Hi folks,
Thought I'd just update you with the latest happenings regarding the petition. Early this morning, I heard from James Diamond, the Director of Operations at Natural England. I'd requested some further details regarding some specific data for birds killed under licence, notably figures for House Sparrows and Coots, both of which appeared very prominently in the Freedom of Information results. This was one of the questions I raised during the discussions I had with Mr Diamond about three weeks ago. Well, as you will know, there has been a whole lot of hullabaloo surrounding Natural England's revoking of the general licences recently; you will have seen the news of this in the media, with Chris Packham taking the brunt of criticism after Wild Justice's legal challenge provoked a surprise response from the agency, which hastily revoked three licences, covering 16 species, causing a backlash from those who exterminate birds under these general licences - farmers, 'pest' controllers etc. So, Mr Diamond wrote to me this morning explaining that his staff are 'fully occupied', including working late nights and weekends, as they try to sort out the reworked general licences. Quite a task I'm thinking.... We will get the answers to our questions in due course - but not just yet. As I've said before, I find James Diamond both helpful and respectful, and I appreciate, given the pressure he must be under, that he is keeping in touch with me over our petition. But what about revoking the other licences? But I have suggested to him today that the current controversy surrounding the three general licences might have provided a good opportunity to revoke all the other licences too - including those issued to kill songbirds and the other species covered by our petition. The reason the general licences are being hastily reviewed is because they were challenged on their legality. And that got me wondering about the legality of these other licences. Those applicants who successfully apply for a licence to kill birds are obliged to report the results of their licence to Natural England within a specified time frame. But it seems they don't always fulfill their obligations. Mr Diamond told me during our discussions that the agency do rely on the 'good practice' of applicants to report the final figures for birds killed, including those killed under 'class' and 'individual' licences. "We expect returns and we continue to chase them," he told me, "but there is no financial penalty for those who fail to comply." Might this suggest that there is potential to challenge the compliance and/or legality of these licences? I'm no lawyer but any thoughts on this matter, from those more qualified than I, would be welcome. While this may all be beyond the scope of our petition, it might be noteworthy when Natural England review the remaining licences later this year (as they have said they will), including those that cover the 65+ species under the umbrella of our petition. 314,000 Signatures and Counting...! Meanwhile, I'm delighted to say we are currently at 314,000 signatures, with more people signing all the time. The more support we have, the more chance we have of continuing to make change. So please keep sharing! Thanks and best wishes, Jase
29 Comments
Ann Beirne
30/4/2019 01:55:31 pm
Please Please do not trust Mr Diamond, his staff are working all hours to find a way round the revoking of the licences. They do not want any licences to fail, they will find a way round it and we need to be ready, like all governmental bodies the don't give a stuff about wildlife, especially if it is making money for the already rich land owners.
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Michelle Mortimer
1/5/2019 12:21:33 am
Well said Ann - totally agree with you! It seems to me that negative comments are being maliciously added to this site with yet more “fake news” and misinformation regarding our wonderful wildlife! It is not anyone’s right to pick and choose which species they kill - all killing is evil. Keep up the marvellous work Jason. I am so glad there are people like you who care enough to act for the good of all our birds and wildlife.
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1/5/2019 11:37:05 am
Michelle - have you seen the cruel and brutal way in which jackdaws and magpies rip baby birds to pieces? Try telling THEM that "all killing is evil"!
Colin Reeves
1/5/2019 12:57:29 pm
I now wish I had had nothing to do with this petition. The information provided was very slanted. Living in a rural environment, I decided to do some research, and have seen for myself the carnage that corvids wreak on other smaller birds (and lambs). We rarely get skylarks here any more. This petition was a mistake, brought about by general ignorance and misinformation from idiots like Packham. Is there a petition against the ridiculous decision by Natural England? I would certainly sign that.
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1/5/2019 01:36:28 pm
Colin, which part of the 'information provided' by the petition is 'slanted'??
