SHOOTING NEWS
THE LATEST REPORTS FROM THE RIFLE WORLD
PICTURE:VOLODYMYR KUCHERENKO / GETTYProgress at last – three new
general licences issued
Defra has released three new general licences
which have, for the most part, been approved by
our rural organisations. The move follows Defra’s
recent call for evidence on the range of impacts
experienced by groups and individuals as a result
of the revocation of the general licences in April.
There are, however, still concerns over the
approach to European designated sites (or
‘protected sites’), home to much of our most
important wildlife, which are not covered by the
new licences.
There were over 4,000 responses to the call for
evidence, with crow attacks on lambs and ewes,
predation of eggs and fledglings of birds of
conservation concern, and public health issues
caused by pigeons in urban areas being among
the range of issues reported. Defra also sought
the views of user groups on the usability of
different potential licensing options.
The resulting three new general licences seek
to protect wild birds while recognising the
legitimate needs of people and other wildlife.
The new licences will allow users to control
certain species of wild birds in order to: conserve
wild birds and flora or fauna (GL34); preserve
public health or public safety (GL35); and prevent
serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for
livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber,
fisheries or inland waters (GL36).
They will be valid until 29 February 2020. In the
meantime, Defra will lead a review of the
longer-term general licensing arrangements with
the intention of launching an initial public
consultation by the end of the summer, with
further details to follow.:+$77+(585$/25*$1,6$7,2166$,'
Liam Bell, NGO chairman, said: “Two cheers to
Defra for sorting out most of the mess left after
NE’s licence revocations in April. We reserve our
third cheer until they have also addressed the
remaining issues in protected sites. The teamwork
between the shooting organisations has been
great on this and a big reason for the turnarounds
gained so far. We look forward to playing our part
in finishing the job.”
Countryside Alliance chief executive, Tim
Bonner, said: “Since Defra has taken back control
of the licences, we have seen significant progress
and for most people managing most species the
situation is now back as it was. The discussion
does not, however, stop here, and we will seek to
resolve the outstanding issues as part of the
planned consultation later this year.”BASC chief executive, Ian Bell, said: “The
organisations have worked extensively in the
background with Defra and we are content that
the new, additional general licences issued today
will be fit for purpose in many areas but significant
concerns remain around protected sites. We
appreciate that it’s not a perfect situation and
there may still be some confusion; the
organisations will continue to be on hand to steer
our members through. The organisations have
told Defra that we expect any gaps to be picked
up by the consultation in the summer.”8 http://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.uk
USEFUL LINKS:
For general guidance relating to the
use of the new licences, visit:
bit.ly/2XceKRT General licence GL34 (to kill or take
for conservation purposes):
bit.ly/2Rf9GHf General licence GL35 (to kill or take
for public health or safety):
bit.ly/2MN4NX General licence GL36 (to kill or take
to prevent serious damage):
bit.ly/2IepN4M To apply for an individual licence
for circumstances not covered by the
general licences (for example, the
control of herring or lesser black-backed
gulls): bit.ly/2XKnQCx