The licences, which allows people to kill or
take Canada geese to
preserve public health and
safety and wood pigeon for
preventing serious damage to crops are part of
a programme to replace the previous general licences
for controlling 16 species of birds.
Natural England is working at full speed to ensure that
those affected by the decision to revoke three general
licences can continue to control certain wild birds
where necessary.
Further general licences will be issued as quickly as
possible. This will mean people can continue to take
necessary action as they do now, whilst also taking
into account the needs of wildlife.
Those who need to control Canada geese and wood pigeon
in the circumstances described in this licence can now
do so without further steps - there is no need to apply
for an individual licence. For people in other
circumstances who need to take action in other
situations before new general licences are issued,
Natural England has also published a simple online
application system for individual control licences.
During the application process users will be advised
how to take urgent action if they cannot wait for their
application to be determined.
The decision to revoke these licences was not taken
lightly. Natural England explored all other options
available, but was left with no choice but to revoke
the licences. This was done to protect people with
legitimate reasons to control wildlife from potentially
committing offences by acting outside the law.
Natural England’s interim chief executive Marian Spain
said:
The new licences should give peace of mind to people
who need to shoot to control certain wildlife that
they can do so within the law.
I recognise, as does my team at Natural England, that
the interim measures will cause disruption for
licence users. This is not a ban on control, it is a
change to the licences that allow control to take
place.
Next steps
Natural England is committed to working with farmers,
pest controllers, gamekeepers and other professionals
who rely on these licences to ensure everyone who needs
to control the 16 species of wild birds covered by the
revoked general licences can.
If people need to take action for species which are
still not covered by a general licence, they will need
to apply for an individual licence, using
our simple
application form on GOV.UK.
Background
- To apply for an individual species licence, please
make use of the online application system. Apply now:
Direct link to the online application forms.
- Get the latest comment on this story on the Natural
England blog.
- Currently the three licences subject to the legal
challenge cover 16 bird species, including several
members of the crow family (crows, magpies, rooks,
jackdaws and jays), feral and wood pigeon and number of
invasive non-native species (such as Canada goose).
The specific licences:
- General licence GL04: To kill or take certain
species of wild birds to prevent serious damage or
disease
- General licence GL05: To kill or take certain
species of wild birds to preserve public health or
public safety
- General licence GL06: To kill or take certain
species of wild birds to conserve wild birds or flora
or fauna
