stop the killing of birds of prey

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Dear Sir or Madam,

what is being done this year to stop the killing of birds of prey once and for all.

We need tougher punishments for those who commit the crimes and we need to protect all species of birds of prey as i discovered your goverment had taken protections away from certain species

Yours faithfully,

Carl Holmes

Helpline, Defra (CCU), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Holmes

Thank you for your email of 9 January about the killing of birds of prey.

A reply is attached.

Yours sincerely,

Geoff Collard
Customer Contact Unit
Defra

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

This email and any attachments is intended for the named recipient only.
If you have received it in error you have no authority to use, disclose,
store or copy any of its contents and you should destroy it and inform
the sender.
Whilst this email and associated attachments will have been checked
for known viruses whilst within Defra systems we can accept no
responsibility once it has left our systems.
Communications on Defra's computer systems may be monitored and/or
recorded to secure the effective operation of the system and for other
lawful purposes.

MarkRobb (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Yes the RSPB make a habit of killing raptors golden eagles
peregrine falcons also hybrid falcons .They where in charge of a number of captive peregrine falcons they meaning the RSPB smashed them up to the extent of been unrecognisable to the owners they are totally without moral standing a disgrace to any one who cares about our heritage.

Mark Robb

MarkRobb (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Now the police again destroying our heritage
the local Police Wildlife Liaison Officer using S19 of the Wildlife and Countryside act as an excuse to visit peregrine and other raptor nests
the local Police Wildlife Liaison Officer misusing his NE Police Licence to visit Schedule 1 nesting sites
‘Best Practice’ was not being followed: nest visits were being carried out by inexperienced and unlicensed individuals at the Police Wildlife Liaison Officer’s behest
the Police Wildlife Liaison Officer was refusing to work with the North West Raptor Group
he won’t take advice from experienced workers
has been bringing in outside ringers to ring peregrines in Bowland without consultation with the peregrine co-ordinator – both before and after being told consultation was required
the Police Wildlife Liaison Officer ignored expert advice and disturbed eagle owl nests on several occasions over two years – 66% of eggs laid were lost
a colleague of the Police Wildlife Liaison Officer abusing the law in an attempt to intimidate a member of the North West Raptor Group
A response from the Natural England Wildlife Management and Licensing Team was received yesterday, with the following comments:

they say they are keen to ensure there is “appropriate liaison”
they acknowledge the breakdown between the NWRG and the Wildlife Liaison Officer, and say they want to ensure future nest visits are coordinated to prevent unnecessary disturbance
they Propose a NE member “could act as a peregrine coordinator”, overseeing visits to nests and avoiding duplication – and the Wildlife Liaison Officer is happy with this idea
the Wildlife Liaison Officer has been reminded of his need to adhere to his Natural England Police Licence conditions
They conclude by writing that “Increasingly, the external perception of the situation with raptors in Bowland is that disturbance by licensed raptor workers is the main problem faced by these birds.”

As a comparative layman in these matters, I have to say I find certain things about the NE response puzzling. For example, they seem to have taken on board the fact that the Wildlife Liaison Officer has been acting inappropriately – they say he has to abide by his NE licence in future. Black mark to the cops there! However, NE’s response to the breakdown in relations between the police and the NWRG is to appoint another level of ‘administration’ – why not simply tell the police to act professionally as they did over the licence matter?

I’m wondering why the police are visiting nests anyway. If there is no crime reported, then they have no need to visit nests. Likewise, why are they bringing in outsiders to ring birds? Why are they bringing in inexperienced unlicensed people to look at peregrine nests? Strangely, when the NWRG reports a suspected crime, the police response is best described as ‘unenthusiastic’!

Now, when you have an established body such as the NWRG examining nests as they have done for near on 40 years, why the sudden necessity for the police to start doing the job (but unenthusiastically when asked to investigate)? The NE police licence doesn’t even cover monitoring – it’s solely for the purposes of investigating crime!

Here comes the really hard bit for me to understand – I’ll repeat the important text: “Increasingly, the external perception of the situation with raptors in Bowland is that disturbance by licensed raptor workers is the main problem faced by these birds.”

Excuse me? – doesn’t all the above show that the Police Wildlife Liaison Officer is unnecessarily visiting nests? The level of monitoring over the years by the NWRG has been constant, the new factor is a wet-behind-the-ears copper with little or no practical experience, stamping all around nests with his big flat feet when he’s only supposed to visit them in the event of a crime!

Explain this to me, somebody. There are less visits to nests on private estates by the NWRG than those on United Utilities estates, yet the success rate on United Utilities estates is higher – as demonstrated by the published results on this site. Doesn’t this indicate the ‘disturbance by licensed raptor workers’ factor alleged by the “external perception” party is, to put it mildly, utter nonsense? Let’s see some real evidence by that “external perception” source!

I’d also like to know why NE think it necessary to appoint a new coordinator to oversee visits to nests: “all those visiting the species first contact [the new coordinator] and that the visit goes ahead only if the particular nest is not already being adequately monitored by other workers.” There is no need for such a role if the police stick to their job and only go to sites when crime is reported!

If this new proposal goes ahead, I think the results will ultimately be to the detriment of the peregrine and raptor population in Bowland. Natural England – you look to me like part of the problem!

July 16th, 2009