50,000 people support the Northern Ireland Raptor Study Group Petition to Ban Possession of Dangerous Pesticides!

The NIRSG held a recent Raptor Conference which provided incredible insights into a range of topics locally and globally. Many of the talks raised a consistent theme of targeted persecution of birds of prey. Not least amongst these was the on-going issue in Northern Ireland of the Possession of Dangerous pesticides.

The NIRSG highlighted that 63 raptors have been killed between 2009 and 2023 with a range of poisons, dominated by Carbofuran which has been banned for nearly 25 years. There have been at least 30 buzzards, 16 peregrine falcons, 13 red kites, 3 white tailed eagles and 1 golden eagle all poisoned in this time frame.

This evidence is collated by the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime in Northern Ireland (PAW NI) and published in raptor persecution reports, which include ‘hotspots’ of illegal killing of our native birds of prey. These reports are publicly available on the PAWNI webpage available here and also aggregated in the RSPB Bird Crime reports available here

In 2011, the wildlife legislation in Northern Ireland was strengthened, resulting in increased sentences of £5,000 fines (per offence) and up to 6 months imprisonment. The updated laws included a provision to ban the possession of prescribed ingredients under “Section 15B Possession of pesticides harmful to wildlife” of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 as amended.

As part of that legislation there should have been an attached Order listing the banned chemicals. That list has never been created. Wildlife has continued to be poisoned by these dangerous and banned substances.

The legislation states in Section 15B Part 2: “A prescribed ingredient is one which is prescribed for the purposes of this Article by an order made by the Department; but the Department may not make an order under this Article unless it is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient to do so in the interests of protecting wild birds or wild animals from harm”

There is significant evidence of continued harm from banned pesticides to birds of prey, based on robust post-mortem and laboratory results, which has been published in many reports. We believe it is indeed expedient for Minister Andrew to implement this Order to protect our birds of prey from harm. 50,000 people agree with us. Thank you to everyone who has supported the petition and helped give a voice to our wildlife.

The NIRSG will be seeking a meeting with Minister Andrew Muir to present the petition now that it has surpassed 50,000 signatures.