Carlo A Ambrosino
1/5/2019 09:06:17 pm
I read Bird Chase Supersonic equipment scares away birds of prey & I believe that this equipment worn as a collar deterrent around a lambs neck could on sensor activation from angles geared to emit the distressing sound to the bird of prey be successful when having a 180 degree radar facing upwards, after all we all know rats dislike certain sound frequencies including radio one, I tried it it works ok, so why not protect the lamb in the same way manner & approach we protect our attics from rats, a sheep dog recording may bee sufficient or a humans voice like Margret T or T Blair should do the trick
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Raymond Majer
30/4/2019 02:13:31 pm
I'm saddened that this petition has resulted in the protection of predatory birds like Magpies, Jay's and most of the Corvid family. With this petition you have basically ensured the decimation of tens of thousands of song birds eggs and chicks during the breeding season for as long as this debacle is in place. Lambs born on the hill now have no protection from predatory Corvids that peck out the eye's of new born lambs and leave them to die an agonising death. Never mind the arable farmers that see their crops destroyed by swarms of marauding wood pigeons during the growing season. Never mind protecting the disease ridden feral pigeons that plague our towns, cities and places of business with their filth as long as you're happy with your virtue signalling. May I suggest that you do your research before embarking on a crusade that will intimately, given time, destroy what's left of our songbirds and our farming communities. Please think on it.
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30/4/2019 02:29:57 pm
Raymond, this petition did NOT directly result in protection for Magpies, Jays etc.
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Carlo A Ambrosino
1/5/2019 01:38:39 pm
I keep wondering what would happen if a species decided that human beings eating lambs was interfering with its own addenda would that species resort to killing people would the opposition to protecting songbirds simply lay down & die, at what point does the penny drop that other means of dealing with attracts on lambs by reintroducing birds of prey hunting the hunters & returning wild meadows to provide a source of food for birds of pray alike, is not asking to much in other words plant wildflowers for meadows & the dinner for hunting wild birds is dealt with returned to a more sustainable future, abandon massive fields without hedge rows plant more native treees & stop behaving like yobbos in the playground, it makes you wonder what ever happened to the Lamb Of God in the saviours arms, don’t come venture into the UK Mr Saviour the hunting fraternity will serve you an asbo for your troubles & accuse you of a public order offence if you step out of line God forbid kindness is king. Yours faithfully, CAA
Faye Pritchard
30/4/2019 02:42:14 pm
I agree with Raymond Majer's comments.An ill thought out petition. Corvids do not need to be protected. They are numbers are not declining like some of the smaller birds whose nests they rob of eggs. The suffering of the lambs they mutilate causes a lot more agony than a shot corvid suffers.(presumably shot by a competent person).
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Richard Lumby
30/4/2019 04:03:40 pm
I agree with this comment. I understand that crows are pecking the eyes out of ewes as they give birth in the field. Once again a badly thought out ban
Duncan
30/4/2019 04:26:51 pm
Then Faye maybe you could offer even more horror and wildlife expertise to NE regarding their licences to kill songbirds of every hue. Bet you don't........
Chris Hughes
30/4/2019 04:48:31 pm
Yeah, let's bash all these nasty corvids coz they attack lambs. Unless you are vegetarian, this is hugely hypocritical. If you don't like any animal that has to eat any other animals, let shoot all loins, tigers, wolves, eagles, owls, hawks, birds of prey. This critique of corvids and other carnivores that are demonised e.g. foxes is so banal it is not worth my time saying any more.
rosemary barbar allen
30/4/2019 04:06:42 pm
completely agree with you. The blinkers of people who think they can interfere with nature, remove top predators and think the balance will remain. I've had lambs pecked and swathes of crops cleared, and we know that ground nesting birds have enough to contend with with badgers and foxes taking chicks and eggs. We don't need to find there is free rein for campaigners to tip the balance. I'm not in favour of rewilding of wolves or lynx, or beavers. These schemes get out of hand and nothing is done to curb them. When badgers became protected their numbers soared and they have truly become a pest. And one ate my hedgehog!!! Wicked.
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Duncan
30/4/2019 04:34:24 pm
What do you think top predators ate for millennia prior to environmental depletion, because it seems to me that it's a bit like blame every native animal for the depletion of every native animal, because somebody else has told me to have that opinion. There's no reflective thought process in the drivel above its just medieval reactionary nonsense.
Karen McKenzie
1/5/2019 11:05:33 am
The only species totally out of control is home sapiens and its a great pity that 'sapiens' was added. A total misnomer in my opinion. We none of us understand what we do. We have messed up the balance of nature and mess it up again when we interfere. We would all do better to back off, make a smaller footprint on the earth and try to live in harmony with all things. In the long term (nature's timescale is not our own) things will balance back to equilibrium. Unfortunately it's not fast enough for us and we think we know better. Let all things live their lives.
