SNH:
Covid-19 Update
SNH Licensing team are experiencing an extremely high work load. Due to the current situation with regards to Covid-19, we will be prioritising licence applications based on their purpose. As such, licence applications for preserving public health and safety and licence applications for preventing serious damage will be prioritised. Licence applications for other purposes will be considered lower priority. It’s likely it will take longer than usual for licences to be processed, so all works should be planned accordingly.
https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/safeguarding-protected-areas-and-species/licensing/licensing-news
This may have implications for wild hacking…
Natural England:
Who knows? As part of the dreadful GOV.UK site it is very difficult to know what they are up to. They might even think that licensing broodmeddling of Hen Harriers is essential work…??
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This is in the latest communication from the GWCT (game and wildlife culling trust) Seems lots of people want to kill wildlife they don’t like in these testing times. I also saw something on the ST stuff which said that shooting folk should not be shooting anything outside of “essential pest control” Does that mean I can go out and control wildlife criminals, sorry gamekeepers!
Natural England licensing update for stoats and birds
Stoat Licences
Natural England has published the General Licences for Stoats as follows:
GL38 To trap stoats to conserve wild birds – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stoats-licence-to-trap-them-to-conserve-wild-birds-gl38
GL39 To trap stoats to prevent serious damage to livestock – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stoats-licence-to-trap-them-to-prevent-serious-damage-to-livestock-gl39
Natural England have published with Defra a short note explaining a bit more about the licences here.
Individual licences for gulls and other bird species
Natural England is continuing to receive large numbers of applications for individual licences. They have received 893 applications to date, with 287 of these applications having been received within the last two weeks.
Natural England are working to process these applications promptly, their aim remains to issue licensing decisions as early as possible in April. They have so far taken 491 applications through an initial check process, and they are currently either awaiting further information, or reviewing responses from, 341 applications where essential information was missing.
Natural England are currently working through a full technical assessment on 150 applications and anticipate that number will continue to rise as they are working more efficiently through the new process.
Natural England licensing: the information Commissioner has just told me they are amending their investigation procedures and that rulings may take considerably longer than usual. It’s good ICO investigations are still ongoing and entirely reasonable that Government bodies should have more time. This relates to an EIR request from June 2019 regarding licensing. Not quick is it?
Is it feasible that volunteer groups could monitor estates collaboratively, surely the landowner lobby groups would want to demonstrate compliance with the law?
Then again, based on track record one might be forgiven for pondering therefore if some of the estates will take the risk and undertake this ‘essential work’ regardless? What are the chances of anyone carrying out ‘predator control’ being caught?
Never more so are eyes and ears needed on the ground.
Indeed that true stalwart of Raptor rehab in Malton Jean Thorpe has recently had in three persecuted birds already. The ignorant criminal bastards are at it whilst the rest of us are in lockdown. Typical and entirely predictable, there are some good guys out there too but still far too many of the guys who both the law and evolution left behind.