What we have done and will do - Sheffield & Rotherham Wildlife Trust

In June 2021 we contacted our local MPs with a briefing note on these issues and asked them to attend a parliamentary debate on driven grouse shooting.
In April 2021 our Chief Executive Liz Ballard met with Olivia Blake MP in our Sheffield Lakeland Landscape Partnership area to discuss various issues including intensive moorland management and raptor persecution.
In November 2020 we contacted our local MPs with a briefing note on moorland burning and asked them to attend a parliamentary debate on the issue.
In August 2020 we held an online Zoom talk with Jose Tavares, Director at Vulture Conservation Foundation about the Bearded Vulture which visited our local area during that year.
In September 2019 we held a stall alongside South Yorkshire Police and RSPB at Langsett Reservoir to promote Operation Owl, a nationwide police initiative to stop raptor persecution
Following a meeting to discuss tackling Wildlife Crime in South Yorkshire, we published an open letter in August 2019 to South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson detailing the main points and agreed actions and outcomes of the meeting. For more information and to read the letter, click here.
In July 2019 Our Chief Executive Liz Ballard attended a debate in Westminster organised by RSPB on ‘Rethinking Grouse Moor Management’, where they asked conservationists, law makers, enforcers and land owners to pitch their vision for the future of grouse moor management in the face of an ecological and climate emergency. A full audio recording of this debate is available on YouTube – to listen to the debate, click here.
In April 2019 The Wildlife Trusts jointly signed a letter to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for the Environment asking for an immediate and outright ban on moorland burning across all peatland bog habitats. To read the letter, click here.
Launched a petition to ban stink pits which received over 4,300 signatures. In December 2018 our Chief Executive Liz Ballard submitted the petition with a covering letter to Michael Gove. Defra sent us this reply in January 2019.
Responded to Defra’s consultation on humane trapping standards in the UK, referencing our petition to ban stink pits.
Continue to work with and support landowners and managers, organisations, groups or individuals who share our aim of wanting to see an improvement in Sheffield’s moors for people and wildlife. Our Chief Executive Liz Ballard is The Wildlife Trusts’ representative on the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group.
Actively work with partners through our Sheffield Lakeland Landscape Partnership to influence and promote sustainable moorlands for people and wildlife.
Continue to regularly update and raise awareness with the general public and our members about excessive and illegal wildlife persecution on our moors – providing factual information and examples wherever possible.
Monitor the use of snares and stink pits across our moors, with a particular emphasis on land adjacent to our Nature Reserves. Where possible, directly contact landowners who are using stink pits and snares excessively and/or not in accordance with good practice to raise our concerns and seek a constructive discussion. Our current focus is on the Moscar Estate due to concerns about the intensive use of snares along our Nature Reserve at Wyming Brook.
Actively collate and ensure any evidence of suspected wildlife crime is reported to the police. Act on any reports we receive about potential wildlife crime.
Promote the use of Snarewatch to the general public as a means for mapping and monitoring the ongoing use of snares and stink pits on our moors.
Work with the local Wildlife Crime Unit at South Yorkshire Police. Support strong enforcement of existing wildlife legislation and investment in training, better detection and policing.
Initiate or actively promote appropriate campaigns and petitions by others where they coincide with our own position and aims, including Hen Harrier Day.
Continue to manage Blacka Moor Nature Reserve as an example of good moorland management for people and wildlife.
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.
Continue to work with other Wildlife Trusts to influence national and regional policy makers about the importance of the upland habitat, the wildlife they support and their future post-Brexit, especially as changes to agricultural subsidies take place.