Good morning! Hello! to all new subscribers to this newsletter.
News today of significant and welcome movement by Natural Resources Wales on general licences, of a new scientific paper which suggests that the Badger cull has been ineffective in reducing bovine tuberculosis in cattle and another petition for you to consider.
General Licences in Wales: if you have been aware of Wild Justice since our public launch three years ago, you will know that we kicked off with a successful legal challenge to the general licences in England - the licences which allow the general killing of some birds which are sometimes called pest species. We have made progress in reforming these licences across the four UK nations (see a blog from last year) and now we are pleased to report that Natural Resources Wales staff have recommended serious and important changes to Welsh general licences which will be considered by the NRW Board next week. If approved, these changes will remove Magpie, Jackdaw and Jay from the list of species that can be killed for conservation purposes without a specific licence, will restrict killing of Carrion Crows for conservation purposes to a shorter period and make some other welcome changes. These changes, all of which Wild Justice has campaigned for and gone to court to promote, will, if agreed this week, make the Welsh licences the best on offer across the four UK nations. For more details - see our blog.
Talking of which, the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs may issue its consultation on general licences on Monday although they have missed two other deadlines already this year. We will scrutinise the proposals closely as they, too, have come about as a result of campaigning and legal action by Wild Justice (see here).
Badgers: our petition calling for an end to the free-shooting of Badgers in the DEFRA-sponsored, Natural England-licensed, English Badger cull will be debated in Westminster Hall on Monday at 430pm. Read our blog on the Wildlife and Countryside Link website - click here.
Yesterday a new analysis of the impacts of culling Badgers in England on the levels of bovine tuberculosis in cattle was published in the Veterinary Record. It suggests that the cull has had no discernible impact on bovine tuberculosis because the declines in levels of the disease have been similar in areas where Badgers were culled and where they weren't.
To be honest, the complexity of the scientific analysis is beyond our competence to judge, so we will take the results on trust given that they are published in a reputable journal. On the face of it, this analysis is a damning indictment of the Badger cull. We're sure that debate will be fierce on this subject. See our blog for more details of the paper - click here.
- Demand wilder National Parks - click here. This petition is set up by Rewilding Britain - we think they are a fine organisation. If anything, their ask for more rewilding in our National Parks is rather modest so we hope that you will consider supporting it.
Wild Justice (Directors: Mark Avery, Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay).
PS We have had a bit of difficulty accessing our own website this morning - we think everything is back to normal but if any of the links in this newsletter don't work for you then please let us know - on admin@wildjustice.org.uk - that would be very helpful, thanks.
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