Over the last few weeks we have received several enquiries regarding licences issued by Scottish Natural Heritage for otherwise protected birds including swifts, robins, and others. The information about these licences was released by Scottish Labour towards the end of July.
Response to licences granted by Scottish Natural Heritage
The bare summaries of species licences that were released a few weeks ago by SNH raised more questions than answers for many people.
The law does permit killing of otherwise protected species under licence but it also very clearly states that this should only happen as a last resort after all other ways of mitigating an issue are exhausted. This is enshrined in both domestic and international legislation and this position is accepted, in principle, by the RSPB. But, while we accept the principle, we often find ourselves at odds with individual licensing decisions. Has the licence been properly and fairly assessed? Is the alleged problem really so serious that birds must be killed? Some of the licences that were published recently do seem, on the face of it, to be very alarming. One that has attracted a good deal of attention is for the killing of unlimited numbers of swifts.
We were initially struggling to figure out a legitimate reason for the licensed killing of swifts. What serious threat to public health is posed by this endangered species that requires indefinite numbers of them to be killed? The various volunteer swift groups, who do an enormous amount of work for the species, were understandably straight on the case. It does seem possible that the licence applicant has mistaken swallows for swifts and that SNH has not realised this. Apparently, there has been an issue of birds nesting in safety critical equipment at an airfield and removal of the nests is what has been intended. You may quite likely think that action against swallows is no better than against swifts but if the action taken is confined to early removal of nests before eggs are laid, then this does start to look a bit more proportional. Swallows will readily relocate if discouraged from nesting in the early spring. Swifts, however, have very strong nest site fidelity and are much less flexible. But, as we have said above, it seems very unlikely that the birds in question are swifts.
We take the view that SNH should become much more open about the whole licensing system. We realise there will always be some people who cannot accept the licensed killing of wild birds. But if SNH were to routinely publish all licence details (with personal information removed) it would go some way towards explaining what to some are otherwise baffling decisions. It might also help make the system more fit for purpose, reduce the risk of unnecessary licences and open the system to better-informed public scrutiny. For example, is it really always necessary to kill any robin that ends up in a food-store? Killing is supposed to be the option of last resort, not the standard procedure. It is the public, after all, who pay for all this, so why not let them see and better understand the process. It might also prevent swifts getting confused with swallows!
SNH have now posted some information about the licensing process here