Birds of Prey

Update:

Northern England Raptor Forum Annual Review 2019

Our CEO Liz Ballard provided the foreword to the latest Annual Review from the Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF). NERF was established in 2006 with the overall objective of providing one effective voice to represent the conservation interests of raptors, including Owls and Raven, primarily in the uplands of northern England.

NERF Chairman Steve Downing said “NERF members hold the most comprehensive record of the Bird of Prey populations and productivity in the North of England. By comparing habitat availability with the population levels it is clear that many species are supressed by persecution. Working with our friends in the Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust we are beginning to see these trends reversed. By continuing our collaborative partnership I have no doubt that this positive trend will continue.”

Click here to read the NERF’s Annual Review 2019. You can find out more about NERF on their website.

Reporting wildlife crime

We’ve put together a page of information to help you report any incidents of wildlife crime or suspicious activity. Click here.

The Issue

Birds of prey are fantastic, awe-inspiring and joyful to see but sadly they are disappearing from our local area. Some of these birds are in decline for a number of reasons.

Stop Killing Hen Harriers by Nicky Rivers

Our Position

We totally oppose all illegal killing of wildlife, especially our local birds of prey, many of which are internationally important or are locally rare such as the hen harrier, peregrine and goshawk.

The illegal persecution of wildlife must stop now.

What we have done and will do

In November 2020 the Northern England Raptor Forum (NERF) published their Annual Review with a foreword by our CEO Liz Ballard.
In August 2020 we held an online talk on the bearded vulture which visited Sheffield in July 2020 with José Tavares, Director of the Vulture Conservation Foundation.
Following our open letter to South Yorkshire Police about their approach to tackling wildlife crime, we received several encouraging replies from Chief Inspector Mark James, the Force Lead for Wildlife and Rural Crime at SYP.
In July 2019 we met with South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson to discuss SYP’s approach to tackling wildlife crime. We followed this up with an open letter in August 2019.
In January 2019 we held a talk on birds of prey and the persecution they face in our area by Mike Price of the Peak District Raptor Group.
In November 2018 our Chief Executive Liz Ballard was invited to join the National Wildlife Crime Unit Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group.
In 2017 and 2018 we worked alongside local group Sheffield Environmental to promote and coordinate Hen Harrier Day in Sheffield, which were both compèred by our Chief Executive Liz Ballard.