Welcome news from the National Trust about birds of prey

In April, the report of a man with a gun located close to a hen harrier decoy attracted media interest, a lot of emails and widespread criticism. The incident took place on National Trust land.  As was reported at the time the Trust was taking the matter very seriously and had launched an investigation.

I referred to this incident in my recent update on England’s hen harriers in 2016.

Today’s announcement by the National Trust that they will be revoking the shooting tenancy on this estate citing that they no longer have confidence that the tenant is committed to their vision for the land is welcome news.

We work closely and productively with the National Trust in the Peak District (as we do across England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and support their High Peak Moors Vision. In this context we welcome their commitment to seek a new tenant who shares their ambition and that they have explicitly linked this to increasing raptor populations – we look forward to continuing to work with the Trust in the future.

 The National Trust’s public statement is reproduced below:

The National Trust has today given notice that the current shooting leases at Hope Woodlands and Park Hall in Derbyshire will end in April 2018.

The charity said it had taken the decision to exercise a break clause in the lease to end the relationship four years early.

Andy Beer, National Trust’s Director for the Midlands, said: “We have a clear vision for land management and wildlife restoration on the High Peak Moors, which was developed in full consultation with our tenants and other key stakeholders”.

“All our tenants have signed up to deliver to the vision and understand their responsibilities. We work very closely with our tenants and support, consult and discuss any issues relating to the plan on a regular basis.

However, in this case we have decided, after a meeting with the tenant, that we should revoke the lease four years early as it became clear that we could no longer have confidence that they were committed to the delivery of our vision for the land.”

“We have given the tenant 22 months’ notice and will start the process of looking for a replacement in 2017, when we will be happy to receive applications from partners who can demonstrate how moorland management and shooting can deliver great nature conservation in a way that is compatible with public access.

We remain committed to the High Peak Moors Vision. As with all our conservation aims, we review and evaluate progress periodically. When considering renewals of individual shooting leases in future we will take into careful account the extent to which our objectives have been met, in particular relating to increasing raptor populations.”