The Wild Justice legal challenge has secured regulation of gamebird releases in a way never contemplated by the shooting industry.
The Guardian:
Pheasant and partridge classified as species that imperil UK wildlife.
Wild Justice successfully argued that European protections obliged the authorities to regulate about 60 million non-native pheasants and partridges let loose into the countryside to be shot each year.
The RSPB and other conservationists welcomed the decision.
Shooting groups acted with anger to the news.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/oct/30/pheasant-and-partridge-classified-as-species-that-imperil-uk-wildlife
Shooting groups acted with anger? Well, what a surprise.
The Times:
Ministers have been forced to clamp down on the harmful impacts of the sport after [Wild Justice] accused them of breaching the law by failing to assess the impact on wildlife of releasing more than 50 million non-native game birds each year.
Wild Justice says many shoots breach the existing voluntary guideline that a maximum of 400 pheasants can be placed into each acre of “release pen” in woodland. It said some pens contained up to 2,000 birds per acre.
Reptile experts have also blamed the rise in pheasants for the decline in adders as the birds kill adult snakes and swallow young ones whole.
In a joint statement, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Countryside Alliance, National Gamekeepers Organisation and the Game Farmers’ Association said: “If Defra is to secure co-operation from the shooting community, it must do better. At the moment, there is a great deal of scepticism that a unknown licensing system run by an underfunded public body can fix something that is not known to be ecologically damaging.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Shooting and Conservation, said: “Many parliamentarians are concerned to ensure that shooting is not damaged by whatever Defra does. We will be fighting for a sensible evidence-based and proportionate outcome.”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/chris-packham-wins-battle-for-game-shooting-clampdown-x5ksglblk
Sir Geoffrey is clearly more bothered about protecting shooting than protecting wildlife. This is a win on the legal issues; it ill behoves parliamentarians to cricise those who uphold the laws of the land, as dictated by Parliament, aginst the narrow interests of industries such as shooting.
The Daily Telegraph:
Pheasant shooting will be curtailed across vast swathes of the countryside after the government bowed to [Wild Justice’s] wildlife campaign.
Wild Justice, has been criticised for using legal loopholes to ‘damage’ shooting.
… conservationists across the land are celebrating the announcement – and believe it will mean a large reduction in the number of gamebirds released each year.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/30/pheasant-shooting-curtailed-across-swathes-countryside-government/
Loopholes? No, Wild Justice won this case on the legal arguments – pure, clean and simple.
Birdguides:
Wild Justice, the non-profit legal organisation set up by Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and Mark Avery, has won a legal battle with DEFRA over the mass release of Common Pheasant and Red-legged Partridge on protected sites.
DEFRA has announced today (30 October 2020) that the release of millions of non-native gamebirds will be licensed from next year. This is in direct response to a legal challenge from Wild Justice launched in 2019.
https://www.birdguides.com/news/british-gamebird-releases-to-be-licensed-in-2021/
BASC:
With no prior consultation with BASC, Countryside Alliance, National Gamekeepers Organisation or the Game Farmers’ Association – who were all interested parties in the case – Defra has announced its intention to introduce an interim licensing system. The system will encompass the release of pheasant and red-legged partridge in and within 500 metres of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
https://basc.org.uk/defra-propose-gamebird-releasing-licence-around-protected-sites/
It’s a welcome move that BASC et al. admit that they are not being taken seriously by DEFRA whereas the legal arguments deployed by Wild Justice won the day. BASC also launched a 7-figure fighting fund for ‘proactive legal initiatives to secure the future of shooting’ – I’m not a BASC member otherwise I’d be asking how much they have wasted on this case so far.
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Once again, a great win for our native wildlife thanks to Wild Justice. From their comments, the shooters really sound rattled. From their various reactions they really show themselves up for what they are, mostly extreme right wing groups only interested in killing wild creatures for fun, totally unscrupulous, with criminals quite often associated with their so called “blood sport” and with no interest in our native wild life whatsoever.
I wonder who is going to look after the country side,certainly not the birders who do nothing, like feeding, putting in wild bird cover,clearing woods,looking after predator control .We have the one the largest tern colonies looked after and paid for by the trust, by hunters shooting foxes and traping vermin but we will keep that quite from the general public.
Peploe – thank you for your first comment here.
Mark when are you packham and Tingay going to put your own money into your legal challenges instead of asking members of the public during a pandemic to fund your self promoting egos?
Mike – when are you going to take that chip off your shoulder. I have put my own money into every legal challenge I/Wild Juastice have taken. What makes you think I haven’t?
You don’t agree with crowdfunding on principle? What principle would that be?
Alan, you seem oblivious like all your ilk that releasing more raptors, protecting badgers and foxes and all the other beak, tooth and claw predators wild (injustice) is so enthralled by will be destroying Wildlife on a daily basis and with no regulation or restraint. Who’s protecting them?
