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Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has just launched a public consultation on introducing a licensing scheme for the release of pheasants and partridges for shooting. Whilst the HSA is committed to total abolition of bloodsports including gamebird shooting, this licensing scheme represents a unique opportunity to significantly curtail shooting operations in Wales.
NRW is proposing to add common pheasants and red-legged partridges to part 1 of Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This means that any releases of these animals into the wild would require a licence to do so. At present, this is proposed to be under a ‘general licence’ for gamebird releases that are 500 metres or more from a SSSI or European protected site, and under a specific licence for those within this boundary.
Respond ‘yes’ to the consultation here and follow our guide below…
Q1: Add your name
Q2: Add your email address (optional)
Q3: Ignore unless you are representing an organisation
Q4: Say ‘Yes’. Millions of intensively-reared pheasants and red legged partridges are released into the Welsh countryside each year, causing considerable damage to biodiversity.
Q5: Say ‘Yes’. The releasing of gamebirds is almost entirely unregulated and the current free-for-all has meant that this grotesque bloodsport has been allowed to not only cause immense suffering to its quarry but also wreak havoc on the natural flora and fauna on the land in which it takes place.
Q6: Say ‘Yes’. Self-regulation of the shooting industry is beyond a farce. As the HSA has previously documented, millions of red-legged partridges are imported into the UK every year from European factory farms, with those who are not imported originating from similar farms with the UK.
Q7: Say ‘Yes’. It is clear to see the devastation that the release of gamebirds within a woodland causes. The damage done to woodland is especially acute in and around release pens.
Q8: Say ‘No’. All shoots, no matter how large, have a detrimental effect upon the natural environment and there should be no licencing exemptions for smaller shoots.
Q9-12: These are around how, if at all the proposals would affect opportunities for people to use the Welsh language. Answer as you see fit.
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