In an article for the Journal of Applied Ecology, the charity lays out a vision for tackling the long-running conflict in which the officially protected hen harriers, which are on the verge of extinction in England, have paid the ultimate price.
According to the RSPB, hen harrier numbers have been kept low because of illegal killing and disturbance over decades, with problems particularly associated with areas where moors are managed for grouse shooting.
Hen harriers eat red grouse chicks, voles and meadow pipits, and the RSPB recognises that on some sites high densities of hen harriers can lead to driven-grouse shooting becoming economically unviable, as happened at one Scottish site, Langholm Moor.
In response to suggestions that the law should be changed to allow birds of prey to be culled on grouse moors, the RSPB questions whether a sporting activity that relies on protected birds of prey being disturbed and killed is a sustainable land-use. Instead, the RSPB is calling for management techniques, which reduce the impact of hen harriers on grouse numbers, to be trialled and encouraged by game managers.
In particular, diversionary feeding, where suitable prey such as rats are left out near the harriers’ nests, has been shown to reduce the number of grouse taken by hen harriers by 86%, yet has not been adopted by grouse moor managers, other than at Langholm Estate.
Here, the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project is seeking to re-establish driven grouse shooting alongside a thriving population of hen harriers and is showing encouraging signs of progress.
The RSPB wants other novel techniques to also be explored, including allowing golden eagles to breed in the vicinity of grouse moors thereby deterring hen harriers from settling.
Dr Pat Thompson, RSPB’s uplands conservation officer said: “Moorland managers and conservationists must work together to resolve this long-running conflict.
“Hen harriers are on the verge of extinction as a breeding species in England, and to lose such a magnificent bird because of continuing intolerance towards it would be a sad indictment of society’s ability to protect wildlife.”
Organisations representing Scotland’s moorland owners and managers welcomed the article.
A spokesman said: “These organisations are working with Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage and conservation bodies on research to find long-term workable solutions to the problem.”
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