It’s just a class war nothing more.
William – the Pheasant will soon be listed on a Schedule because it is a problem species. Think on it.
Utter rubbish wild justice haven’t a clue about conservation at all
Just very simply – well done.
To all the Victorian regressives, the organisations that represent them and the serfs that still serve them – ha!
It has been a good couple of weeks – Jacinda Ardern re-elected by a land-slide, populism in Europe in decline (the Guardian) and …. victory for WJ! Let’s hope Trump is utterly humiliated next week. Progressive politics will prevail, otherwise God help us all!
Millions care passionately about wildlife, the natural world and the natural life systems that sustain us all. Far more than those who derive pleasure from “killing wildlife for fun” ( thanks Alan).
Thank you WJ!
I hope your ego is feeling well polished, Mark (as suggested by the Countryside Alliance). Could one miss the irony in the CA claiming that the success of the Wild Justice case was down to the weakening of Natural England, leaving them unable to do proper asessments on SPAs when it was CA and its fellow travellers that have been so keen to weaken the conservation voice at every turn.
Such licencing should also include licence to import game birds not just release numbers per acre . Perhaps even a ban on importing game birds until the numbers actually on the whole of the land are down to a justifiable level . Zero preferably , but as long as barbaric ‘ driven ‘ game shooting , as compared to walking up shooting for the pot , exists , Defra and it’s advisory agents will cowtow to those with money power .
This decision does however not only benefit the flora and fauna of the UK but also our supply of food . I give you a simple example of a tenant farmer to a large North Yorkshire estate which engaged in driven game shooting but had stopped pheasant shooting on flat areas because shooters preferred high birds . That farmer, also a protector of wildlife at heart , had lost 60% of his germinating winter wheat crop to Pheasants pecking if out .
The Wildlife Act lists crops and livestock which can be protected from creatures doing damage by the licenced killing of the culprits . In this case the culprits was the Pheasant . Now classifiable as Vermin perhaps and no longer protected under the clause ‘ Any other Poultry ‘ ?
Malcolm – thank you for your first comment here.
You may feel that but that would require a change in the law (and a different law) whereas what we have chieved is firmly in the category of making sure that existing laws passed by Parliament are respected by government itself.
The comments you have listed, from those who oppose this show they aren’t even interested in the truth, only in protecting their own destructiveness hobbies. Any lie or distortion will be dragged in to bolster their untenable position.
Lots of smiles in this house so well done you three.
It’s all very well folk on the other side of the argument bleating on about “exploiting legal loopholes”. It was nothing of the sort. The Habitats Directive arrived on DEFRA’s desk in 1992. DEFRA have only got themselves to blame for not complying with it for 30 years.
Splendid result for you and those pesky lefty lawyers.
Ever wondered why Mark Avery is so grossly obease? Because he does nothing but sit in a large chair being a left wing socialist political activist on a computer. He could do with getting off the pot and seeing what fantastic work shoots do in conserving and protecting the natural landscape. And paying for it where as Avery and Packham never put their own money up front just ask members of the public to donate to their self promoting vanity projects.
Mike – you have no knowledge of how much the members of WIld Justice put in to crowdfunders – do you?
For myself, I can tell you that I am usually the first donor to every Wild Justice crowdfunder and have put in £250 to each as a start. But the idea of crowdfunding is indeed to throw yourself on the mercy of the public – if they support a project they will help fund it. I guess you are really riled because the public does fund our challenges. And, you’ll be thrilled to hear, our victory in this case has resulted in a wave of donations, some of them quite considerable.
Celebrate the little victory, but be ready to start fighting the same ground all over again post-January.
Random – ready, willing and able. But this victory is not so little, you misery you!
They say it takes more muscles to frown than to smile, so me being miserable is just my way of getting exercise. I’m one of life’s natural wet blankets, I’ll admit.
It is just that this really does have the potential to be only a temporary victory due to resting on EU legislation, which this shower of shit we call a government will be eager to sweep away after January, and casting this as a big victory right now runs the risk of a lot of the campaigning public calling it job done and taking their eye off the ball and letting them. It keeps on happening.
WOW! and yet again WOW!, yet another battle won in this long war, the tide has started to recede ever so slightly. Congratulations to all at WJ and all the amazing contributors, both on the legal side and those that helped financing this victory, it’s been a terrible year with so many tragic COVID deaths, but it’s been a good year for nature. Another one done onto the next one.
Congratulations Mark and Wild Justice. This is a major success, not only as a specific case but also in demonstrating it is still possible to influence DEFRA and NE to take decisions to the detriment of shooting and the benefit of conservation.
