DEFRA reply to CBCG Buzzard e mail

Dear Mr Carter, BUZZARDS Thank you for your email of 25 May to Richard Benyon about the Defra research proposals looking into the impact of buzzard predation on pheasants. I have been asked to reply. The success of conservation measures has seen large increases in the numbers of buzzards and other birds of prey over the last two decades. The Minister for Wildlife celebrates that and since 2010 we have championed many new measures to benefit wildlife across England – set out in our England Biodiversity Strategy. In January this year, Defra formed a working group that was charged with gathering the best available evidence on the current impact of buzzard predation on pheasant poults and other game species. The group included a wide range of people from both the shooting and conservation sectors and was formed because Defra was made aware that Natural England had received several applications to lethally control buzzards where it was alleged that damage caused by buzzards was having an unsustainable impact on rural businesses. As part of the work of the group, Defra commissioned the Food and Environment Research Agency to undertake a desk study into the available research regarding the impacts of buzzards on game birds and other livestock. This study recommended that more research was required and that field studies should be undertaken to gather more evidence about the impact of buzzards on pheasant poults and to look at how non lethal methods could be used to prevent the damage buzzards can sometimes cause. This resulted in proposals for field research being drawn up and it is these proposals that have caused a good deal of public concern. In light of these concerns we have decided to look at developing new research proposals on buzzards to understand better the whole relationship between raptors, game birds and other livestock. We will collaborate with all the organisations that have an interest in this issue and will bring forward new proposals in the near future. Yours sincerely, Edward Keenaghan Defra - Customer Contact Unit Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)