Gems from the written evidence 3 – David Gosney

I’m not sure I have ever met David Gosney but his is a well-known name in birding circles so his name caught my eye in the list of written evidence submissions.

‘Parts of the Peak District used to be nationally famous for their populations of birds of prey but now those same areas have scandalously few raptors. At a time when many birds of prey are increasing nationally they are remaining virtually absent from those parts of the Peak District where grouse shooting takes place. This submission gives some evidence of their continuing absence. Current laws are not preventing gamekeepers from wiping out populations of birds of prey; new laws are necessary.’

‘My name is David Gosney. I’ve been birdwatching in the Peak District for over 45 years, particularly in the area between Strines and Langsett. In the 1970’s and 1980’s this was one of the best areas for birds of prey not just in the Peak District but also in Britain; in winter up to 9 Hen Harriers at a time could be counted coming to roost on Broomhead Moor, it was one of the few places in Britain where Rough-legged Buzzards stayed for the winter and it was the best place in Britain to look for Goshawks thanks to a breeding population of about 10 pairs. Birdwatchers travelled to this area from all over England to enjoy birds of prey in such numbers. By the late 1990’s these fabulous birds were joined by three pairs of Peregrines too. However, at about this time, there was a rumour that the local gamekeepers had had a meeting at which they’d decided that the raptor populations were getting out of hand and they were going to do something about it. The story about the meeting was only a rumour but, within a few years, all the Goshawks, Peregrines and Hen Harriers had gone; in the last 15 years there have been hardly any successful breeding attempts by any of these species in and around the grouse shooting areas. This shocking decline has been documented in the RSPB publication ‘Peak Malpractice’ (2006), updated some years later, which also catalogues a history of events such as nests being destroyed, birds being poisoned, traps being found.

The tragedy of this is that elsewhere in the country some of these species are doing better than ever – Goshawks, Peregrines and, especially Buzzards are more numerous and widespread than ever before. But this area, the one which had previously been one of the best in Britain for raptors, is now, undeniably, one of the worst.’

‘The challenge for parliament is to consider whether it is acceptable for the shooting fraternity to have such an impact on the numbers of birds of prey. If not, what should be done about it? The usual counter is that there are already laws in place to prevent this kind of thing. But clearly that approach isn’t working. Another option is for the shooting fraternity to say ‘leave us alone and we’ll promise to be good in future’. Well, that’s not working either.’

 

 

 

I’m asking you to write to your MP this weekend and ask them to attend the Westminster Hall debate on 31 October and make the following points:

• wildlife crime is rife in the uplands.  This has major conservation impacts on birds of prey (see my written evidence).  Illegal killing of birds of prey is not caused by a few bad apples but is endemic to the activity of driven grouse shooting.
• intensive management of our hills for driven grouse shooting causes many other problems (increased flooding, increased water treatment costs, culls of Mountain Hares, damage to protected habitats, increased greenhouse gas emissions) which could be tackled by stronger regulation and government should consider that as a serious option for those issues
• but the government is not seriously addressing wildlife crime. The grouse shooting industry has shown no willingness or ability to tackle this issue despite decades of saying that it will. The status quo is not an option. Banning driven grouse shooting is the most effective way to end wildlife crime against birds of prey in our uplands and anything else will be weak and ineffective.

Please write to your MP and ask them to pass on your letter to Defra ahead of the debate if they are unable to attend and make these points themselves. Tell your MP that you will also write to them after the debate and that this is an issue about which you feel very strongly.

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