The below is an open letter to my local MP on the subject of Hen Harrier persecution. I recently spent a year living near the Forest of Bowland, where I never got to see a Hen Harrier, despite it being their last stronghold, and not for want of looking. The shooting industry is to blame. Soon the only Hen Harriers in England will be the wintering individuals found on wetlands in the South East.
Use it for inspiration, ideas, whatever, but I must request that you please do not treat it as a form letter and produce copies of it.
Dear Mrs Watkinson
I am writing to express my disappointment about some of the recommendations of the Environmental Audit Commission to the government, made in October 2013, in particular the failure to call for the introduction of an offence of ‘vicarious liability’ for landowners who fail to prevent the persecution of birds of prey on their land in England and Wales. The offence of Vicarious Liability is essential if we are to reverse the terrible decline in birds such as the Hen Harrier (Circus cyanaeus) in the UK.
There is a widespread perception among gamekeepers and others in the shooting industry that birds of prey like C. cyanaeus inflict substantial losses on the quarry species which the industry commercially exploits, and as such, its persecution is ongoing and well documented, despite the legal protection it is supposed to receive. Gamekeepers, where caught, can be tried and jailed for the illegal killing of Hen Harriers, however, in what can only be described as an affront to reason and to social justice, their employers enjoy impunity. Therefore, were I a land owner, in charge of a shooting estate, I could ask my employee to kill a hen harrier, and face no threat of prosecution, a mere denial being sufficient to absolve me of responsibility. Indeed, many gamekeepers convicted of offences against birds of prey have stated that their employer did nothing to discourage wildlife crime by their staff. This situation has to change. If a crime boss pays an assassin to kill for him, or pays a criminal to steal a precious item, then both parties are clearly liable for that offence. Why should this change when the crime is committed against endangered wildlife, and the victims are biodiversity and all who care for it? When a gamekeeper commits an offence against wildlife, both he and his employer, who is ultimately responsible, should face jail. One may suggest that issues of social class on the part of the lawmakers, willing to send a country lad to jail, but heaven forbid one of their colleagues should be put in such a situation, is responsible for this obvious inadequacy in the law.
Use it for inspiration, ideas, whatever, but I must request that you please do not treat it as a form letter and produce copies of it.
Dear Mrs Watkinson
I am writing to express my disappointment about some of the recommendations of the Environmental Audit Commission to the government, made in October 2013, in particular the failure to call for the introduction of an offence of ‘vicarious liability’ for landowners who fail to prevent the persecution of birds of prey on their land in England and Wales. The offence of Vicarious Liability is essential if we are to reverse the terrible decline in birds such as the Hen Harrier (Circus cyanaeus) in the UK.
There is a widespread perception among gamekeepers and others in the shooting industry that birds of prey like C. cyanaeus inflict substantial losses on the quarry species which the industry commercially exploits, and as such, its persecution is ongoing and well documented, despite the legal protection it is supposed to receive. Gamekeepers, where caught, can be tried and jailed for the illegal killing of Hen Harriers, however, in what can only be described as an affront to reason and to social justice, their employers enjoy impunity. Therefore, were I a land owner, in charge of a shooting estate, I could ask my employee to kill a hen harrier, and face no threat of prosecution, a mere denial being sufficient to absolve me of responsibility. Indeed, many gamekeepers convicted of offences against birds of prey have stated that their employer did nothing to discourage wildlife crime by their staff. This situation has to change. If a crime boss pays an assassin to kill for him, or pays a criminal to steal a precious item, then both parties are clearly liable for that offence. Why should this change when the crime is committed against endangered wildlife, and the victims are biodiversity and all who care for it? When a gamekeeper commits an offence against wildlife, both he and his employer, who is ultimately responsible, should face jail. One may suggest that issues of social class on the part of the lawmakers, willing to send a country lad to jail, but heaven forbid one of their colleagues should be put in such a situation, is responsible for this obvious inadequacy in the law.
Another option which could be explored, perhaps in addition
to Vicarious Liability, would be to introduce a policy of licensing for Grouse
Moors and other areas used by the shooting industry. Thus, after a confirmed incidence of raptor
persecution, or the use of an illegal snare, for example, the licence for
shooting on an estate could be revoked for a fixed time period, such as 5 or 10
years. This may provide an effective economic deterrent, ensuring that the
persecution of raptors becomes harmful to the profit margins of the businesses
responsible. Where raptors are shot,
shoots are cancelled for years to come, and profits forgone. In respect of the well documented beneficial effects managing for shooting can have for invertebrate diversity, effective legislation must be employed to
prevent unscrupulous landowners ‘repurposing’ the moor or discontinuing management, and interim arrangements
to maintain the vegetation cover and wildlife value could be introduced. Licences may be removed regardless of whether
a successful criminal prosecution has occurred. Such a move may complement existing criminal
legislation, providing the conservation and law enforcement agencies with the
equipment needed to bring the criminal ecocide of the shooting industry under
control.
Hen Harriers, Britain’s most endangered bird, have failed to breed in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, in 2013, and in the summer of 2012, Bowland Betty, one of the last of her kind to be fledged in England, a marked and tagged individual, much loved by the local community in Bowland, was shot dead while crossing a grouse moor in Yorkshire. No-one has ever been brought to justice for her killing, and the frustrated city boys on weekend jollies continue slaughter grouse with their shotguns for fun, returning great profits for her killers, oblivious or indifferent to the ecocide they support. Grouse moor operators also rake in vast sums of money through public subsidies, intended to support food production but freely taken by the shooting industry to line its pockets, and these too are unaffected when birds of prey are killed. Indeed, economic measures against criminals in the shooting industry seem very straightforward and easy to take. What is clear is that measures to protect our birds of prey are needed, and needed immediately, to deter shooting interests from continuing to depauperate our wild countryside of predators and rob everyone who enjoys living in a healthy environment with thriving ecosystems. Please act now to protect birds of prey.
Yours Sincerely
JohnisJae RGB MSc
Further information about Bowland Betty available here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/skydancer/b/skydancer/archive/2012/12/10/bowland-betty-final-update.aspx
Petition Calling for Grouse Moor Licencing here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46473
Hen Harriers, Britain’s most endangered bird, have failed to breed in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, in 2013, and in the summer of 2012, Bowland Betty, one of the last of her kind to be fledged in England, a marked and tagged individual, much loved by the local community in Bowland, was shot dead while crossing a grouse moor in Yorkshire. No-one has ever been brought to justice for her killing, and the frustrated city boys on weekend jollies continue slaughter grouse with their shotguns for fun, returning great profits for her killers, oblivious or indifferent to the ecocide they support. Grouse moor operators also rake in vast sums of money through public subsidies, intended to support food production but freely taken by the shooting industry to line its pockets, and these too are unaffected when birds of prey are killed. Indeed, economic measures against criminals in the shooting industry seem very straightforward and easy to take. What is clear is that measures to protect our birds of prey are needed, and needed immediately, to deter shooting interests from continuing to depauperate our wild countryside of predators and rob everyone who enjoys living in a healthy environment with thriving ecosystems. Please act now to protect birds of prey.
Yours Sincerely
JohnisJae RGB MSc
Further information about Bowland Betty available here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/skydancer/b/skydancer/archive/2012/12/10/bowland-betty-final-update.aspx
Petition Calling for Grouse Moor Licencing here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46473
