Jail land owners for poisoned birds of prey - RSPB

Conservationists are demanding landowners face jail terms of up to six months if illegally killed birds of prey are found on their property.

The calls come ahead of a hastily scheduled debate in the Scottish Parliament to address a recent spate of raptor poisonings in Ross-shire, where 22 birds of prey have been found dead.

Nature charities RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) are pressing for police and the Crown Office to make use of existing laws to impose prison terms for crimes against the nation’s protected species.

They are advocating a “zero tolerance” approach to persecution of wild animals and say tougher sentencing will discourage unlawful activity.

Duncan Orr-Ewing, head of species and land management for RSPB Scotland, said: “Existing laws should be implemented – both jail sentences, which we think would send out a strong deterrent, but also the ‘vicarious liability’ measure.”

Vicarious liability is the legal term for landowners being held responsible for the actions of their employees.

Continued

Farming for Turtle Doves

Posted on: 10 Sep 2013

To help reverse the fortunes of the ailing Turtle Dove, the RSPB is calling on landowners across the South-East to grow crops to help them.

They have asked farmers and freeholders to consider establishing pollen and nectar mixes targeted at the species as part of their Environmental Stewardship agreements, or even voluntarily.

Turtle Dove, a summer visitor to Britain, was once a common sight and sound across the rural South-East, but has undergone a rapid decline in numbers. The most recent figures show that its population has fallen by 86 per cent since 1994. The species no longer breeds in Wales and there are fears it could soon disappear as a breeding bird in England too, with only a few strongholds remaining in South-East England and East Anglia.

Hayley New, RSPB Agricultural Projects Officer for the South-East, said: “Turtle Dove numbers are drastically low, and the prospect of losing this beautiful bird from our shores is becoming increasingly real."

In response to Turtle Dove’s plight, the RSPB launched Operation Turtle Dove in May 2012, with support from Natural England, a three-year project to begin to reverse its decline. The cause of the population crash is not fully understood, but when they arrive in Britain to breed each spring they depend on small seeds from wild plants to get into breeding condition, and changes in farming practices mean these plants are now scarce.

Hayley New continued: “There are a number of options available to farmers: they can choose to sow Turtle Dove seed mix – which provides optimal foraging habitat – or to cultivate uncropped margins that allow arable weeds to flourish. Now is the perfect time to act and it would be great for farmers looking to help to get in touch for more advice on how to make these options work for them. This year we’ve implemented plots of the seed mix at several of our reserves across the South-East, including Northward Hill and Lydden Valley in Kent, and Pagham Harbour in West Sussex, and we hope to work with other landowners to achieve the same.

“The options will also benefit pollinating insects such as bumblebees and butterflies, which could also do with a helping hand in spring and summer. We are really proud of our wildlife-friendly farmers who are already doing fantastic work for wildlife and the environment through agri-environment schemes and voluntarily. Farming in this way can make a real difference to Turtle Dove and is necessary for its survival in England.

The general public have also played their part this summer with record numbers of calls to the Operation Turtle Dove sightings hotline (01603 697527). These calls are vital in making sure that advice is targeted to the right areas.

For further advice on helping Turtle Dove, please call Hayley New on 01273 763616 or email hayley.new@rspb.org.uk

Hawks in danger of extinction in illegal hunting campaign

Just one breeding pair of hen harriers is left in England, warns the RSPB, which claims gamekeepers on grouse moors are being ordered by landowners to shoot the rare birds. 

Tracy McVeigh investigates

Only one pair of breeding hen harriers remains in England, according to the RSPB, which blames illegal persecution for what it fears is now the near extinction of the bird of prey in the country.

"It will be a tragedy if this bird disappears. It's a scandal that such a rare and iconic species has been deliberately persecuted to this extent," said Grahame Madge of the bird conservation charity. He said Yorkshire was now a "black spot" for British birds of prey, dozens of which were being targeted by gamekeepers on the area's vast shooting estates, who were under pressure to keep grouse and pheasant numbers high for their clients.

"It's like a return to the days of the Victorians up there; the landowners think they are a law unto themselves and the gamekeepers have to do what they're told or they'll be out of a job," he said. "And it isn't just hen harriers: our team of investigators are constantly uncovering evidence of other birds of prey being illegally shot, poisoned and trapped."

Madge said that the results which emerged a few weeks ago from scientific tests carried out on the carcass of Bowland Betty, a ringed hen harrier found in 2012 on Thorny Grain Moor in the Yorkshire Dales, proved what the charity has been saying for some time. "We found traces of lead in the bird's leg which proved what we have been saying: she was deliberately targeted, illegally shot. It may not have been the shot that killed her; she may have lingered on injured for a time, we can't tell unfortunately. But it is clear evidence, if any was needed, that there is deliberate, illegal persecution of our birds of prey ongoing."

He attacked the shooting estates for overbreeding game birds and called for the introduction of "diversionary feeding" on the estates – where food left out for nesting hen harriers and other raptors diverts the birds from attacking red grouse.

Continued:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/05/hawks-extinction-illegal-hunting