Defra Call for Evidence: Hen Harrier Action Response

We are a small charity of unpaid volunteers working to raise awareness of the precarious plight of the UK’s most persecuted bird of prey, the Hen Harrier, working with NGO partners to protect this species, a flagship for the health of our uplands. Our 16,000+ supporters raise tens of thousands of pounds every year to fund measures to protect Hen Harriers and deter wildlife crime.

Many of our supporters write to tell us of their unsettling experiences living in rural areas near grouse shooting estates: shots in the middle of the night, intimidating encounters with gamekeepers, having to keep their dogs on a lead at all times in rural areas for fear of deliberately poisoned carcasses, being unable to freely enjoy walking in National Parks. Analysis of our postbag suggests that this seems most prevalent in the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and North Pennines areas. We are sure that many of them will write to you directly with their stories.

As Trustees working to protect Hen Harriers and all birds of prey, we are frequently upset and angered by the casual slaughter of birds of prey on or near grouse moors, and frustrated by the lack of speed and diligence exhibited by some police forces in following up on very serious offences – the stamping to death on the nest of 4 Hen Harrier chicks in the Yorkshire Dales in 2022  – the dismemberment while still alive of Hen Harrier Free in the Yorkshire Dales in 2022 – the stabbing to death of five Hen Harrier chicks in County Durham in 2024. Many such cases only come to light after repeated FOI requests – no immediate press appeal for information despite the heinous nature of the crime, no incident record or post-mortem data released publicly unless pursued by diligent conservationists. Being ‘kept in the dark’ is distressing and infuriating for our Trustees and supporters. 

The National Wildlife Crime Unit has published evidence highlighting strong connections between wildlife crime and other serious criminal behaviour, yet no one has been caught or prosecuted for any of the crimes mentioned above, or indeed for hundreds of other illegal persecution incidents against birds of prey. The 2025 Wildlife Crime Report recorded 152 reported incidents against birds of prey for England and Wales, but just two convictions. And the reported incidents are widely believed to be just the tip of the iceberg, with criminal behaviour largely taking place in remote unmonitored parts of our countryside.

Even on the rare occasions when sufficient evidence is gathered to go ahead with prosecution, such as the two cases in Yorkshire earlier this year, both against gamekeepers, the penalties imposed are paltry, and in no way reflect the seriousness of the crime. The law seems utterly indifferent to the devastating consequences of wildlife crime, and completely fails to provide a meaningful deterrent. Courts in other European nations impose much harsher penalties that recognise the seriousness of the offence. Spanish courts have handed down prison sentences exceeding two years alongside heavy fines (over £50,000 in serious cases) for illegal raptor persecution.

Against this backdrop of indifference, our small team (with limited resources) works hard to support key partners like the RSPB Investigations Team, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, whose personnel in the field can do more than we can to tackle wildlife criminals on the front line. We support them with practical help, funding satellite tags and wildlife crime detection dogs. And we share and promote every small success that they achieve in bringing these criminals to justice.

Yet even in 21^st century Britain, it feels like they are working in isolation, lacking the wholehearted support of the legal system and government policy. Our National Parks, largely privately owned, unlike most other countries, should be places where all our citizens can enjoy a rich abundance of wildlife. Yet as many have observed, there is richer wildlife outside of their boundaries than within. And our moorlands, with vital deep peat carbon storage, are denuded, drained and burnt, and devoid of biodiversity.

It is truly disheartening for our Trustees, our partners and all our supporters. This is our ‘experiential evidence’, as you describe it. Of the eight Hen Harriers that we have been able to satellite tag in the last two years thanks to the donations from our supporters, three have ‘disappeared in suspicious circumstances’ on or near grouse moors, likely shot. This is understandably devastating for our supporters, having raised the funds for the tags, seen the chicks fledge, only to learn of a sudden stop in transmission, often within months of fledging.

That is why we have amended our charitable objectives this year to campaign for an outright ban on driven grouse shooting. And why, despite the relentless ongoing persecution of birds of prey in the UK, we will not stop campaigning for a change in the law, and an end to this anachronistic ‘sport’.