The much awaited Werrity Report finally arrived just before Christmas and it didn’t bring much cheer for those concerned with the welfare of our natural environment and the species that form it. The report which covers 94 pages in total can be summed up as “let’s give it another five years and see what happens”. Hardly the urgent response some had been hoping for!

Perhaps the most significant paragraph of the report is the chairman’s statement on page 47: “Statement from the Chair: My option to use the Chair’s casting vote in favour of the immediate introduction of licensing was contested by two members of the Group. In the interests of seeking to produce a unanimous recommendation I chose not to exercise my casting vote.” This division was probably inevitable and a direct result of the way in which the report team had been constituted. How likely are turkeys to vote for Christmas?

The report covered four major environmental concerns about grouse moor management. Muirburn, Mountain Hare killing, the use of medicated grit and raptor persecution. The subject of “predator control” was covered incidentally but not in any serious depth. We will be returning to this in a further blog.

Powers already exist to control muirburn, Mountain Hare killing and the use of medicated grit but, for reasons best known to the agencies that have these powers, they are not being used. The question to Scottish Natural Heritage, the Cairngorm National Park Authority and the Scottish Government now has to be why have you not and are you not using your powers to prevent damage to the natural environment that you are duty bound to protect?

The final matter covered was raptor persecution. It has been clearly stated on numerous occasions that grouse moor owners and managers obey the law and take all reasonable steps to ensure that their staff do so. That being the case why should this paragraph (again on page 46) be necessary: “4 That where particular species are perceived to be limiting the populations of red and or amber-listed ground-nesting birds, including Red Grouse, greater use should be made of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 s16. This existing licensing legislation allows SNH to permit under licence a range of lethal and non-lethal management options.” Surely licensing something that the owners, managers and staff of estates do not currently do because it is illegal can have no effect whatsoever in reducing raptor persecution?

The other problem with raptor persecution is detection. Gary Aitken from the COPFS has been quoted by the BBC as saying that prosecuting a wildlife crime can be like prosecuting a murder with a fraud tacked on at the end. (BBC News 10th January 2017). That position does not seem to have changed and we do understand the difficulties that Police Scotland with their many other duties face. Perhaps this is a good moment to revisit giving additional powers to the Scottish SPCA who can devote all their efforts to investigating these difficult investigations and seem to be having considerable success elsewhere.

We shall be blogging further, much further, on Werrity but for now let’s ask why SNH and the Cairngorms National Parks Authority are not NOW, TODAY taking action to address the problems in relation to muirburn, Mountain Hare killing and medicated grit that their powers allow and their duties require. Let’s also ask the Scottish Government when they plan to provide additional powers to the Scottish SPCA and utilise further the generous offer of free expertise to help resolve the problem of wildlife crime that this charity has made.

Here is how to contact them:

Francesca Osowska CEO of SNH can be contacted at ceo@nature.scot

Grant Moir CEO Cairngorms National Park can be contacted at grantmoir@cairngorms.co.uk

Roseanna Cunningham Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform can be contacted at CabSecECCLF@gov.scot

Nicola Sturgeon First Minister of Scotland can be contacted at scottish.ministers@gov.scot