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.
Continue to work with and support land owners, land managers, organisations, groups or individuals who share our aim of wanting to see an increase in breeding pairs of our local birds of prey.
Continue to regularly update and raise awareness with the general public and our members about illegal birds of prey persecution in our patch – providing factual information and examples wherever possible.
Actively promote appropriate campaigns and petitions by others where they coincide with our own position and aims.
Regularly review the suppliers we use to ensure we do not support any that have a connection to or have been directly prosecuted for illegal wildlife activity.
Continue to manage our Nature Reserves, and the land that we manage on behalf of others, for the benefit of a diverse range of wildlife, including hen harriers, peregrine, buzzards, short-eared owls and goshawk.
Continue to work with and try to influence others – partners and land owners/managers – to actively manage their land for wildlife and our local birds of prey to thrive.
Continue to work with other Wildlife Trusts to influence national and regional policy makers about the importance of the upland habitat for birds of prey and the many other benefits the uplands provide for people and wildlife generally.
Celebrate and highlight cases of good practice by local grouse moorland owners and keepers.
Contribute to the prevention of the illegal killing of birds of prey by participating in NESTWATCH schemes, promoting ‘sighting’ reporting and raising awareness of what to look for.
Act on any reports we receive about potential wildlife crime.
Work with the local Wildlife Crime Unit to encourage them to actively monitor for illegal activity across Sheffield and Rotherham and enforce existing wildlife legislation more effectively, investing in better detection and policing measures.