Current Petitions

PE1315, by Stuart Housden on behalf of RSPB Scotland, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to increase its efforts to stop the illegal killing of birds of prey. Again, I must declare an interest as a member of the RSPB.I invite responses from members. I call Bill Butler.

Your pause caught me out there, convener.I do not know how colleagues are minded, but I think that we should continue this petition which, after all, relates to a concerning issue. One avenue that we can explore is to ask the Scottish Government whether, as the petitioner suggests, it is willing to amend the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill in respect of“vicarious liability on managers and employers of wildlife criminals”.

Do other members have any opinions? I call John Wilson.

Thank you for letting me speak on this petition, convener, which is related to Arran. First I point out that, although the previous petitioner was in effect requesting a reduction in the protection that is given to predators, and this petition calls on the Scottish Government to increase its efforts to stop the illegal killing of birds of prey, I do not think that the petitions are as at odds as they might appear.We certainly have to stop the illegal killing of birds of prey but, on Arran, there is an issue of ravens attacking livestock. The mitigations that are available to farmers are not as effective as they should be and, indeed, are very restrictive. The birds have been able to breed very extensively and are causing considerable damage, and the measures that have been put in place are simply moving the problem from one farm to another.There have been many discussions involving the local NFU, individual farmers and Scottish Natural Heritage about things that farmers can do. In particular, they can reduce the attractiveness of the feed that they put out. They can also keep it in more sheltered places, so that birds cannot get access to it.There are considerable restrictions on shooting licences. I do not think that anyone here would want there to be any illegal killing at all, but there is an element of frustration that the legal path is more restricted than it should be. That point should be considered further. I am glad that the petition is being examined in a little more detail.

For the record, I called John Wilson, rather than Kenny Gibson.

I apologise, convener.

Like you, convener, I have to declare an interest: I am a member of the RSPB.It is with some disappointment that I join the discussion about this petition. While the petition has been before us we have received more reports of illegal killing of birds of prey in Scotland. Kenneth Gibson has referred to the previous petition on curtailing sea eagles. There are still birds of prey that are being persecuted, and we have to deal with that.Many organisations, including the Scottish Wildlife Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB, are trying to reintroduce birds of prey to mainland Scotland. There is no point in trying to reintroduce sea eagles or other birds of prey at the same time as individuals are bent on destroying those populations. In most such cases, poisoned traps are being set for the birds of prey.Kenneth Gibson is right—we have to consider the matter in the round and find out what evidence exists. We need to resolve the position where lambs and various other farmyard animals are being attacked.The RSPB’s petition is about the illegal killing of birds of prey, and we have to stamp it out. I would be very surprised if the NFU and other organisations actually said that they were in favour of the illegal killing of birds of prey—that would be to promote, within a certain industry and among certain individuals, the continued use of poisoned traps or poisoned bait to kill birds of prey. The challenge is to get the Government to come up with the answers.We need to include the other responses that we have received, including those from the Scottish Police Federation and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, to help to establish that prosecution is the best way forward for stopping these illegal acts. As recent reports have shown, there are still people who are using poisoned bait to target birds of prey. Those birds are heavily protected under the law, but some individuals still seem to feel free to use such baits and to target those birds without fear of serious prosecution. We need to ask the Government and others about what is being done to stop such illegal actions. How can we end this vile trade in the poisoning of birds of prey?

We wrote to different organisations including ACPOS, the Scottish Police Federation, the NFU and the Scottish Gamekeepers Association. We asked them what action needs to be taken on the issue, and what would be on their shopping lists to the Scottish Government. It is worth sending those shopping lists to the Scottish Government and asking it for its response.

The committee has expressed its wish for the Government to update us on the implementation of the recommendations in the “Natural Justice” report and on its timetable. We will also ask for the Government’s reactions to the shopping list that has been mentioned and ask whether it will amend the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill to establish vicarious liability on managers and employers of wildlife criminals, as proposed by the petitioner. If there are no other suggestions, we will write to the Government in those terms and continue PE1315.