Birds: Conservation

(asked on 1st February 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report, Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit Report: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, relating to (a) raptor persecution and (b) licensing for gamebird shoots.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 7th February 2022

We welcome this report and the fact that it recognises the UK’s global leadership in fighting wildlife and forestry crime. We invited the UN to undertake this analysis and we are proud to be the first G7 country to request this assessment.

There is always more we can do to tackle wildlife crime and we will carefully consider all of the UN’s recommendations – including those relating to raptor persecution - to help us build on the positive progress we have already made. Defra sits on the police-led Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group, which takes forward activities to raise awareness and facilitate intelligence and incident reporting, leading to increased prevention and enforcement activity.

This Government takes wildlife crime seriously. Significant sanctions are available to judges to hand down to those convicted of wildlife crimes.  Most wildlife crimes carry up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence.

The UNODC report suggests the approach to licensing for gamebird shooting should be more aligned across the UK. Noting this is a devolved matter there is currently no requirement for gamebird shoots to be licensed in England. In 2021 Defra did issue a General Licence (GL43) under Section 16(4) and (5) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for release of non-native gamebirds (common pheasants and red-legged partridges), on or near European sites. Defra has the power to modify or revoke this licence. Any person who has been convicted of a wildlife offence since 2010 will not be able to act under this licence or under any of Defra’s three Wild Bird General Licences (GL40-GL42). As noted above, all the recommendations in the UNODC report will be carefully considered.

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