Hi folks,
Just a heads up that I'm expecting Natural England's 2023 wildlife licence data to be released imminently. Last month they told me it was scheduled for the end of February but, perhaps not surprisingly, that didn't happen. It's not unusual for it to be late - and for me to have to chase it up. Anyway I'm asking them again today for a publication date. I'll post a further update when the data comes out and would urge everyone to take a good look when it's available. What will the data reveal....? I don't need to remind you that the annual licence data is in the public domain purely thanks to our campaign - as it has been since I first persuaded Natural England to publish it back in 2018. Prior to that it was hidden away out of public view - and no wonder because the figures revealed a catalogue of mass killing and culling in the English countryside, all officially sanctioned by the government's nature advisory body Natural England. By trawling through the data since that first release, we've succeeded in highlighting anomalies within the lethal control statistics for birds in particular and advising Natural England where wildlife culling has been licensed without due consideration. In some cases, the killing was practically out of control for years. Natural England had been issuing lethal control licences often for spurious reasons, and so I asked questions over the integrity of the licensing system; this led to discussions with them, resulting in more transparency, accountability - and change. There's no doubt in my mind that thousands of birds lives have been saved thanks to pressure from our campaign and all of the wonderful citizens who support it. Incidentally we now have more than 400,000 signatures on the petition, that's a lot of potential people power to harness. Areas of concern It will be interesting to see whether levels of lethal control have fallen, or not. Areas of concern in the past have been high levels of Cormorant culling, licenced hunting of songbirds and the lethal control of various species of gull (though this has been even worse in Scotland and I'm also waiting for the latest figures from NatureScot in due course). RSPB culling wildlife On a separate - but related - note, it's also of great concern to me that the RSPB are still busy killing birds and mammals for various reasons that they try to justify by assuring us all that they only do so "as a matter of last resort". They kill significant numbers of some of our most loved species. For example, in 2022, they killed nearly 1000 Red deer, more than 500 Roe deer, 400 Foxes and - would you believe - 345 moles. Oh, and the RSPB, whose very name suggests it exists to protect birds, also culled more than 300 crows and 175 Greylag geese. I think it's an appalling record and I don't accept that it's in the name of 'conservation'. Defra and the dead whales In other matters, I am still challenging Defra's decision to withhold data relating to cetacean deaths around the UK. They haven't released the figures for stranded whales, dolphins and porpoises for the past five years.... ever since a shocking rise in the numbers raised eyebrows amongst environmentalists and begged many questions. More than 1000 dead cetaceans were washed up on UK beaches in 2018 alone. I think the data should be in the public domain in order to encourage open discussion and debate. Defra seem to think otherwise. I have asked the Information Commissioners Office to look into the matter and I'll have more on this in due course. So, that's the update for now. I'll be in touch again soon (hopefully) when Natural England's data is published. Best, Jase
11 Comments
Padgett Richards
4/3/2024 04:40:11 pm
Thanks for the update. How do they justify this cruelty..it's disgusting
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Christine Wardlow-Kaye
4/3/2024 07:11:47 pm
I too find it hard to believe that these hitherto (or at least thought to be) admirable organisations have been reducing some our wild bird populations by hundreds each year and some other species too.
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Jan Morris
6/3/2024 11:58:49 am
Thank you so much Jason for all you are doing to save British wildlife from unnecessary culls. I particularly don't understand why song birds are culled. Look forward to your next update.
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Rupert King
8/3/2024 07:58:49 pm
Jason is an environmental hero for our times. I had no idea before his campaign that these government department sanctioned bird culls were occurring. They cannot be justified. The notion that humans can go about their business with total disregard for nature - and eradicate it if it "gets in their way" belongs to a long gone century. We are supposed to be smart! We must learn to co-exist and find creative non lethal solutions where there may be challenges or conflicts.
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Bernadette
9/3/2024 06:22:00 am
ToTally agree!
Deirdre Haslam
4/3/2024 04:51:17 pm
I had no idea so thanks for updating us on the appalling destruction of our wildlife.
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Keith Foster
4/3/2024 05:03:00 pm
I fail to understand the inability to provide clear and timely data in this day hand age.
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Bernadette
9/3/2024 06:23:54 am
I concur with your concerns!
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4/3/2024 05:53:11 pm
Thanks Jason I am Appalled that the RSPB Is Still Carrying Out Their Deadly Deeds and of Course DEFRA ? What a Waste Of space Are the People Heading This department And As I Normally Do but This Time I address It To DEFRA ! WHEN DID " YOU " LAST SEE A BULLFINCH !
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Bernadette
9/3/2024 06:25:15 am
Totally agree with all the comments here😑
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Simon George Spratt
22/3/2024 03:14:52 pm
Perhaps, Jase, it’s because of a Government Order. It’s very unlikely that the RSPB would cull any form of wildlife unless there was a welfare issue with the species that is being culled.
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