General Article Innovative licence issued to help hen harrier

This article is 6 years old. Click here to view the latest articles for this topic.

Action forms part of the Defra Hen Harrier Recovery Plan.

Natural England has today issued a licence permitting the trial of a brood management scheme of hen harriers with the long-term aim of increasing their numbers across England.

The licence is time-limited for a two-year period and places stringent conditions on the trial, which will take place in the northern uplands of England. Brood management will only take place with the permission of the land owner.

Brood management is the sixth action within the Defra Hen Harrier Recovery Plan, ultimately aiming to reduce hen harrier predation of grouse chicks on driven grouse moors, leading to an improvement in the conservation status of the hen harrier.

The licence permits the removal of hen harrier eggs and/or chicks to a dedicated hatching and rearing facility, where they will be hand-reared in captivity, before being transferred to specially-constructed pens in hen harrier breeding habitat, from which they are then re-introduced int...

Would you like to see the rest of this article and all the other benefits that Issues Online can provide with?

Sign up now for an immediate no obligation FREE TRIAL and view the entire collection