Governments in Britain are to consult on shooting seasons for Woodcock, Snipe, Golden Plover, White-fronted Geese, Goldeneye, Pintail and Pochard (with different packages of proposals for each of Scotland, Wales and England) but it is proposed that Pochard should be removed from Schedule 2.1 across Britain. Consultation – click here.
These proposals emanate from correspondence between Wild Justice and Defra which resulted in the Secretary of State, George Eustice MP, proposing a review of schedules on his last day in the job – click here. Thank you George!
Wild Justice organised a Westminster parliament petition on the subject of Woodcock shooting asking for the season to be curtailed by two months – click here – which passed 107,000 signatures and was debated (quite well actually) on 27 February 2023 – click here. These things take time, they take too long; this one took the removal of a Tory government and then some more time and the changes aren’t quite secure yet.
But the ripple we threw into the pond resulted in further review of other species and some welcome other proposed changes. There is also proposal for Woodpigeon to become shootable for fun as well as to protect crops – I’ll have to think about that.
In fact I’ll think about all of it and decide how I will respond to the consultation which closes in two months. I’ll let you know.
PS I cannot resist pointing you to a Wild Justice blog where someone called Eustace George in FREDA writes to the, then, boss of the GWCT taking the piss out of her. It still makes me smile – click here.
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