The Moorland Association (MA) is perplexed that its membership of the Bird of Prey Crime Priority Delivery Group has been rescinded by the National Wildlife Crime Unit, after we repeatedly raised concerns about unprecedented proposed police surveillance operations.
Earlier this month, we began advising our members to seek legal advice before granting permission to the police to place cameras, proximity alarms and detection equipment on members’ private land without sufficient justification.
Such intrusion would never be accepted – or likely attempted – in any jurisdiction other than wildlife crime, which does not usually benefit from close public scrutiny. This issue will be raised directly with the chief constable of North Yorkshire Police.
The MA has previously raised these concerns directly with the National Wildlife Crime Unit. They, to our bemusement, insisted that this equipment does not technically amount to covert surveillance. In practice, however, it appears virtually indistinguishable.
Following our advice to members, the Moorland Association was informed this week that its membership of the Bird of Prey Crime Priority Delivery Group had been rescinded.
We regret this decision, as the Moorland Association has been a loyal member of the group since it was established and has arguably achieved more than any other partner in reducing wildlife crime, with bird of prey numbers at record highs.
This decision to expel us raises a number of questions for the National Wildlife Crime Unit, including whether police services intended to delegate their surveillance work to the RSPB, which many of our members feel harbours hostility and bias towards moorland managers.
We are also seeking clarification as to why police officers told several MA members that surveillance equipment was needed as crimes had been committed on their land. When the MA contacted police about the nature of these crimes, officers said that in fact they ‘believed’ crimes had occurred: a small but crucial difference in language, particularly when infringing on the public’s right to privacy.
The illegal killing of protected species is a serious matter. Happily, there is clear evidence that this problem is in decline. Meanwhile, bird of prey numbers have reached a record high in the UK of around 420,000 individuals. There are now more hen harriers nesting in England than at any point in the last 200 years.
Therefore, any new measures to prevent wildlife crime should be proportionate to the scale of the problem and in balance with individuals’ right to privacy.
The MA is the only partner organisation to have engaged in every action set out in the government’s hen harrier joint action plan, including nest monitoring and protection, intelligence gathering, information sharing, diversionary feeding, and the hen harrier brood management scheme.
The hen harrier brood management scheme has involved a huge commitment of time and money from members of the Moorland Association and has exceeded everyone’s expectations, with the result that the number of breeding pairs in England has climbed from just four in 2016 to 50 in 2023.
Significant progress has been made since January 2016 when the government’s hen harrier joint action plan was created but we are concerned new police actions may be undermining progress.
We will raise this matter with both the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Home Office.