Natural England, alongside Natural Resources Wales, are once again close to making a fiasco of the licencing system for control of wild animals.
They have devised a 'General Licence' to sanction the trapping of stoats. Stoats, unlike birds, are not protected under law so there is no need for a 'General Licence' to allow their control. All that is needed is a simple document outlining which traps are compliant with the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS0. Conversely, they released drafts of lengthy and completely unworkable 'Licences' on March 18th, without any stakeholder consultation, proposing to publish them without amendments on March 31st. This would be catastrophe for many wild bird populations, which depend on the predator control undertaken by gamekeepers during the nesting season.
The National Gamekeepers Organisation wrote a letter to DEFRA's new Secretary of State, George Eustice, which can be seen here. We have followed up with a letter of support which can be read here.