LICENSING

Four new draft general licences and a report on the decisions surrounding those general licences are among the key documents being shared with pest controllers by Natural Resources Wales (NRW). 

Following decisions made by the NRW Board last month, the following documents regarding general licences for the lethal control of wild birds in Wales have been published: 

• Preview copies of four new general licences (GL001, GL002, GL004 and GL005) which will take effect on 1 July 2022
• A report explaining the decisions NRW have made regarding general licences following consideration of the consultation responses received
• Other reports relevant to NRW's review of these general licences.

These documents can be found at the bottom of the consultation hub page (scroll all the way down) where you can also find other documents that were previously available. These include a report summarising the responses to the consultation, the consultation document and other relevant reports: 

• In English: Consultation on NRW’s approach to regulating the shooting and trapping of wild birds in Wales - Natural Resources Wales Citizen Space - Citizen Space (cyfoethnaturiol.cymru)
• In Welsh: Ymgynghoriad ar ymagwedd CNC i reoleiddio saethu a dal adar gwyllt yng Nghymru - Natural Resources Wales Citizen Space - Citizen Space (cyfoethnaturiol.cymru)

A spokesperson from NRW's Wild Bird Review Team said:

"These are the result of more than 18 months of work, including analysis of over 600 responses to our consultation, review of the scientific evidence and a Judicial Review. Many of you have contributed to the review which has been a valuable part of the process, thank you.

"We hope that sharing these preview versions now gives you time to become familiar with the changes made and provides an opportunity for us to provide any clarification if needed before the licences take effect on 1 July."

These preview copies of the general licences set out both the licence terms and accompanying conditions of use as well as definitions and advice to licence users.

They are provided as drafts in PDF but when published later in the year on NRW’s website, they will be in HTML web format, with the option to download as PDFs. 

GOT A QUESTION?

If you're a BPCA member with a question about licensing for bird control across the UK, get in touch with BPCA's technical team.

[email protected]

Source: NRW press release