Chris Packham's wildlife group launches first court fight to protect birds

A TRAILBLAZING wildlife legal group that New Forest resident Chris Packham helped launch has submitted its first court challenge.

After raising the £36,000 needed, Wild Justice – set up to pursue legal actions against public bodies it believes are failing to protect species or habitats - issued a claim against Natural England’s general licences.

These give the public the automatic right to kill a wide variety of bird species, including magpies, rooks and jackdaws.

People do not have to justify why such action is necessary, explain why non-lethal measures are ineffective or impracticable or report how many of the birds – which also include carrion crows, woodpigeons and jays – are killed.

“Wild Justice believes this system is unlawful despite the fact that it has been in existence for decades and has 'authorised' the casual killing of millions of birds,” it said.

“We contend that it is Natural England's legal responsibility to satisfy itself that killing these birds is an appropriate last resort.”

It added: “We are not asking for the 2019 General Licences to be withdrawn, but rather that Natural England does not issue further General Licences and instead develops a legal system for regulating and monitoring the killing of birds if lethal control is absolutely necessary as a last resort.

“We see the General Licence system as a clear example of how wildlife killing is largely unregulated in the UK.

"The system is lax and allows gamekeepers, farmers and others to kill birds without any proper oversight or regulation.”

If the group wins the case, licences issued across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland would be impacted.

As reported in the A&T, Mr Packham, who presents the BBC shows Springwatch and Autumnwatch and lives near Colbury, has teamed up with campaigning doctors Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay to form Wild Justice, a not-for-profit organisation.

It will work with lawyers across England and Scotland to pursue legal actions, which will be funded by public donations and crowdfunding appeals.

For more information visit wildjustice.org.uk.