NGO Helps Fight Wildlife Crime

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The National Gamekeepers' Organisation (NGO) has told MP's that gamekeepers are a force for good in fighting wildlife crime.

In written and oral evidence provided for the Environmental Audit Select Committee, the NGO said that:
-Gamekeepers are the eyes and ears of the countryside, often outnumbering rural police by more than ten to one and with an occupation that puts them in poll position to notice and report on wildlife crimes of many types.

-Poaching remains the biggest wildlife crime by far, with thousands of reported incidents each year.

-Poachers are often associated with other serious criminality and while recent police initiatives in many areas have been succesful in leading to more convictions, current budget cuts threaten a resurgence of poaching in some areas.

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The NGO responded robustly to comments from the RSPB and others that gamekeepers are themselves to blame for wildlife crimes.

"The very few gamekeepers who break the law are a tiny minority, shunned by the profession and not representative," the NGO told MP's.

"There is a perception, encouraged by those hostile to shooting, that gamekeepers are on the wrong side of wildlife law: they are not. Annual convictions of gamekeepers are in low single figures and amount to less than one in a thousand members of the profession."