Our call for evidence closed on the 22nd August 2022. We received responses from the following organisations:
We also had responses from a number of individuals.
We are currently considering these responses and will be reviewing all the evidence in the coming months with a view to developing options for any future regulatory approach. As part of this process, we have been identifying any peer-reviewed papers highlighted by those who responded to our call for evidence that had not been considered by two comprehensive reviews in 2020. To date, we have identified around 25 new peer-reviewed papers, a number of which we consider to be highly relevant. We have also been a sent significant amount of other literature, including articles, blogs, reports, and personal testimony.
We will now need to collate and consider these submissions. As part of this process, we will:
We may also:
In their submissions, some respondents said that they thought we should have included the paper Summary review and synthesis: effects on habitats and wildlife of the release and management of pheasants and red-legged partridges on UK lowland shoots (Sage et al. 2020) alongside the two other 2020 reviews we referred to in our call for evidence. On reflection, we agree with this, and we intend to consider it alongside the other 2020 reviews during the next steps of our review of the evidence.
As we move forward with this work, we will be inviting stakeholders to participate in working groups.
The Welsh Ministers have asked Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Welsh Government to consider options for regulating gamebird releases in Wales.
Currently, whilst releases within the boundary of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) usually require consent, there is little regulation outside of protected sites.
Concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of the current regulatory provisions to effectively monitor and manage potential environmental impacts, particularly on European protected sites. Following a legal challenge, Defra has introduced an interim regulatory approach. However, that approach applies only to releases in England.
We are now reviewing the available evidence and will develop proposals for a proportionate regulatory approach to gamebird releases in Wales. In carrying out this work we intend to:
We are particularly interested in evidence that was not considered in the reviews listed above and can help us better understand and assess:
We are not looking for evidence relating to the following matters, which are out of scope of this work:
We are looking for scientific or anecdotal evidence. This is not a consultation and therefore we are not looking for views or opinions at this stage.
We will actively look for relevant published evidence that has not yet been considered. However, we also want to give stakeholders the opportunity to share evidence they are aware of, or evidence they hold, that they feel would be useful in informing our approach.
Please email your evidence to:
gamebirds@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk
Alternatively, you can submit evidence by post to:
Gamebirds Call for Evidence
Natural Resources Wales
Maes y Ffynnon
Penrhosgarnedd
Bangor
Gwynedd
LL57 2DW
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