William Wilson
30/4/2019 05:38:11 pm
Before suggesting that others should do their research, I should do a little of your own.
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Barry Larking
30/4/2019 07:08:34 pm
A large number of birds take the eggs and chicks of other birds. Woodpeckers will chip into nest boxes for example. Herons will kill the chicks of water and wading birds. Gulls (all species) predate bird nests including of their own species in colonies. I have seen these kinds of behavoiur with my own eyes around the U.K. and abroad. Magpies thrive alongside crows in my city because of the amounts of discarded (or regurgitated) food provided by humans. The supply of nest eggs and chicks are limited by season. Clearly other sources of food must be a factor in the numbers of Magpies that are now purely town birds. Human intervention is the cause of the decline of our birds not crows; they have been a factor in birdlife ecology for millennia. Humankind has in modern times been the most successful species when it comes to eliminating birds and their habitats.
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Charlie Griffin
30/4/2019 10:24:14 pm
I agree with Raymond Majer comments most strongly
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Carlo A Ambrosino
1/5/2019 12:29:33 am
Dear Raymond. I enquire into your sense of walking on water attitude, the helpless lamb could be helped by reintroducing birds of prey that ravenous appetite for the birds you rightly mention cause serious suffering to the lamb they hunt & enjoy as a trophy of conquest, if a collar emitting a sound audible to the birds that bloody their eyes was introduced much like along the lines of ‘vermin’ rats sound frequency then perhaps a solution is nearer than we think, let’s prEy, one day we may all live happily ever after without the need to kill beak’d angels living in our decimated forests & woodlands, here’s praying humanity stops devouring the Lamb one of the most defenceless creatures in the world, a collar around the lambs neck let’s give it a go eh.
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Dr Martin Spillane
30/4/2019 02:48:32 pm
James Majer is right. With the blanket revocation of permits, the Law of Unexpected Consequences will come into play and this will have far reaching effects. What makes me angry is that the consequences should not have been unexpected. The revocation of permits should have have taken them into account and been made selectively, rather than as a knee-jerk reaction.
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Carlo A Ambrosino
30/4/2019 03:06:46 pm
Dear Sir. I would like to bring to your attention that Natural England are not I repeat not a government body & only act as a quango with no authority to grant licenses, the government renege on their responsibility passing the quintessential buck to Natural England allowed to issue licenses but not I repeat not a government body so the Secretary of State has never been fully or even in the slightest way involved in taking responsibility for issuing licenses they are made given handed out by a non government body not included in the conservation Act to authorise anything let alone licenses only the government under the directions of the Secretary of State are statutorily allowed to take such undertakings so Natural England have no more authority than you or I sir. Yours sincerely, Carlo A Ambrosino
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Duncan
30/4/2019 04:37:10 pm
In fact all those who granted the licences and slaughtered wildlife under the licences should be arrested and prosecuted.
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Carlo A Ambrosino
30/4/2019 08:38:44 pm
Quite agree with you Duncan as no credible delegation of authority or discernible permission to cause alarm & distress appears for want of a better word during reading the important part of the legislation on this topic of inhumane treatment of our feathered flowery coloured singing friends our neighbours & love thy neighbor comes to mind 2 the forefront of my thinking. Yours sincerely, CAA
sarah allerton
30/4/2019 03:43:44 pm
Sorry to hear of the rubbish you have to endure from Mr Diamond , Natural England seem to exist to pander to the strange desires of the rich hunting classes who own most of our green and pleasant land
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Phill Barnes
30/4/2019 06:10:55 pm
Every time I read about things like this I am very badly sickened by the utter disregard for Wild Life some Brits display when it suits the Big Money people.
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Robin Waterman
30/4/2019 09:16:04 pm
According to Natural England’s own website, failure to provide the figures relating to a licence is a breach of a condition of the licence and therefore an offence. The same webpage states that this could result in a “civil sanction” being served by Natural England which includes options of “fixed penalty notices” and “variable monetary penalties” so it seems financial penalty’s can be applied contrary to what’s asserted above.
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30/4/2019 09:46:06 pm
Hi Robin,
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Robin Waterman
30/4/2019 10:30:56 pm
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcement-laws-advice-on-protecting-the-natural-environment-in-england Leave a Reply. |
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