NGO Offers Cautious Welcome to Wildlife Law Review

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The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) has today (10 November) given a cautious welcome to the simultaneous publication by the Law Commission of its long-awaited report, Wildlife Law, and the associated draft legislative Bill, which could see the many of the recommendations the document contains become law. The NGO’s initial reaction to the contents is mixed: some of the proposals are good, some are bad, and many others require further analysis.

The NGO has called Wildlife Law “a substantial and immensely detailed body of work”, but thinks there can be no case for a “kneejerk, headlong rush to law”. The NGO is urging all those in the countryside to engage in a “sensible period of reflection” so that the full ramifications for game and wildlife, and their management and conservation may be properly considered.

Both documents, Wildlife Law and the draft Bill, when taken together, run to more than 650 pages from cover to cover. The Law Commission’s findings, which seek to shake up, simplify and consolidate almost all wildlife law, stem from the public consultation that was launched in November 2012. The scope of the review is wide-ranging, encompassing everything, for example, from wildlife licensing to trapping and the quarry list to possession of gamebird eggs.

The NGO is pleased to see that many of the proposals it made in its detailed 26-page submission to the Law Commission’s consultation have been incorporated into the newly published report.

Wildlife legislation is of particular significance to gamekeepers. It has a direct bearing on almost every aspect of a keeper’s daily working life. The NGO feels that while current wildlife law may be messy and convoluted, there has to be a significant net gain in order to adopt a new legal framework. One lot of shortcomings should not be merely swapped for another.

The NGO’s view is that a new wildlife act must enshrine flexible principles of wildlife management to be effective. The present legislative hotchpotch is routinely considered by many of those who work in the countryside, including keepers, to be archaic, over-complicated, and open to malicious exploitation. For instance, when punishing rural criminals such as poachers, the law is often found to be weak and hard to enforce.

Lindsay Waddell, the Chairman of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, said: “The NGO has been closely involved with this process since it began in 2012. We foresaw then that the legal landscape keepers rely on would go under the microscope. There is, of course, a need to simplify – and improve – upon the mishmash of wildlife law that’s now on the statute book, but it is important that any new consolidated legislation would not make our jobs tougher and our ability to conserve wildlife more problematic.

“The NGO is urging all parties to engage in a sensible period of reflection and discussion to consider properly the full ramifications for game and wildlife. A kneejerk, headlong rush to law would be counterproductive. The devil is very much in the detail. ”

He added: “The NGO supports the principle of streamlining wildlife law, but we are scrutinising the fine print. The good news in this respect is that many of our recommendations to the Law Commission have been adopted. We should not ignore the possibility, however, that this legislation might be hijacked during its passage through Parliament, should it get that far. But such is the scope of this substantial and immensely detailed body of work, that Parliamentary time might never be found for it.”

Notes to Editors

The National Gamekeepers' Organisation represents the gamekeepers of England and Wales. It defends and promotes gamekeeping, gamekeepers and ensures high standards throughout the profession. It was founded in 1997 by a group of gamekeepers who felt that their profession was threatened by public misunderstanding and poor representation. The NGO has around 15,000 members.