BASC is urging people to answer a call for evidence made by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as part of a review of how it regulates the shooting and trapping of wild birds.
Launched today (2nd December) the call for evidence will run for eight weeks until 27th January 2021 and requests a range of evidence including both scientific and anecdotal evidence on the control of ‘pest birds’.
Steve Griffiths, BASC Wales director, urged people to answer the call.
He said: “As the authority responsible, NRW is reviewing how it regulates the licensing of control of wild birds in Wales. As part of the process NRW is calling specifically for anecdotal evidence, which can be supplied by those with practical experience of wildlife management.
“This evidence gathering is vital to allow NRW to construct workable licences, that gives the user the ability to control wild birds effectively where necessary.”
BASC’s head of game and gundogs Glynn Evans said that without such licences being issued, control of ‘pest birds’ cannot be undertaken.
Mr Griffiths added: “BASC will be providing a wide range of information to this review on behalf of members but it is vital that anyone who is able to provide evidence of their own does so.
“All evidence submitted will be used in the review which will shape NRW’s future decisions including those on general licences which so many of us rely on to carry out essential control and, as such, the importance of this practitioner information should not be underestimated.”
A dedicated webpage has been created to help people respond, including a FAQ and additional information – https://basc.biz/gl/wales/
To submit evidence please visit here (for English) and here (for Welsh).
