Please respond to Northern Ireland consultation on General Licences
We’d like to invite you to take c20 minutes to respond to a consultation on general licences in Northern Ireland. It is important that you do (please) respond because otherwise improvements to the licences that we have achieved through our successful legal challenge – see here – might be lost. Also, we feel there is more to be gained if we can secure a strong response. Anyone, living anywhere in the UK can respond to the consultation but if you do live in Northern Ireland then your response will probably be even more valuable.
There are 45 questions but not all of them need to be answered and some require only a choice between YES and NO although a few words of explanation would probably be useful too.
Here is the link to the consultation – click here – and the closing date is Thursday 21 July which gives you 13 days, including two weekends, to find the time please.
The questions are grouped in four sections; one for each of the three general licences and a few general questions at the end. Wild Justice is most concerned that the so-called conservation licence is reformed properly – if you are strapped for time then please at least answer questions 30-38.
OK. Deep breath! Let’s go!
Q1-5 – these are simple and about you.
Q6-17 General Licence TPG1 – preserving public health or safety.
These 12 questions relate to 12 species of bird and ask whether each should be included on this general licence. The answer for each, we suggest, is NO. [Feral Pigeon is the only species listed on the equivalent licences for Scotland and Wales, Feral Pigeon and Jackdaw are listed for the England equivalent licence. Northern Ireland is suggesting removing 3 gull species, Rook and Wood Pigeon from the licence but we believe that House Sparrow, Starling, Hooded Crow, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Magpie, as well as Feral Pigeon, should also be removed].
So please tick the box NO for every species and, if minded to, add the following words in the boxes for the following species:
Feral Pigeon ‘An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case.‘
All other 11 species ‘An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case. General licences for this species for this purpose do not exist anywhere else in the UK.‘
Q18-29 General Licence TPG2 – protection of livestock, crops etc
These 12 questions relate to the same 12 species of birds and ask whether you think that a general licence should exist to enable them to be controlled to protect crops and livestock etc.
Wild Justice would, at this stage, live with general licences for 5 of these species and would tick the box YES (but you may disagree and should go with whatever you think). For the other 7 species we suggest the following words to go in the boxes.
YES Hooded Crow, Carrion Crow, Rook, Wood Pigeon and Feral Pigeon – as we believe they can cause damage to crops (pigeons and Rooks) or can attack livestock (the crows).
NO Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, with the words ‘An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case.’
NO Magpies and Jackdaw with the words ‘No evidence of such an impact. An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case.‘
NO House Sparrow and Starling with the words ‘An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case. General licences for this purpose do not exist anywhere else in the UK. No evidence for such an impact. This is a Red-listed UK species.‘
Q30-38 General Licence TPG3 – the ‘conservation’ licence
These questions relate to just 9 of the species.
Wild Justice would, at this stage, live with general licences for just 2 of these species and would tick the box YES (but you may disagree and should go with whatever you think). For the other 7 species we suggest the following words to go in the boxes.
YES Hooded Crow and Carrion Crow – as we believe that they can have serious impacts on some endangered breeding waders such as Curlew.
NO Great and Lesser Black-backed Gulls with the words ‘An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case. General licences for this purpose do not exist anywhere else in the UK.‘
NO Jackdaw with the words ‘An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case. Jackdaw has been removed from similar general licences in England and Wales recently – Northern Ireland should do the same.‘
NO Magpie with the words ‘An individual licence could be issued if there were a good enough case. Magpie was removed from the Welsh general licence this year – Northern Ireland should do the same‘
NO Rook, Wood Pigeon and Feral Pigeon with the words ‘No evidence of any conservation impact whatsoever. General licences for this purpose do not exist anywhere else in the UK.’
Q39 – 44 Some general questions
Q39-40 Skip, unless you have any particular expertise or views
Q41 YES with the words ‘That is what the law requires. Lethal methods should only be used as a last resort.‘
Q42 NO with the words ‘Northern Ireland should follow the same process as in other UK nations. Designated sites are extra special and should not be places where unregulated, unmonitored, unjustified and unlimited killing of wildlife can take place.‘
Q43 NO
Q44 ‘Yes. Follow Wales and limit use of conservation general licence to breeding season and only to protect a published list of species of conservation concern.’
Q45 Over to you.
And you’re done so you can submit your response. Closing date midnight 21 July. Thank you.
Such consultations are a bit tedious but we know that vested interests such as shooters will respond to the consultation and put pressure on the Northern Ireland authorities to go backwards rather than forwards.