Following Deputy First Minister & Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs Huw Irranca‑Davies MS’ announcement of an independent review of the impacts of released gamebird management, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) welcomes Welsh Government’s commitment to consider both scientific and practitioner evidence.
GWCT Director of Advisory Dr Roger Draycott said: “We are encouraged that the minister states the review will ‘draw on the latest scientific research, expert insight and practical experience’ and look forward to contributing both research and expert knowledge to the review. GWCT is the UK’s leading game and wildlife research organisation, and the large body of scientific evidence it has undertaken over decades into the impact of released gamebird management will be central to the consultation.”
Director of Policy GWCT Wales Sue Evans warned that Natural Resources Wales’ previous recommendations for licensing would allow for restrictions, which could damage Welsh wildlife and hinder the government efforts to reach legally binding biodiversity recovery targets.
She said: “We are concerned that NRW’s proposals for licensing presented back in 2023 could threaten biodiversity and communities. The precautionary approach applied by NRW in recent years has seen restrictions placed on General Licences that will leave our most vulnerable ground-nesting and hedgerow birds under greater threat from predation and habitat loss and therefore further decline.
“At the end of last year, we submitted evidence of the benefits to biodiversity and rural communities from released game management to the Deputy First Minister and look forward to responding to this latest call for evidence. At a time when Welsh wildlife is under such pressure, we will be urging Welsh Government to follow the science.”
You can read the minister’s statement in full here.