Grant of Buzzard Licence

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The NGO issued the following statement in response to Natural England announcing on Friday 29 July that it has issued a licence for the control of up to 10 buzzards to prevent serious damage to young pheasants:

Buzzards are now very common and widespread, with a UK population of at least 300,000. Their numbers are increasing faster than virtually any other British bird. Like all wild birds, they are protected by law but can also be controlled under licence for certain well-defined purposes. They have, for example, been shot at UK airports for many years.

The law has allowed for licences like this since 1981 and Natural England, the Government's licensing authority, issues hundreds of licences every year for a wide range of species, many of them much less common than the buzzard. NE is not allowed to issue any licence that would harm the conservation status of the bird concerned.

The purposes for which licences can be granted are also set out in law and include the prevention of serious damage to livestock, inclusing gamebirds. Sometimes buzzards can key in on young pheasants, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries. In cases where this behaviour becomes habitual, the economic damage caused to the gamekeepers and others whose livelihood depends on game shooting can be severe.

The NGO has always campaigned for fair and proper administration of the long-established licensing system. Last year we helped a gamekeeper to take a case of unlawful refusal of a licence to the High Court, where he won.

In light of that court judgement, we expect that NE will have been very careful to follow due process in making this recent decision to grant someone a licence.

We are making no further comment on the particulars of the licence that NE has granted.

ENDS

Further important background information can be read here.