Fears grow for UK's wildlife as publication of lethal control data imminent

* Natural England: 2024 lethal control licence data will be published "no later than end of March"
* Hopes for an end to Black-headed gull egg licences.
* Serious concerns over government plans to bulldoze nature for houses and wind farms.

I have just received a message from Natural England to let me know that their wildlife licence data for 2024 will be published "no later than the end of March".  This was in response to a communication I sent them last week.
It's welcome news - this annual publication of licence data is the result of the promise Natural England made to me in 2019, following pressure from our campaign.
Many of the licences permit the destruction of wildlife, including wild birds, and our campaign maintains that a significant number of these licences are spurious and highly questionable.
To recap, at the end of 2018, I wrote an article highlighting the shocking number of wild birds potentially being killed under Natural England's lethal control licences.  There followed a huge outpouring of public anger over the licensing system, which was at the time operating behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny.
Such was the level of public outrage that, within a few months, I was able to engage in discussions with Natural England, during which they vowed to become more transparent and open about their activities, including sharing details of the lethal control wildlife licences issued by the agency each year. And so since 2019, we have been able to view, examine and question the data.
It's vitally important that the public has access to this information, and getting it into the public domain every year has been one of the major successes of our campaign.
This year, as always, it will be interesting (albeit depressing too) to examine the statistics, which basically amount to a ledger detailing the culling of England's wildlife, all officially sanctioned by the government.

Political changes
This time around I am even more apprehensive at seeing the figures, as the political situation changed significantly half way through last year, following the general election.
I try to keep politics out of the campaign but it is difficult when the current government has already shown contempt towards those striving to protect nature in this country, what little of it remains. Primarily I'm referring to the watering down of environmental protections associated with proposed developments in environmentally sensitive areas, both on land and at sea - and the government's apparent determination to push on with projects even if local communities oppose the plans and regardless of the harm caused to wildlife in the process.
This disregard for the genuine concerns of good citizens was demonstrated by the chancellor Rachel Reeves' glib response when asked last month to choose between newts or bats, two animals whose habitat is currently protected by law; Reeves replied 'neither', citing the need for 'growth' instead, her comments eliciting a furious reaction from conservation organisations and the public alike, angry at the government's lack of empathy with nature and indeed the lack of respect for the views of much of the British public.

Public interest concerns
So I'm nervous about the continuity and scope of the regular annual licence declarations we have worked so hard to achieve, in case the government decides it's 'not in the public's interest' to share it. While I hope this will not be the case, nothing is certain.
To illustrate this, some of you will know about the battle I had with Defra last year to access data relating to cetacean strandings around the UK's coast.
Whales, dolphins and porpoises are being washed up dead in alarming numbers, it's around 1000 every year.
I believe that the sharp increase in cetacean deaths we have seen in recent years is, at least in part, due to the expansion of the offshore wind industry, and I asked Defra for the stranding data so that any correlation could be studied. At the time, this data had not been published in the public domain for years.
They were adamantly averse to sharing the information, saying it was "still in the process of being finalised and quality assured." 
They said they recognised that there was "a public interest in disclosure of information" but at the same time maintained that there was "a stronger public interest in withholding the information." They were apparently worried that people might draw the wrong conclusions from the raw data.
But I think that the public has a right to see the statistics. So I took the matter up with the Information Commissioners Office and eventually Defra released some of the figures.
What we saw was shocking, 1000 dead whales, dolphins and porpoises washed up dead each year in the UK, adding weight to my concerns that industrialising the sea with wind farms is damaging marine life and entire ecosystems.

Anyway, that's another story, but I worry that this 'public interest' argument might be applied to other sets of data in future, potentially including the licence data we have worked so hard to get published each year. Again, I don't think this will happen but we must be prepared for the possibility.
If planning rules are relaxed, as the government has suggested will be the case, then it's possible that more lethal control licences affecting wildlife will be issued to accommodate and enable the plans. Worse still, it's not inconceivable that the requirement to hold a licence will be removed altogether in some cases, thereby making wildlife destruction, for some developments, a free-for-all.

Gull eggs for human consumption - update
Also in my most recent communication with Natural England, I asked them again about the contentious issue of harvesting Black-headed gull eggs from the wild, for use as human food, a practice that is facilitated annually through Natural England's licences, in order to satisfy the gluttony of well-heeled diners, who enjoy eating the eggs of an amber listed threatened species, (I know, it beggars belief).
As I reported a couple of months ago, I approached the government's 'Nature Minister' about this. Alas, the Minister appeared to be less than interested in the plight of the birds, and I have serious concerns that the strides we have already made, in reducing the number of licences permitting this abhorrent trade, might be under threat from a government and a 'Nature Minister' that seem to have little understanding of the natural world and even less interest in protecting it.

No gull egg licences - so far this year
At this point, Natural England's Deputy Director of Wildlife Licensing Service has told me that so far this year "Natural England has not granted any licences to collect Black-headed gull eggs for human consumption as yet." This is hopeful news, but still doesn't rule out the possibility that they may still issue them over the next month or two, ahead of the traditional egg harvesting season. I have asked them for clarification over this.
In the same message, Natural England quoted the usual disclaimer, "The collection of Black-headed gull eggs is a licensable activity under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.  If an application passes the legal tests and meets Defra policy criteria, Natural England cannot refuse to grant a licence." They then proceeded to tell me about 'Defra’s policy 1 for sustainable use licensing', ending with the point that "licences should not be unreasonably withheld or revoked.”
I think that's poppycock. I believe that when a bird is on the amber list of 'species of conservation concern', as is the case with Black-headed gulls, then it is very clear that we shouldn't be collecting their eggs to serve up to wealthy diners in fancy restaurants.
I was not reassured by the final line in their message, "We will continue to assess any applications annually against the legislation, Defra policy criteria and taking into account the latest available evidence when making future decisions."
It's the kind of wordy nonsense that promises exactly nothing and leaves the door open to anything.

I do remain hopeful that the last remaining gull eggs licences will be withdrawn for this year. The fact that Natural England has not yet granted any of these particularly abhorrent licences so far is a good sign but doesn't guarantee anything, as there is still time for this to happen, so I'll be monitoring that situation closely.

The bigger picture
The bigger picture is not looking great -
Watered down environmental protection, ministers with a lack of empathy and understanding, completely out of step with public opinion and incurring the wrath of conservation organisations - all alongside apparently reckless plans to develop our countryside without our consent.
And so the 'lethal control' of the country's wildlife continues.

Anyway folks, that's where we are at.
​
Incidentally, I haven't yet followed up with NatureScot north of the border, they also promised to be transparent and open about their own lethal control licences, issued separately from those in England. Since I asked them to share the data a couple of years ago, they have done so intermittently. I'll be pursuing their data too, in due course.

I'll be in touch again when I have any further updates.

Thanks for all of your support,
Best,
​Jase

Campaign link: click HERE
My articles about whales and wind farms: click HERE