Pesticides banned to protect Scotland’s birds  

Pesticide poisoning has led to national and regional extinctions of a number of predatory birds in the UK. Keith Morton of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland, reports on new legislation which will strengthen their legal protection in Scotland. 

Red kites are seriously threatened by deliberate poisoning. Photo: Dave Dick, RSPB

From 14 March 2005 in Scotland the Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005 came into force and creates the new offence of possession of any pesticide containing one or more prescribed active ingredient. This is one of several new measures introduced by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 which amended the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 with the intention of strengthening the legal protection of Scotland’s wildlife. 
    A wide range of offences against wild birds and other wildlife is recorded every year in the UK by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)(1). Perhaps the most damaging class of offence – in terms of overall conservation impact – is the deliberate persecution of birds of prey. In a series of annual reports for Scotland over the last ten years the RSPB has recorded evidence that this type of crime still persists at levels which threaten some species(2).
    The practice of eliminating all possible predators of game on shooting estates was routine in the 19th and early 20th centuries with little or no regard for the conservation status of the targeted birds and animals. This led to national and regional extinctions of a number of predatory birds and other animals(3). Many of these extirpated species have made significant recoveries in recent years, either through natural re-colonisation or through re-introduction by humans, but this generally positive trend has not been universal. In its report to government the UK Raptor Working Group clearly indicated that illegal bird of prey persecution was still a serious issue which the authorities must address(4).    
    Several published papers have shown that bird of prey persecution is having its greatest impact on land managed for grouse shooting. Peregrine falcons, Falco peregrinus(5), hen harriers, Circus cyaneus(6,7) and golden eagles, Aquila chrysaetos(8) have all suffered disproportionately poor performance when they attempt to breed on or close to grouse moors. For golden eagles it has been postulated that the entire Scottish (and therefore British) population may go into long term decline if current poisoning levels are maintained(9).
    The most damaging form of bird of prey persecution is the use of poisoned baits. This strongly correlates with grouse moor management in Scotland(10). The new legislation seeks to make this already illegal practice easier to detect and prosecute. The eight pesticides prescribed by this legislation (see box) include those used in over 99% of Scottish poisoning incidents. Although some of these substances are already illegal to use the new law now makes simple possession illegal. Some, such as carbofuran, were until recently mainstream arable pesticides. The legislation is worded so that any prescribed substance which still has a legitimate agricultural use can continue to be so used by farmers who are acting within the terms of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985, although in practice all of the substances on the current list are already withdrawn from use or likely to be in the near future.
    The RSPB has sought this change in the law as part of their submission in the processes leading up to the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004. The Society has dealt with bird of prey persecution issues throughout its entire 100-year history in Scotland starting with its campaign against the use of pole traps which led to these devices being outlawed in 1904. In many wildlife poisoning enquiries police and Scottish Executive officers have found estate staff with pesticides of the types used as illegal poisons. These suspects had little conceivable legitimate use for the chemicals but usually only minor and somewhat technical charges were possible under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985. The new legislation provides a much simpler means of dealing directly and effectively with this type of situation.

1. Birdcrime 2003, Offences against wild bird legislation in 2003, RSPB, Sandy, 2004.
2. Persecution, A review of bird of prey persecution in Scotland in 2003, RSPB, Sandy, 2005.
3. Holloway S, The Historical Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1875 – 1900, T. & A.D. Poyser, London, 1996.
4. Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Report of the UK Raptor Working Group, JNCC, Peterborough, 2000. 
5. Court IR, Irving PV and Carter I, Status and Productivity of peregrines in the Yorkshire Dales between 1978 and 2002, British Birds 97, 2004, 456-463.
6. Bibby CJ and Etheridge B, Status of the Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus in Scotland in 1988-89, Bird Study 40, 1993, 1-11.
7. Etheridge B, Summers RW and Green RE, The effects of illegal killing and destruction of nests by humans on the population dynamics of the hen harrier Circus cyaneus in Scotland, Journal of Applied Ecology, 1997, 34, 1081-1105.
8. Whitfield DP, Fielding AH, et al, The effects of persecution on age of breeding and territory occupation in golden eagles in Scotland, Biological Conservation, 2004, 118, 249-259.
9. Whitfield DP, Fielding AH, et al, Modelling the effects of persecution on the population dynamics of golden eagles in Scotland, Biological Conservation, 2004, 119, 319-333.
10. Whitfield DP and McLeod DRA, et al, The association of grouse moor in Scotland with the illegal use of poisons to control predators, Biological Conservation, 2003, 114, 157-163.

Keith Morton is an Investigations Officer at RSPB Scotland, Tel: +44 (0)131 311 6516.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 67, March 2005, page 6]