The best breeding hen harrier figures in England for over a century

Today Natural England officially confirmed the hen harrier breeding figures for England. This year hen harriers have fledged 119 chicks from 49 nesting attempts, the best breeding success for more than a century.

BASC is proud of our ongoing support for hen harrier conservation work as part of the Joint Hen Harrier Action Plan. We’ve been hearing rumours over the last few weeks of good numbers from our partner organisations, alongside the estates and gamekeepers involved in hen harrier conservation on the ground. An official announcement cementing their feedback is very welcome news. 

Successful partnerships

It’s something of a cliché, but this success really is down to building effective partnerships across the shooting organisations and with key stakeholders. 

The shooting community and gamekeepers have a big role to play in the continued recovery of hen harriers. This is because grouse moor habitats consistently provide key favourable habitats for hen harriers alongside other priority species.

We would like to recognise and congratulate the hard work of the gamekeepers and hen harrier specialists. Not only are they driving the recovery of the hen harrier, but are bucking the trend of species declines.

A blueprint for nature recovery

The success of the hen harrier should be seen as a blueprint for broader nature recovery. It clearly demonstrates that sustainable shooting can work alongside stakeholders to deliver key conservation objectives. 

The shooting community should be seen as a solution and not an obstacle to delivering nature recovery, reversing species declines and habitat loss. Both of these factors are a major commitment of the government’s 25 year environment plan.

We look forward to continuing this journey and working with the people and organisations who share our vision for sustainable bird of prey populations across the UK. 

All the people involved in this story should pat themselves on the back today, and then continue on with the hard work again tomorrow.