Forestry England don’t kill Jays themselves on their 250,000 ha and it’s clear they don’t let many others do it either.
When I asked Forestry and Land Scotland about their policy they replied very quickly with;
Hi Mark
FLS does not cull jays on Scotland’s national forests and land – and our records indicate that neither do any of those persons holding game shooting leases.
Forestry and Land Scotland manage 640,000ha.
And yet SNH/NatureScotland issue general licences for conservation purposes which include authorisation of Jay killing. Odd, isn’t it? It’s almost as though one arm of government doesn’t talk to another.
But then, DEFRA has just issued its general licences for casual killing of birds and has retained Jay on the conservation licence despite Forestry England not killing Jays on its (our) land.
I am waiting to complete the British set as I have asked NRW the same question. NRW, let me remind you, is essentially the equivalent of Forestry England, Natural England and the Environment Agency rolled into one body – it is both a land owner and manager of forests and other land and the licensing authority. I’ll let you know what they say.
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I am sure you are not naive, Mark. Really, I am certain you are not. FLS and Forestry England don’t kill jays on the land that either manages, but SNH and NE both issue GLs which allow for it. One arm of the Government might not be talking to the other, but, to be sure, the one that issues the GLs knows its constituency.
FLS and Forestry England aren’t part of that constituency. They are trying hard to be part of the future for wildlife and the environment and hopefully setting an example that even if others don’t follow at least shows there is another way. They are active managers of wildlife where it is necessary for environmental balance – and are long term partners of RSPB in the Cairngorms Connect area in reducing deer numbers to the point where both deer and the wider forest wildlife can flourish. But that doesn’t include Jays or for that matter a wide range of other species that can live together in a healthy, balanced environment.
Natural England are the government’s conservation agency, they are responsible for our flagship National Nature Reserves. Surely they conserve wild birds on these sites. How many Jay’s do they need to kill to deliver the Premier standard of wild bird conservation?