Written by Henrietta Appleton, Policy Officer (England)
A recent article in the Guardian (8th April) about the Bermuda triangle for hen harriers typifies the debate surrounding hen harrier conservation and the nature of this ‘human-wildlife conflict’.
Human-wildlife conflicts occur when wild animal species cause economic damage to legitimate human activities such as crop destruction by elephants in Africa. Such situations are a global phenomenon and have led to the IUCN producing some important guidelines on their resolution based on achieving coexistence i.e. “to share landscapes and natural resources with wildlife in sustainable ways”. The complexity of human-wildlife conflicts deepens when one or more of the species involved are in need of conservation. Differing attitudes between different members of society can lead to polarisation, resulting in a ‘human-human conflict over wildlife’.
In the UK one manifestation of this is the conflict between the conservation of the hen harrier and the driven shooting of red grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica, a wild game bird that is a sub-species of the Willow Ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus and unique to our isles. Red grouse is at risk of decline if its habitat and predators are not actively managed. Management for driven grouse shooting seeks to maintain population levels such that a harvestable surplus can be shot for the plate. The income from driven shooting finances the habitat and predation management that has been proven to not only benefit red grouse but also a range of other species (both animal and plant), including the hen harrier. Given that hen harriers prey on red grouse, this presents a challenge that needs to be overcome in the interests of both species.
Key to the resolution of the hen harrier-red grouse conflict is a consensus over what coexistence looks like and recognition that the English trial hen harrier brood management scheme has had early success. Since 2018 an innovative brood management licence has been available to land managers and a blog by Natural England in September 2023[1] reported that hen harrier numbers are at record levels, underpinned by the success of the Brood Management Trial[2]. This is supported by the recent RSPB Hen Harrier Survey, which found that there has been a large increase in hen harriers in England, up from 4 pairs in 2016 to 50 pairs in 2023 (fledging 141 chicks). The Brood Management Trial is one of the actions within Defra’s Hen Harrier Action Plan and an example of collaboration between Natural England and grouse moor managers who participate by reporting and protecting nests, putting out extra food for adult birds and monitoring winter roost sites.
Wildlife crime and the illegal killing of birds of prey in particular is a subject of passion for many and by trying to further the debate we are taking a risk. But risks need to be taken to try and move the narrative forward. The IUCN Guidelines were written for this reason. The groundbreaking and so far successful ongoing work to resolve the hen harrier-red grouse wildlife conflict in England would be a perfect opportunity to adopt the IUCN’s guidelines.
It is frustrating to many land managers and landowners in game management that there are still those acting to undermine the beneficial work achieved in hen harrier conservation. The 2022 RSPB Bird Crime Report released last November (Birdcrime 2022 (rspb.org.uk)) asks when will the killing stop? Whilst all conservation organisations, including the GWCT which continually condemns such crimes, wishes the answer to that to be tomorrow; probability and statistics tell us that it is unlikely that any crime, from speeding motorists to murder, will ever be eradicated totally.
So given the hen harrier population gains, it is disappointing that a total absence of bird crime remains the line in the sand for many in relation to raptor conservation. As the 2022 Bird Crime Report stated “The chronic persecution of Hen Harriers in England will continue to hamper the recovery of the species unless significant regulation is introduced”. This statement belies any acceptance of the voluntary progress on population recovery that has been made to date, with or without chronic persecution and without any regulation change.
This is not to excuse or detract from the fact that the illegal killing of hen harriers is associated with grouse moor management (but there is often no attempt made to explain that the habitats preferred by hen harriers overlap largely with grouse moors, as evidenced by the fact that the two Special Protection Areas in England that cite hen harriers as a special designated feature are dominated by moorland managed for grouse). That is why the Hen Harrier Action Plan was created and why the grouse moor management community has worked with Natural England and others to work out a solution to the conflict in the form of the Brood Management Trial.
With numbers at a 200-year high, the focus should now be on how the successes achieved demonstrate that it should be possible for a solution to be found to this human-wildlife conflict. Given the rate of increase over the last five years, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that hen harriers could achieve favourable conservation status in England in the near future given suitable weather conditions at breeding time, sufficient prey resources and continued brood management under a Conservation Licence. More Hen Harriers inevitably risks creating more conflict so what are we doing to think ahead and ensure that coexistence persists?
By outlining the differing perspectives on this issue – the crimes and the conservation successes – this blog hopes that progress can be made in reaching a solution to this complex, polarised and multi-layered conflict (which incidentally are features of almost all human-human conflicts over wildlife). A stalemate created by the polarity of views risks the conservation of hen harriers, as well as of the rest of the moorland suite of wildlife that benefits from privately funded ‘consequential conservation’ management for red grouse.
So surely the formulation of a sustainable conflict and coexistence framework for hen harrier conservation using the recent IUCN guidelines, that meets the needs of all stakeholders, is the way forward? At the moment, with the uncompromising tone of certain protagonists’ voices, that seems a distant wish – but unlike the vain hope that all bird crime will stop, it is at least a positive action that should be pursued.