This week we submitted our response to the Natural Resources Wales (NRW) call for evidence on the future of regulating the shooting and trapping of wild birds.
Following the recent decision at Judicial Review that NRW’s current General Licences are lawful, NRW are continuing with their review of all elements of shooting so we are hugely grateful to the 307 people who gave detailed responses to the survey we launched before Christmas, which enabled us to provide your firsthand observation and experience in controlling species under licence.
Responses closely matched those given in the larger English survey to which nearly 3,000 people responded and this insight in Wales should prove invaluable to NRW when they come to make policy decisions. The results of the survey highlight that the ability to manage these species is critical to the conservation of certain wild bird species, particularly ground-nesting and hedgerow birds and to agriculture, particularly the protection of livestock and crops.
Thank you to all who took part for providing such extensive first-hand evidence about the challenges you have faced and information about the effectiveness of lethal and non-lethal methods of controlling wild birds.
You can read our full submission here.