‘Bobbie is thrilled that a golden eagle has settled in the forest near her family’s farm. She loves to walk the hills with her granny and watch the bird soar through the sky. But not everyone shares Bobbie’s awe for the spectacular bird. When her granny’s beloved dog is killed by poisoned bait, it soon…
Tag: Ruth Tingay
New Natural England chair faces massive criticism on social media
Natural England’s new chair, my mate Tony Juniper, has been roundly criticised on social media for his support of Natural England’s licensing of brood meddling. Here is a selection of the comments to give you a flavour: To grant #broodmeddling licences to vested interests 4 one of England’s rarest breeding raptors on grounds that ‘if…
Statutory agencies – fit for purpose?
Wild Justice’s successful legal challenge over the General Licences is the third legal challenge in which I have been involved against this statutory agency in just over a year. First there was my legal challenge of the brood-meddling licence that NE issued in early 2018. As regular readers will know, this case was contested by…
SNH says ‘no’ to Strathbraan Raven cull
Raven. Photo: Tim Melling Excellent news from Raptor Persecution UK – SNH rejects 2019 licence application for Strathbraan Raven cull. That’s good news on which to end the week. Well done to Ruth Tingay and the Scottish Raptor Study Group for taking their challenge. I’m glad I contributed to their crowdfunder. But what are our…
Chris Packham CBE – national treasure or endangered species?
Chris Packham is a mate of mine – although he’s not very matey really. But he’s also a colleague and he’s a great guy. He’s had a lot of flak in the media and social media since we, that’s Chris, Ruth Tingay and myself, Wild Justice, won a legal challenge against the system of General…
What Wild Justice says about the General Licence issue
The Natural England decision to revoke the long-standing General Licences came out of the blue for Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and me (the three co-directors of the not for profit company, Wild Justice) as it did for everyone else. We had no warning of what they were going to announce beforehand (which I think was…
Pigeon Pie and the General Licences
Woodpigeon. Photo: Tim Melling Let us take Woodpigeon as an example. Under what circumstances do Woodpigeons cause serious damage to crops – and what constitutes serious damage? And which crops can be seriously damaged by Woodpigeons at which times of year? How is the shooting of Woodpigeons solely for food consumption legal – we suspect…
Wild Justice’s legal challenge – what happens now?
NE say they are going to consult on the General Licences. In the meantime, NE has decided that anyone wanting to kill any of the species listed on the three General Licences which will be revoked on Thursday 25 April will need to apply for an individual licence giving grounds and evidence, as the law…
Wild Justice’s legal challenge – how the case progressed
Wild Justice and lawyers outside Defra Nobel House on 11 March ahead of meeting Natural England. L to R: Anita Davies (Matrix Chambers), Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay (Wild Justice), Carol Day (Leigh Day) and Mark Avery (Wild Justice). Wild Justice’s legal success against Natural England had the following chronology: 13 February – “Pre Action…
Statement by Wild Justice
Yesterday afternoon (23 April), nearly 10 weeks after Wild Justice launched a challenge to the legality of the 2019 General Licences (on 13 February), Natural England announced that it was revoking 2019 General Licences 04/05/06 on Thursday (25 April) after deciding to do so at its Board meeting of 15 April. After nearly four decades…