RSPB challenged for skewing the facts

The Countryside Alliance and Swansea University have criticised the RSPB on its use of unpublished data in scientific papers. The RSPB has repeatedly refused to provide evidence to back up a serious claim it has made in one of these papers.

The RSPB has used unpublished data in a paper co-authored with the Zoological Society of London and published in the British Medical Journal, to claim that there have been 45 confirmed killings of hen harriers since records began. This figure is considerably higher than previously believed, with the RSPB's published figures showing the confirmed shooting of 14 hen harriers.

If there is other unpublished evidence for 31 further killings, then the authors must be able to support such a serious claim. Despite repeated requests, the RSPB has refused to provide the details of these incidents.

As the Countryside Alliance openly challenges the RSPB's use of unpublished data, the Charity is also criticised today by Swansea University in the peer reviewed Biology Journal of the Royal Society. The paper, entitled 'The role of fire in UK peatland and moorland management'*, which has been co-authored by leading international experts in their field, is also critical of the RSPB's use of unpublished data, concluding that this can result both in unbalanced and unsupported reporting. It suggests that the RSPB has drawn conclusions based more on their personal views of certain patterns of land management, than on the weight of evidence.

Countryside Alliance Director of Shooting, Adrian Blackmore, said: "If the RSPB has the data with which to back up the claims made in their paper co-authored by the Zoological Society of London, then it should be made publicly available. A mere assurance that the data is accurate, whilst refusing to produce it, is insufficient to satisfy its reliability, and the scientific rigour of the report in which it has been published.

"All organisations need to work together to combat wildlife crime, and openly sharing information is a crucial part of any productive partnership. The authors of the Swansea University paper, published today in the Biology Journal of the Royal Society, clearly have similar concerns with the RSPB's use of unpublished data."

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*The Swansea University paper published in the Biology Journal of the Royal Society can be viewed here.