Tag: scottish parliament

Roseanna Cunningham claims government is committed to tackling wildlife crime

Labour MSP Elaine Murray asked the Scottish government on 25 March 2010 what action it is taking to tackle wildlife crime.

Roseanna Cunningham, Scottish Environment Minister, claimed the government was committed to tackling wildlife crime and used four examples to support her assertion:

1. Strengthening and re-structuring the Partnership for Wildlife Crime (PAW) to improve its effectiveness. [Presumably this ‘strengthening’  includes supporting the words of Sheriff Kevin Drummond, Paw Chair, who recently told a wildlife crime investigator to “Get a life” after he dared to suggest that sentencing for wildlife crime was too lenient].

2. Establishing a fund aimed at supporting innovations in combating wildlife crime. [This is good – is there a report available to show what innovations have been funded?].

3. Taking action to reduce the single farm payments made to five claimants in cases connected with poisoned birds. [Excellent. Is there a report available to show which five claimants have had their subsidies withdrawn? We are only aware of two –

  • James McDougal (Blythe Farm near Lauder, Scottish Borders) who had £7,919 withdrawn in January 2008 after his gamekeeper, George Aitken, was convicted of wildlife crimes – see blog entry 6 March 2010.
  • John Dodd (Glenogil Estate, Angus) who had £107,000 withdrawn in September 2008 after poisoned baits were found strewn across his estate. Dodd is apparently contesting this decision – see blog entry 3 March 2010.

So who are the other three claimants who have had their subsidies withdrawn? The two we know of happened in 2008, during the tenure of the previous Environment Minister, Michael Russell. How many withdrawals happened in 2009 when Roseanna Cunningham took office?]

4. The recent appointment of a special lawyer to act as Crown Council for Wildlife Crime. [Excellent – we look forward to seeing an increase of successful prosecutions in the very near future].

Full report: http://www.theyworkforyou.com/spwrans/?id=2010-03-25.S3O-9994.h

Environment Minister appreciates the efforts of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association

Scottish Environment Minister, Roseanna Cunningham, really showed those pesky gamekeepers that she means business when it comes to stamping out wildlife crime. In her speech at the Scottish Gamekeepers Association’s (SGA) annual general meeting on 5 March 2010, hard-hitting Roseanna gave them what for. Well actually, she didn’t.

Here is an excerpt from her speech:

“Unfortunately, the illegal killing of birds of prey in Scotland remains at an unacceptably high level, as shown by the recent high profile cases such as the poisoning of the golden eagle, Alma, which was being radio-tracked by SNH. Raptor persecution is one of the UK Wildlife Crime Priorities and we are committed to tackling this.

In Scotland even one incident of deliberate, illegal poisoning would be one too many. It is shameful that some of our most iconic species continue to face illegal persecution.

We all know that the illegal killing of birds of prey is having a serious impact on the populations of iconic species such as golden eagles and hen harriers. Birds of prey are our national assets, with huge public, cultural and tourism appeal. 

However, I realise that those responsible for these illegal activities are in the minority.

I am most grateful for the efforts of the SGA who are trying to conserve birds of prey and the support that the SGA gives to the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Scotland (PAWS), in helping to defeat this type of crime.

The partnership approach taken in tackling this issue is apparent in the mix of people you see here today. We all have the same goal of defeating wildlife crime. Working together to share knowledge, resources and skills to deal with these issues is the only way to tackle this problem”.

Roseanna, it might be time to change your political advisors because they are clearly not giving you the full picture. What ‘efforts’, exactly, has the SGA made to try and conserve birds of prey? Perhaps you are referring to their long-running campaign (since 2000) to get licences to cull raptors? SGA chairman Alex Hogg even goes as far as saying if they had licences to kill raptors legally then the wildlife crime would stop ‘overnight’. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/birds-of-prey-persecution-a-special-ios-online-report-396066.html Is that an admission that if licences to kill raptors are not forthcoming then gamekeepers will continue the criminal activity of killing protected species? Wonderful! What a great effort they are making to conserve birds of prey!