It is disappointing that the licensing may only apply withing 500m of particular designated sites. I would be interested to know what total percentage of the land that will cover. I’m sure that will come to light in due course. In my experience (anecdotal only), I believe that one of the detrimental effects of gamebird release is the impact on mesopredator populations. I believe the unnatural availability of food sustains high populations of, for example, foxes and crows, and these then impact on our (beleaguered due to habitat loss) vulnerable prey species, such as lowland waders and woodland grouse. Clearly foxes and crows can move more than 500m. The dysfunction of our mesopredador population may amplify this impact, with no apex predators to act as a control over the mesopredator population and a number of mesopredators still very localised (e.g. goshawk, pine marten, polecat) preventing natural competition and control.
So, I worry that while this is a superb achievement and I don’t mean to denigrate that, the 500m zone will not address a significant negative effect of game bird release.
Well done again Mark and WJ.
Heartening, encouraging and impressive. So many thanks WJ for your diligence and pursuit of justice for our wildlife. Yours is a banner we can rally to and ensure the law is applied as intended. Thank you.
This is to me a great victory because DEFRA leans far more towards the views of the shooting cabal than it does to WJ. It hope fully indicates that the pleasure killers are loosing traction and that in the end native wildlife will be seen as paramount.
Excellent. Very well done. I think the most important thing about this is that it firmly establishes the case that released game birds have an impact – something that ought to have much wider implications.
However, I do worry about NE’s capacity to operate such a licensing system. Where are the staff and resources that will enable it to do so in any meaningful way? Is anyone campaigning for this? Or will it be just one more job on an already impossible list?
A wonderful moment, Mark, and heartfelt thanks to you, Ruth and Chris for everything you do.
Of course, DEFRA and the shooters will do everything they can to squirm and weasel their way round their obligations and minimise the benefit to native wildlife, just as they did in the aftermath of the general licence challenge. But I have every confidence that you will keep on top of this, and progress may be easier now this step has been taken.
Speaking of which, is there action planned to hold DEFRA’s feet to the fire over the shameful issuing of licences to cull birds when the application forms were hardly filled in and made no sense at all?
Great news! Well done to you all at Wild Justice. I do hope this applies to Scotland? Will this be transparent and accessible for the public to view any licenses issued?
Congrats, Mark, Ruth and Chris. Keep fighting! As I write, the latest batch of gormless poults is threatening to over-run the garden. And we have Adders nearby….
Even the members of wild injustice will have read somewhere that adders give birth in the spring and go into hibernation in the autumn! Perhaps you are confusing pheasants with the Secretary bird! That aside they can hardly claim a victory achieved by fiscal bullying akin to proprietary developers threatening local councils with legal expense if plans not approved!!
And finally, as I’m bored with this shite now. What are your precious predators going to eat without the stocks of gamebirds? Slugs and worms?
Well done, but who will police it?
What the people who kill animals for fun and profit will do is carry on regardless like they still hunt foxes and deer with hounds, even though it’s illegal.
I work on an estate and see it first hand.
Ross – thank you for your first comment here.
First, we need to see the details but they are underpinned by a commitment by DEFRA to the courts that their actions will be fully compliant with the Habitats Directive. So, we and the courts will police whether the plan is what is needed.
But then I believe there will be a role for all of us. Whereas policing wildlife crime such as killing birds of prey is very difficult because it often happens in an instant, having a release pen with hundreds of poults in it cannot easily be hidden, stuffed down a rabbit burrow or hidden. So I believe there will be a role for the public to police it.
Really pleased to hear this news and what a positive victory.Well done to all at W.J. It is heartening to know that even DEFRA can’t keep ignoring the science. I think the shooting industry are feeling anxious about the future as can be seen by the number of dislikes found here on your comments page. Thousands of us will be feeling justified by DEFRA’s response and look forward to further restrictions being imposed on this unsustainable and damaging industry . Now waiting for plenty of dislikes !
Interesting to see the judge has made it clear that wild justice case was not going to succeed and poured scorn on wild justice duplicty in trying to avoid defas witnesses statement and has subsequently dismissed wild justice claim to recover £35,000 in its legal fees from the public purse.
Also worth noting [Mark writes: the rest of this comment is omitted because 1) it is off-topic and 2) it is potentially libellous and I wouldn’t want to get sued]
Mike – yes, the judge wasn’t very friendly to us but the legal action has brought about the first proper regulation of gamebird shooting in England, ever. We’ll take that, thanks.
Avery, Tingay and Packham will not have a public voice if they continue to take the court option. One of these days a crusader willing to expose the truth will have followed the money and exposed them all as crooks.
James – thank you for your first comment here – you’re a bit late to this issue. It took you nearly five monthhs to come up with that.
Oh yes, and very rude – you must be a BASC member.
Not shaking in my shoes as a result of your bluster.