British government endangers rare birds
07/09/2008 22:28:35
Peregrine nest. Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
Joan Ruddock - Wildlife protection - or not.
Joan Ruddock, UK Climate Change and Biodiversity Minister, attended the International Bird Of Prey Conference in October. The aim of the conference was to develop an international agreement to conserve endangered migratory birds of prey in Europe, Africa and Asia. Maybe she nodded off?
It was also Joan Ruddock who revealed that the British government were considering lifting the ban on wildbird imports into the UK. A letter from Joan Ruddock stated that "The Government believes that the sustainable trade and importation of animals is a positive benefit to animal species (Eds note. Coral dynamiting, tree felling, wildlife being caught in the wild, put in small, usually completely unsuitable cages and flown around the world, often with fatal results, is beneficial to the species?), as it encourages other countries to recognise their native wildlife as a resource and so to realise the value of the conservation and sustainable management of their wildlife."
September 2008. There are fears that some of our rarest birds could be at increased risk from nest robbers after the Government announced it was cutting back on a vital registration scheme.
Illegal sales
Some birds can fetch large sums and in the past many have been stolen from the wild by criminals who then sell them as legally held, captive bred birds. Currently anyone keeping such a bird has to register it with the government, making it much more difficult to deal in stolen birds.
Peregrine & Goshawk
Following a series of court cases using DNA evidence in the 1990s, the number of prosecutions involving two of the most valuable species, the peregrine and the goshawk, has fallen dramatically. The number of peregrine nests being robbed has also decreased.
Joan Ruddock
Now Biodiversity Minister, Joan Ruddock, has said the number of birds that have to be registered is to be slashed next month from over 50 species to just seven.
Mark Avery, RSPB Director of Conservation, said: "The registration scheme was crucial in allowing the authorities to find birds they suspected of being taken from the wild so they could be DNA tested. We fear this could lead to a big resurgence of nest robberies like the incident in May at Beeston Castle in Cheshire where three peregrine chicks were stolen".
After pressure from the RSPB and other wildlife experts, the government has decided to retain registration for peregrines and merlins, but has exempt any birds that are covered by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) certificates.
These certificates allow an owner to sell birds or use them for commercial purposes, but crucially, they do not have to be renewed when a bird changes hands, making it almost impossible to trace.
CITES certificate
Duncan McNiven, RSPB Senior Investigations Officer said, "Allowing peregrines and merlins with CITES certificates to be exempt from the scheme does not address our main concern.
"Registering a bird is like registering a car; you know exactly who has the bird and where it is. A CITES certificate moves with the bird like a passport and so leaves no trail to follow if suspicions are raised at a later date.
"These birds have historically been taken from the wild to be laundered into the market for captive bred birds and sold for profit, so it is exactly these birds that we need the tightest controls on. If the government are going down this road, they must at the very least tighten up the CITES system."
The RSPB is not alone in opposing the cutbacks in the registration scheme, which also has the backing of JNCC (the governments scientific advisors), the statutory nature conservation agencies (NE, SNH, CCW), the RSPCA, the Police, The Wildlife Trusts, the Northern England Raptor Forum and the Scottish Raptor Study Groups.
