Hen Harriers Campaign / Please join me in calling for urgent action to protect the hen harrier

Thank you for your e-mail.

This is a devolved matter in Wales.

Please therefore see my e-mail, below, to my colleague Janet Finch-Saunders MS, the Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Energy and Rural Affairs.

‘Whilst I welcome the subsequent news that the Hen Harrier has now enjoyed its best breeding year in England for nearly two decades, I also fully acknowledge the Statement by the Chair of Natural England that “Despite the great progress there is no cause for complacency. Too many birds still go missing in unexplained circumstances”.’

Janet has since written to the Environment Minister in the Welsh Government calling for both urgent action to protect Hen Harriers from criminals who illegally kill this priority species, and a Wales-specific Action Plan to support the nation’s Hen Harrier population numbers, going forward.

 

Regards

 

Mark Isherwood MS/AS

North Wales

 

 

Dear Janet,

 

Further to the campaign e-mail we have all received calling for urgent action to protect the hen harrier (see below), you will be aware that the Hen Harrier is a Red list Bird of Conservation Concern, where red is the highest conservation priority, with species needing urgent action.

 

With this being a devolved matter in Wales, I know that you, as the Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Energy and Rural Affairs, will be raising your concerns about enforcement action against criminals who illegally kill hen harriers in Wales with the Environment Minister in the Welsh Government.

 

I would therefore be grateful if you could also ask the Minister what parallel action to that being taken in England the Welsh Government has taken, or will be taking, in Wales, where:

 

  • Breeding hen harriers disappeared from mainland Britain by 1900, but remained in Orkney and the Western Isles.
  • Reduced persecution during the Second World War and legal protection allowed numbers to increase and they returned to breed in the uplands of eastern Scotland in 1939, reaching northern England and Wales by the late 1950s and colonising the Isle of Man in the 1970s.
  • However, hen harrier numbers have remained well below what the available habitat suggests there should be.
  • In recent decades, hen harrier numbers have begun declining once more.
  • The hen harrier survey in 2016 found a UK population of 545 territorial pairs, a drop of 88 pairs since the previous UK survey in 2010.
  • The survey also revealed that the hen harrier remains on the brink of extinction as a breeding species in England as the population had fallen from 12 pairs in 2010 to just four pairs.
  • Estimates from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) suggest there is potential habitat to support at least 300 pairs of hen harrier in England, highlighting the desperate situation they face.
  • The JNCC advises both the UK Government and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international nature conservation.
  • The hen harrier population had been slowly recovering in Wales since re-colonising in the late 1950s, but the 2016 figures showed that the number of pairs in Wales had fallen by more than a third over the previous six years, from 57 to 35. This is the lowest population seen in Wales for over a decade.
  • In its document “Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services”, the UK Government set out Priority actions. One of these was to “Take targeted action for the recovery of priority species” and, within its Upland Stakeholder Forum, the UK Government set up a sub-group to look specifically at the issues surrounding hen harrier populations in England. Their Action Plan sets out both a suite of actions which the sub-group agrees can contribute to the recovery of the hen harrier population in England and the period over which they expect to see outcomes delivered. These include “Work with Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG) to analyse monitoring information and build intelligence picture” – see:
  • https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/491818/hen-harrier-action-plan-england-2016.pdf
  • 2018 was the most successful Hen Harrier breeding season for a decade in England, with 34 chicks fledged – see:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hen-harrier-breeding-success
  • 2019 was a record breeding season for hen harriers in England according to figures from Natural England, with 47 hen harriers fledged – see: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/record-breaking-year-for-hen-harrier-breeding

 

Thank you.

 

Kind regards

 

Mark