ADVISORY |
Solving the General Licence conundrum Three English General Licences were revoked covering 16 bird species. GWCT members helped provide evidence showing the implications of licence withdrawal. We are engaging with Defra and Natural England on the General Licence consultation with results expected in summer 2020. On the 25 April 2019, Natural England revoked three General Licences covering 16 largely commonly occurring bird species as a result of a legal challenge from Wild Justice, a wildlife campaigning organisation. Natural England conceded that the licences were unlawful, hence the revocation. The decision caused huge concern among licence users (mainly farmers, conservationists and gamekeepers) who were no longer able to undertake lethal control measures for birds damaging crops, injuring and killing newborn lambs or protecting the nests and chicks of birds of conservation concern such as lapwing and curlew, as well as gamebirds at a critical time of year. On 4 May 2019 the Secretary of State for Defra and Natural England agreed that the legal powers relating to these General Licences would be exercised by the Secretary of State from that date. Defra undertook a short evidence gathering process to gain a clear understanding of the licence revocation on the implications for the protection of wild birds, and the impacts on crops, livestock, wildlife, disease, human health and safety and wider nature conservation efforts. The evidence gathered from this process included a submission from the GWCT. Our evidence was based on a combination of: 1) scientific research; 2) our understanding of the legal framework; 3) our practical experience of operating under General Licences; and 4) the experience of over 450 members who responded to the call for evidence. On the 13 June Defra issued new, albeit temporary, workable licences. Much work was undertaken by GWCT and other rural organisations behind the scenes to help Defra, Natural England and the many licence users through this difficult period. In autumn 2019 Defra launched a consultation on General Licences to help it develop a future licensing system and the results of this consultation are not expected until summer 2020. Again, GWCT have been actively engaged with Defra and Natural England throughout this process and have attended countless meetings and teleconferences. An important part of the process for Defra was gathering information from actual users of the licences and we were delighted that more than 3,000 GWCT supporters responded to our survey which we presented to Defra in December. We were able to provide Defra with practitioner evidence on the species controlled, the reasons control was necessary, the non-lethal measures that had been tried and their effectiveness. This evidence, alongside GWCT scientific evidence on the impacts of predation and predation control on nesting birds on farmland and moorland, have been hugely valuable in informing the policymakers responsible for licensing the control of problem birds.
www.gwct.org.uk
Roger Draycott, Head of Advisory
General Licences were withdrawn at a critical time of year leaving birds and their young, such as lapwing, at more risk of predation. © Marlies Nicolai/GWCT
GWCT BIODIVERSITY ASSESSEMENTS The GWCT’s experienced and respected team of advisors offer bespoke Shoot Biodiversity Assessments aimed at providing an independent expert report on best practice and biodiversity gain on individual shoots. For more information please see www.gwct.org.uk/ shootbiodiversity or contact the advisory team on 01425 651013.
GAME & WILDLIFE REVIEW 2019 | 9
