F
ollowing Natural England’s disastrous
decision to revoke the general licences for
bird pest control, BASC and other rural
organisations have been working non-stop to
resolve this crisis. Politicians listened to our
concerns, and decision making on general
licences moved from Natural England to Defra.
When Defra launched a call for evidence, we
quickly organised a survey to help gather
evidence on the impact of Natural England’s
revocation of the general licences. Almost 30,000
people completed the survey and this formed a
key part of our submission to Defra.
Defra received 4,000 responses to its call for
evidence and it started drafting new general
licences on the basis of these responses and new
legal advice. While we have been appalled by
what has happened, we have worked
constructively with Natural England and Defra to
stop this crisis turning into a catastrophe.
In the midst of this crisis, our press team has
fielded a high volume of media enquiries and we
have ensured that there has been balanced
comment in the media in the majority of cases on
TV, radio and in the newspapers.
The key question currently on everyone’s minds
is when there will be an end to this crisis, given
that there have been several false dawns and
broken promises already.
I am optimistic that, by the time you read
this, Defra will have issued new general licences
for England and that they will be fit
for purpose. Our view of ‘fit for purpose’ is that
there is clarity that when we shoot a woodpigeon
or when we shoot or trap a crow or a magpie
that we know we are doing so lawfully without
any ambiguity.
We have been calling for a simplified,
back-to-basics legal approach to the issuing of
general licences for many years and it has
unfortunately taken a legal challenge and ensuing
panic to concentrate minds.
While I am optimistic that a short-term
solution will be found, there will be further
challenges to come when a review of
English general licences take place later
this year.
And what about general licences in
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
The agencies issuing general licences in
these countries are watching events in England
closely. We are in close contact with each agency
and, while what has happened recently in England
is highly unlikely to repeat itself elsewhere, we
know that a review will take place in Scotland later
this year – and reviews in Wales and Northern
Ireland may follow.
Looking ahead, I think there are fundamental
issues to be resolved around a common sense
approach to bird conservation and I am not only
thinking of government and its conservation
agencies in this regard.In the face of upcoming reviews, we, as
shooters and conservationists and our
representative organisations, may need to take a
step back and look afresh at the relative merits of
legally distinguishing when we shoot birds for pest
control and when we shoot birds as quarry. The
key issue is to ensure legal clarity for the person
shooting or trapping birds.
Attitudes towards certain birds as ‘vermin’ and
perhaps even our use of the word ‘pest’ may need
to change as such language is out of touch with
the wider public and perhaps shows us in poor
light, not least on social media.
Putting legal aspects to one side,
perhaps our approach to wildlife
management needs to be more
proportionate in addressing real rather
than perceived issues – which would
surely be a better use of our time and
effort in conservation and shoot management.
Using existing research by organisations such as
BTO, GWCT and Songbird Survival will be helpful
here and perhaps the commissioning of new
research also.
Overall, I think recent events have shown that
the current approach to general licences is not
sustainable in the long-term for anybody.
Pragmatic decisions will need to be made on a
legal framework for when birds can be legally shot
or trapped as pest birds, and when they can be
legally shot as quarry species. In pursuit of pests
Conor O’Gorman is optimistic that an end is in sight in resolving the recent general
licences debacle, but believes that the debate regarding pest species is far from over
WITH BASC’S CONOR O`GORMAN
SHOOTING
VOICE
For
the latest
updates, visit
http://www.basc.
org.uk/glPICTURE:
DOM HOLTAM
Should our wildlife management be more focused on
addressing real, rather than perceived, issues?