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Think before you fire
SAVE SHOOTING NOW’ is the cry from the Countryside Alliance and other shooting organisations after a 12-week consultation on game-bird releasing was announced by Natural Resources Wales (NRW). The consultation is on a regulatory approach that would allow NRW to monitor where and how many pheasants and red-legged partridges are released. NRW says the approach will ‘put in place an effective, workable and proportionate system that will help the game-shooting sector to operate sustainably’, but shooting organisations such as BASC and the Countryside Alliance say it is ‘the thin end of the wedge’ to ban shooting outright (Agromenes, page 67).
The proposals submitted by NRW include a licensing system, similar to an interim one used in England since 2021. It would mean that the releasing of pheasants and red-legged partridges would need a licence. For releases within 500 metres of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or a European protected site, a specific licence would have to be applied for, given individual consideration from NRW and issued to a particular person. Releases beyond 500 metres of these sites would be controlled under a general licence, available for anyone to use, provided they comply with its terms and conditions.
‘Significant numbers of non-native game-birds, particularly common pheasant and red-legged partridge, are released in Wales each year,’ says NRW. ‘Within the boundaries of SSSIs, these releases usually require consent. However, in Wales, there is currently little regulation outside of protected sites. This has led to concerns about the ability of agencies such as NRW to effectively monitor and manage potential environmental impacts from these releases, including their potential effects on European protected sites.’ NRW explicitly states
