(updated 24/04/2019)
Breaking News: In a surprise announcement today (23/4), Natural England have revoked general licences covering 16 species of birds, including Crows, Pigeons, Jays and Canada Geese. This follows a legal challenge brought by the Wild Justice organisation set up by Chris Packham, Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay. The news means that anybody wanting to kill these species will now have to apply for a licence through Natural England, whereas before the new rules they were allowed to kill an unspecified number of the birds under the general licence - without having to apply for permission. The new law does not directly affect the species we are fighting for through our petition, although it is certainly good news for the 16 species which are now legally protected under licence. Pressure from our petition But, according to FieldSports News, a source from Natural England is quoted as saying that "the reason for the decision stems from recent media reports about licences issued to kill songbirds...." This certainly appears to suggest that our petition has at least partly fuelled this latest change in policy - which is great news! There appears to be some confusion within the agency itself about today's announcement, the unnamed source also suggests that general licences will be reinstated soon, but it seems highly unlikely that they will revert to the previously unregulated versions. Shooters furious Those affected by the new rules are livid of course. Many hunters, pest controllers and others who shoot birds for a living (or pleasure) have taken to social media to vent their anger. No longer will they have carte blanche to kill these 16 species, now they will have to apply for a licence - as is already the case for most other birds - which means that potentially, and hopefully, millions of birds will be saved from the bullets of some over enthusiastic 'conservationists' . Another positive outcome from all this is that it appears the horrific Larsen traps, employed to catch corvids and other species, will also be outlawed as a result of the action - though this and other matters are still subject to clarification. NE Chair, Tony Juniper distances himself from decision Bizarrely, on his first working day as the newly appointed chair of Natural England, Tony Juniper publicly distanced himself from his own agency's decision, claiming that this was 'not Natural England's initiative'. Answering criticism from angry protesters on social media, he tweeted "We will try to find a solution, but this is not our initiative - certainly is not one of mine." Onwards... Amid the confusion and mixed messages we are getting over this development, it is clear that we must now continue to push for tighter regulation in granting licences for all birds, together with more effective monitoring of licences issued. We have already seen a major move towards more transparency within the agency thanks directly to our petition - Natural England's Director of Operations, James Diamond, has personally assured me that full details of all licences will be published annually beginning this year. This will presumably now include details of individual licences issued for the additional 16 species, which will tell us for the first time just how many of these birds are being shot. A statement from Natural England says that today's news "...is the first stage of a planned review of general and class licences, which will be completed this year." So let's wait and see exactly what that means. Keep Sharing! Please keep sharing the petition. With today's win for Wild Justice and the continued pressure from our petition, it seems that major changes are indeed afoot at Natural England....
20 Comments
Roy Walker
23/4/2019 08:14:38 pm
I suppose it's a start.....
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Moira
23/4/2019 10:38:54 pm
We need to stop them killing all birds.
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Gary Wright
23/4/2019 08:25:57 pm
Bastard gamekeepers murdered my dog in an illegal snare We must stop them
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Jack Bodimead
24/4/2019 09:05:45 am
I'm really sorry to hear that...these people have got to be answerable for their actions.
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Rachel Neill
23/4/2019 09:09:18 pm
I have a feeling revoking these particular licences will make little difference to gamekeepers.
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Paul Hobbs
23/4/2019 09:19:52 pm
We have got to stop game keepers and land owners being able to shoot and poisen anything without a check or even it seems a proper license. This senseless slaughter must stop. We have to make sure there agencies are not controlled by the very bodies they should be keeping in check.
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Mr J Godfrey
24/4/2019 07:44:07 am
Can you tell me what birds,or the list of birds you are talking about,please.
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Roger
24/4/2019 08:31:24 am
Not all good news, I'm afraid.
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Jack Bodimead
24/4/2019 09:04:18 am
Corvids have always predated songbirds, that is a part of the natural food chain and humans cannot interfere...more worrying is how humans are ripping up our natural world, so our songbirds are losing habitat, that is the reason for decline, not Corvids. Road kill, caused by cars, supports corvid populations very well, songbird predation has actually dropped. Human species is disrupting the natural world through ignorance.
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Clive Griffiths
24/4/2019 09:46:22 am
Well said but not ignorance but greed,Chemical companies making a fortune out of pesticides and farmer always looking to use them rather than looking for alternatives this is a generalisation but it applies to the majority; profit before nature.
Jinty
24/4/2019 09:35:51 am
I agree with Roger and Jack I can't get excited about this news. These species are predatory and do a lot of damage to smaller birds, they are not the ones in real danger, it's the songbirds that are in decline for a number of reasons? Why, why, why do these people turn a blind eye to what's happening to our beautiful birds and these are the people in charge?
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Nigel M
24/4/2019 09:00:17 am
Birds such as corvids were around long before we started messing with bird populations. Generally nature put these species into some sort of balance with one another. It is us who are messing up the environment - look at the mediteranean song bird slaughter.
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Gina Mann
24/4/2019 09:00:21 am
We must keep up pressure - these killers are not to be trusted to give up their blood lust easily.
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L Macdonald
24/4/2019 10:25:26 am
If you throw pet cats into the equation, especially this time of the year when the young birds are starting to fledge, it doesn't help on top of everything else
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Jane Kirk
24/4/2019 02:17:06 pm
Although pet cats do tend to predate fledgling birds this is largely in towns. In the countryside they predate small mammals. But predominently rats and rabbits. I had no need to feed my cats during the summer because the five cats i had lived solely off the local rabbit population. They (5) regularly brought in 5-12 rabbits daily in one summer we had a population burst and they were bringing 17 a day. They also predated ((but did not consume) rats for which i was personally thanked by the local farmers.
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Jane Kirk
24/4/2019 02:04:31 pm
I lived for five years in Wensleydale. The local landowner (and landlord) instructed anything to impede the loss of pheasants. The estate was so badly managed that after the first year i was there they completey eliminated the entire grouse population on the moors. The main predator of pheasants were cars, because being too lazy to walk to the feeders in the field they dumped the feed by the side of the roads. They illegally shot pet cats, all foxes dissapeared ( in three years season the local hunt caught nothing) rare raptors, herons, and inexplicably ducks geese moorhens and coots in a village pond. The result was the local rabbit population exploded and ancient trees were underminded and had to be felled and in some cases undermined the foundation of farm houses barns etc. Total mismanagement.
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Yvonne
24/4/2019 03:38:58 pm
WE the people who really care about OUR planet know that NATURE takes care of her own, if animals start to over populateshe corrects it but without OUR HELP she can't rebuild the damage so called human beings do by being greedy and heartless. Animals were here first and have every right to live.
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Sha
27/4/2019 03:03:28 pm
Appalled, disgusted, enraged, angry and speechless about
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Komodo
1/5/2019 10:09:01 am
None of the 16 species are in any way endangered. Quite the reverse. An estimated 1 to 3 million pigeons were shot last year in the UK, with no visible effect on this year's numbers. They were shot, not through bloodlust, but because lacking any other effective predation, their numbers make them a real threat to crop production. That's woodpigeons. Feral pigeons crap everywhere and spread several diseases. In their usual urban setting, the cost of cleaning up after them and discouraging them from nesting is borne by the taxpayer. Large corvids are a pest because they kill and maim young livestock, and, kindly note, they're not averse to songbird eggs and chicks, too.
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