Thursday 21st March 2024, the first day of spring, the day that the Scottish Parliament enacted the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill. It was the day that MSPs looked wildlife and the environment in the eye and said ‘Sorry we took so long, but you are safer now’. The legislation introduced licensing schemes for grouse shooting, muirburn [burning heather on grouse moors] and the use of wildlife traps. They also banned the use of snares and increased the investigatory powers of the SSPCA.
It was truly a momentous day, but as we celebrate with our Scottish friends let’s not forget that this was a hard-won battle. It has taken tenacious campaigners, too many to name individually here, years and years gathering and then presenting undeniable evidence that many of the Scottish grouse moors are awash with raptor persecution, associated wildlife crime, and unsustainable, environmentally damaging, land management regimes.
In 1954 the Protection of Birds Act was supposed to bring an end to bird of prey persecution. That didn’t have the desired impact and the killing continued. Then over 4 decades ago the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 [WLCA] introduced enhanced protection for the most threatened, iconic species and increased penalties for those who were intent on killing them. Unfortunately, there remains a group of people who believe that the law doesn’t apply to them and the slaughter on land managed for grouse shooting continues at pace in both Scotland and throughout the rest of the UK. Anyone unfamiliar with the WLCA could be forgiven for thinking that it contains a section that exempts grouse moor owners, agents, factors and their gamekeepers, allowing them to continue killing raptors with impunity. Throughout all of that time they and their representative bodies have constantly claimed to be the true custodians of the countryside, with a zero tolerance of raptor persecution. At the same time they were fighting tooth and nail against any positive changes to the legislation if they perceived that it would have any impact, no matter how small, on how their industry conducts itself. Time and time again conservation bodies and the wider general public have warned the industry that unless it policed itself and ended the senseless, rampant killing of birds of prey, then stricter legislation would be enacted to force compliance. With monumental arrogance they carried on regardless and they have now received their just rewards.
Of course not all landowners and their gamekeepers are actively involved in raptor persecution but they, undeniably, all benefit from the criminal activities of those who are. It is also self-evident from both the number of persecution cases reported to the Police and evidence documented and published in numerous scientific papers that it is not just ‘a few bad apples’ wandering, undetected, estate to estate, on a continual, never ending raptor killing spree. The criminals, for that is what they are, are spread far and wide and their peers continually failed to rein them in. So more fool them! For now they too justly face tighter restrictions.
It came as no surprise to anyone to see that the shooting industry’s representative organisations have gone into meltdown, ludicrously claiming that rural life in Scotland will be decimated following the introduction of these new licenses; as if it amounts to a 21st century reversal of the Highland Clearances whereby common folk oust the landed gentry. It is, of course utter nonsense. Licensing grouse shooting and the use of traps will only effect the criminals, who kill birds of prey and commit other wildlife and environment related offences, the estate owners and their factors who at best tolerate it or at worst order it to be done.
Whilst raptor persecution may have been the catalyst that set this legislative change in motion, it was not the only one. We are constantly, correctly warned by scientists and our elected representatives that climate change is destroying the environment, threatening wildlife and human societies across the globe. Carbon released into the atmosphere is the unseen killer that is driving global warming to dangerous levels. We are urged to play our part by reducing our own carbon emissions by switching to electric vehicles, flying less, turning the central heating down etc. At the same time fires rage across grouse moors when heather is burnt to improve the habitat for a single species, red grouse. Every other living thing destroyed by the fires are treated as if they are acceptable collateral damage, killed for the greater good, grouse shooting. Well done Scotland for taking control of muirburn via the new licensing system.
One hundred and fifteen MSPs voted on the Bill. Eighty-five voted for it and 30 voted against its introduction. History will not look back kindly on those 30 individuals or anyone one else who fought for years to prevent it passing in to law, and rightly so. This was a hard fought battle which ended in victory and the campaigners who were subjected to years of derision and abuse should be proud of what they have achieved.
The progressive bright light from Scotland’s introduction of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Act throws a dark shadow south of the border. All of the arguments that led to this monumental step apply to England and yet the Westminster Government continues to show no intention of following the lead from the Scottish Government, they should hang their collective heads in shame. Burning English heather adds carbon to the atmosphere just as much as Scottish heather, using snares to catch animals is equally cruel, the Scots have recognised that, the English have not. Raptor persecution on land used for grouse shooting on the English uplands is rife. The persecution of Hen Harriers on grouse moors is widely acknowledged by conservationists, including Natural England, as the biggest factor preventing the species from expanding throughout northern England. The killing of these magnificent birds can be used as a barometer for measuring the state of birds of prey in the uplands. Using satellite data we know that at least 123 Hen Harriers have been killed or gone missing on or near grouse moors since 2018. Thirty-three of those 123 satellite tagged Hen Harriers [26.8%] were killed in a 9 month period in 2023 alone. Taking into account the small number of birds that are fitted with satellite tags the actual number of birds that have been killed or gone missing in suspicious circumstances is likely to be closer to 500 during the same period. Yet despite all of the evidence successive Ministers of State at Defra have failed to act on calls to introduce the licencing of grouse moors. It is nothing less than a national disgrace that this has been allowed to go on unchecked for decades.
There will be a general election sometime this year, this is the perfect opportunity for the public to write to incumbent MPs and prospective candidates. An opportunity, to express your concerns and ask questions of them about their own views on upland management and the ongoing problem of raptor persecution. Working together we will achieve the same level of protection for our uplands, the well-being of the planet and iconic birds of prey that is now afforded to their Scottish relatives.
NERF
24 March 2024
Northern England Raptor Forum 