If you were listening to the World at One today (starting at 38 minutes into piece) you will have heard a long piece on Hen Harriers. Well done WatO! And well done RSPB (especially Ian Thomson and Blanaid Denman).
The bird in question looks like these images by Gordon Yates – super bird isn’t it? The grey male (above) and brown female (below).
Amanda Anderson of the Moorland Association said that she has a plan ‘We know, that illegal persecution is absolutely…[long pause while she remembers what the right thing to say is]… not what we want. It has absolutely got to stop. We have to provide a solution on the ground that is pragmatic and workable and that’s what we are working really hard on. What we are trying to do is to find a win-win solution so we win the hearts and minds of those who pour their money and energy into looking after the uplands of England so that everything can live alongside.’.
People coming new to this subject might wonder why we have to find a pragmatic solution to wildlife crime – don’t we just stamp it out? What Amanda didn’t say is that after decades of talking, her members are still killing Hen Harriers illegally so that they can make money out of shooting Red Grouse for fun and money after the ‘Inglorious Twelfth’.
Well done to WatO for this piece, but if it was all a bit confusing then have a look at my book, Inglorious – conflict in the uplands on why we should ban driven grouse shooting – it’s not all about Hen Harriers, it’s also about food risk, water quality and protecting endangered habitats. Last year, a petition calling for a ban of driven grouse shooting attracted 123,077 signatures and a rival petition in favour of grouse shooting only 25,000.
This year there are eight public rallies in support of Hen Harriers (in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland) and on the Inglorious Twelfth there will be a march in London, with Chris Packham, against the return of fox hunting, against the badger cull and against driven grouse shooting.
And a simple thing to do, if you are touched by the plight of the Hen Harrier is to join Findlay Wilde’s social media thunderclap.
[registration_form]
It seems to me that Amanda Anderson admitted that illegal killing of HHs is widespread on the moors.
Substitute any other crime here and how does it look?
‘We know, that ***** is absolutely not what we want. It has absolutely got to stop. We have to provide a solution on the ground that is pragmatic and workable and that’s what we are working really hard on. What we are trying to do is to find a win-win solution so we win the hearts and minds of those who pour their money and energy into looking after the ***** of England and so that everything can live alongside.’
Or look at it another way. Ask someone what topic this could be referring to: Vegan School dinners; dress code at Wimbledon; how many babies Rees-Mogg has?
Isn’t obeying the law (one that’s been in place for many decades) and removing obstructions to using CCTV to catch criminals, an eminently pragmatic and workable solution? Linking the use of the latter to licensing of shooting estates or just the public grants available to them would go a long way to stopping this abuse.
I don’t know about you but I find obeying the law comes fairly naturally and I don’t need to work hard at it or perhaps Amanda Anderson means that MA members are proving reluctant to being persuaded to stop killing Hen Harriers.
As long as that is the case and I think it is, I am reluctant to accept that driven grouse shooting has a long term future.
I haven’t heard of any harrier nests on driven grouse moors yet this year have you?
It is quite obvious that they don’t really believe they are breaking the law and believe the law should be changed but are too cowardly to say so.