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Scotland: Wildlife Trap Licence important update

By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 introduced the Wildlife Trap Licence as a new legal requirement for operating spring traps and corvid traps in Scotland. The Act makes it a prerequisite for obtaining a licence that trap operators...

Important Updates on Trap Registration and Training

Since the 1st April 2020 practitioners have been required by law to register with NatureScot in order to use Larsen Traps, Larsen Mate Traps, Larsen Pod Traps and multi-catch crow traps under the General Licences. Registrations were to last 5 years before reregistering was required. However, on t...

Secure Your Spot: New dates released for mandatory trap training in Scotland

Following the outstanding success of our autumn training courses, with over 400 certificates issued, we’re thrilled to announce new training dates for February 2025. The GWCT, is a trusted authority in wildlife management training, and is the leading provider of the Scottish government-approved A...

Legal protection will not increase hare numbers if the right habitat is absent. A Letter to The Times from Sir Jim Paice

A letter sent to The Times by Sir Jim Paice.  Three days ago I watched four hares in my 7 acre paddock in front of my house being ‘mad march hares’. Baroness Helic is correct (Thunderer 25th March) that they are one of the most evocative symbols of the English Countryside. However, the mere fact...

Chris Packham, Donald Trump and daft legal threats

Legal challenge to gamebird releasing – Defra’s response

New Larsen Trap guide now available

Corvid Trapping in Scotland: New requirement to register decoy birds

By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland In an effort to monitor and combat Avian Influenza, UK Government requires all kept birds to be registered. Separate registers exist for the devolved nations, the relevant one for Scotland being the Scottish Kept Bird Register. Following recent outbrea...

"Magpie cull trap causes furious debate" - Our response published in the Stratford Herald

Summary of Game 25

Scientific research, practitioner evidence and environmental accreditation are essential for sustainable game management -- the take home message from GWCT’s lowland gamebird conference. GWCT chairman Sir Jim Paice introduced the conference by saying that while there are currently no indications ...