NatureScot has published its 2022 licence data - but has concealed key information from the public.
* Scotland's nature agency admitted to issuing more than 2000 bird licences in one year but declined to publish the numbers of birds affected - including the fact that they permitted the unlimited lethal control of several red and amber listed species for 'bird air safety' - and that one licence alone approved the culling of 359 Barnacle Geese. The 'hidden' data that NatureScot decided not to publish - * "As many as required" Lapwing, Curlew, Mute Swan, Starling & more - approved for lethal control * Hundreds of amber listed Barnacle Geese and Pink Footed Geese licensed to be culled * "As many as necessary" chicks of Swallows and Swifts permitted to be killed, for 'air safety' * Similar key information is missing from all of NatureScot's published licence data. Why didn't they publish these figures? NatureScot: "we concluded that the time taken to process this quantity of data would not be viable" Not so 'open and transparent' then. Please read on.... Where are the figures? When NatureScot told me they were going to publish their wildlife licence data in the name of 'openness and transparency', I was hopeful. Well, it was finally released this week - but there's a big problem. They have neglected to publish the most important statistics. The number of birds affected by the licences has been intentionally withheld. The data release had already been delayed due to "pressures on the licensing team" but now that it's out, it raises far more questions than it answers. While the total numbers of wildlife licences are listed (including a whopping 2,269 licences issued to control wild birds in just one year), NatureScot decided not to include the specific numbers of birds (or other animals) associated with each licence - and this of course is the key information we need to see. Fortunately, I do have that information because I had the foresight to obtain it through a freedom of information request earlier this year. So let's take a dip into the data and see what they might be hiding..... 1 Licence = 359 birds An example of just how significant the missing information is: NatureScot say they issued just 6 licences to kill Barnacle Geese last year, and that much is true - but they leave out the rather important detail that just one of those 6 licences actually allowed 359 of these impressive birds to be culled - and this species is included on the amber list of conservation concern. And when NatureScot say in their published data that they issued 23 licences to kill Pink footed Geese (also an amber listed species), I can tell you that in fact the number of geese permitted to be killed under those 23 licences is around 300. Other species too are targeted by NatureScot in potentially very large numbers, but the published data doesn't allude to this fact either because the actual numbers attached to the published licences have been withheld. Red List Species Several red and amber listed species appear 'openly and transparently' in the published data, but again with no details over the numbers. In total, NatureScot say they approved 28 licences last year covering air safety - that may not sound alot - but I can tell you that none of these air safety licences specified an upper limit on the numbers of birds to be killed. NatureScot allowed (quote) "as many as required" of the listed species to be lethally controlled in the name of air safety. Yes, that's right, "as many as required". Another air safety licence permits the lethal control of "any number of" the specified birds. The birds covered by these controversial licences include several rare species and allow the licence holder to (quote) "Destroy nest and eggs", "Kill", "Take and kill adults and chicks" "As Many As Required" / "Any Number Of" Here's the full list of birds approved to be killed for air safety in unspecified and unlimited numbers. (red listed species in red, amber listed species in orange):- •Black-headed Gull •Brent Goose •Buzzard •Canada Goose •Carrion Crow •Common Gull •Common Shelduck •Common Teal •Cormorant •Curlew •Dunlin •Feral Pigeon •Golden Plover •Great Black-backed Gull •Grey Heron •Grey Partridge •Greylag Goose •Herring Gull •Hooded Crow •House Martin •Jackdaw •Lapwing •Lesser Black-backed Gull •Magpie •Mallard •Mute Swan •Oystercatcher •Pheasant •Pied Wagtail •Pink-footed Goose •Raven •Redshank •Ringed Plover •Rook •Sand Martin •Skylark •Snipe •Starling •Stock Dove •Swallow •Swift •Woodpigeon One air safety licence even allows "as many as necessary" chicks of Swallows and Swifts to be killed. Perhaps it's no wonder Scotland's nature agency doesn't want you to see this additional information. It doesn't inspire confidence in their work does it? So, why are they hiding the numbers? NatureScot's explanation I contacted NatureScot as soon as they published the licence stats on Thursday, and I put it to them that the most important data of all was missing entirely from the public release. I asked them if they would re-issue the data with the relevant figures included, in much the same way that Natural England now does following pressure from our campaign, explaining that otherwise it is pretty meaningless - and far from transparent. This is what they told me in response, "while data on the specific numbers associated with each licence is very informative, we concluded that the time taken to process this quantity of data would not be viable and would impede on current licensing demand." In other words, a flat refusal to share the information freely with the public. They went on to suggest that "specific numbers for each licence can still be requested through Freedom of Information requests and this method is built to accommodate the time it takes to collate and redact the information as required." Misleading the public? The published data, far from being 'open and transparent' is, I believe, merely a distraction and conceals the true picture. By omitting the key matter of how many birds are covered by each licence, NatureScot has made a very conscious decision to hide the information from the public. Such secrecy doesn't inspire confidence in their work. It's deeply disappointing. Releasing carefully edited statistics, and withholding this significant information, might mislead the public into thinking the numbers of birds killed is less than it actually is. The way NatureScot has presented the data just makes it look as though they have a whole lot of stuff to hide. Far from being open and transparent, this attempt to pacify the public merely suggests that they underestimate us - and it's not good enough. We need proper accountability from a government agency tasked with protecting nature. I will take their advice and I'll be submitting further freedom of information requests to find out even more of the specific details that we want to see. You can see NatureScot's edited licence data HERE Meanwhile....our campaign continues HERE
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