and Scotland’s people are denied access, opportunities, and a say in how our land is run and owned. Scotland remains one of the most nature depleted places in the world.
How can we transform our land to create thousands more good jobs, fund our communities and offer a vision that can unlock our land’s potential for people like you, our wildlife and the environment?
That’s what The Big Land Question will seek to answer – a major national project that is being launched at this conference to pinpoint how the ownership and management of Scotland’s land could be transformed for all of us, not just a few big landowners.
Join us on what we believe will be a key turning point for people, wildlife and the environment that will change the face of Scotland for the better.
£8; Senior Citizens/Disabled/Unwaged/Students/Young Scot/Under 16s £5.
For tickets, please click here.
In May 2024, Police Scotland issued an appeal for information after the discovery of a dead osprey called ‘Laddie’, the famous breeding male from the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Loch of the Lowes Reserve in Perthshire (see here).
Criminality had been suspected initially but a few weeks later the police announced that criminality still hadn’t been established but they were awaiting the results of a post mortem to confirm (see here).
Yesterday Police Scotland (Tayside) issued the following statement on Facebook:
“Following extensive enquiries on the remains of an osprey found near Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, on Friday, 3 May, 2024, no criminality has been established.
It is believed the protected species, which is thought to have been nesting at Loch of the Lowes, close to where it was found, died from natural causes“.
Further detail has been published by the Scottish Wildlife Trust:
“The post mortem has revealed that the male osprey died of bleeding from stomach ulcers. There was no indication of lead or any other poisoning; evidently, old age played its part. We think he was at least 15 years old” (see here for more info).
Raptor Persecution UK 