Countryside Alliance statement on the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group

The press has today reported that shooting groups did not attend the latest meeting of the Raptor Persecution Delivery Group, due to a fundamental loss of trust in the process. The Countryside Alliance is committed to stamping out the last vestiges of raptor persecution in the UK.

The Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group (RPPDG) is a group of organisations run by the National Wildlife Crime Unit to stamp out the illegal killing of Raptors. The organisations involved come from Government, charities, land owners and game shooting groups and all are committed to ending illegal raptor killing. The Alliance is represented on the RPPDG by our Police Liaison Officer, Phil Davies. The RPPDG has been a source for much progress and we wish to see the current impasse smoothed over as quickly as possible.

The Countryside Alliance, alongside four partner organisations, did not attend the last meeting of the RPPDG. This cannot have come as a surprise to anyone involved in the group. Trust in the integrity of the RPPDG has been eroded over time as information from within the private meetings has been twisted and leaked.

Given this lack of trust assurances had been given that no new members would be added to the RPPDG without prior discussion. This was considered vital to rebuild a space in which people with differing views could cooperate effectively without suspecting their words would be reported out of context. These assurances were not honoured ahead of the previous meeting. Regardless of the identity of the new members invited to join the meeting, many organisations felt they could not attend under these conditions.

We have not resigned from the RPPDG. Regardless of next steps, we remain committed to the eradication of raptor persecution, and we hope to attend the next meeting of the RPPDG once the chair has taken steps to address the loss of trust in the process.

Prior to today's press coverage of the Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group, the Countryside Alliance issued the following statement:

"The RPPDG is a vital forum for stamping out the last vestiges of raptor persecution in this country, but this can only occur in an atmosphere of mutual trust and unfortunately there has been a fundamental loss of faith in the process. Trust has been eroded by repeated leaking and twisting of comments made in the context of confidential discussions, and by member organisations publicly condemning outcomes to which they agreed during meetings. The new leadership of the group has attempted to move past these turbulent times, but in doing so has further disrupted the delicate relationships the RPPDG exists to hold together. New organisations have been added to the Group despite assurances that no such changes would be made without consultation with the existing members, causing key representative groups to feel they were unable to attend the latest meeting.

"The Countryside Alliance believes that only with cooperation between conservation charities, landowners, gamekeepers and Government can raptor persecution be consigned to history. We have not resigned from the RPPDG, but call upon the leadership of the group to do what is necessary to rebuild trust and credibility so the group can function effectively with all relevant stakeholders represented."