Natural England to Revoke General Licences for the control of 16 bird species

Natural England has announced that it is revoking three General Licences for controlling wild birds, as of Thursday 25th April 2019.

What does this mean?
These licences have been used to kill wild birds, covering 16 species of birds including some of the crow family, Canada goose, some gulls and pigeons.  These licences were introduced to allow the legal control of certain species "...to protect public health and safety, prevent serious damage and protect plants and wildlife". However, the licensing regime was often abused and been subject to a recent legal challenge.

If you rely on a general licence to kill birds covered by the three licences being revoked (GL04/05/06), then you may not be acting lawfully if you continue to control birds.  Until then, anyone needing to control one of the 16 species will need to apply for an individual licence.

The key change is that there may be a greater need to demonstrate that there are no reasonable non-lethal alternatives as part of an individual licence. 

Further information can be obtained at the Natural England website:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/general-licences-for-bird-control-major-changes-to-licensing-requirements
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