Wild Justice is challenging the unregulated annual release of 50+ million non-native gamebirds into the countryside.

At this time of year, 43 million Pheasants and 9 million Red-legged Partridges are released by the shooting industry. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has failed to assess the impacts of this on UK wildlife as they should have done under the provisions of the European Union Habitats Directive.

Wild Justice wrote to Michael Gove on 10 July requiring him ‘to take action, whether by the promotion of regulations or otherwise, to ensure that the activities described above [releasing non-native gamebirds] are subject to appropriate assessment before being allowed to proceed, or continue.’ And went on ‘If the Secretary of State does not do so, then the Claimant [Wild Justice] will proceed with a judicial review claim in which the Claimant will seek the following declarations: 1, The release of non-native gamebirds on, or affecting, Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas is or can be a ‘plan or project’ for the purposes of the Habitats Directive; and 2, The failure to ensure that such an activity is subject to appropriate assessment amounts to a failure properly to implement the Habitats Directive in England.’.

Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges are omnivorous predators which eat a wide range of plants, invertebrates, reptiles and even small birds and mammals. Concern about their ecological impacts has grown over recent years, particularly because the numbers bred for shooting, and released into the countryside, have increased roughly 10-fold in recent decades. For more information see the Wild Justice blog.

We need to raise £44,500 to fund the legal costs of taking this case all the way through the courts. Wild Justice depends on public support to take its legal challenges so we are asking for your help.  Please donate to this cause and help us to force Michael Gove to regulate gamebird shooting.

Wild Justice is a not-for-profit company set up recently with three unpaid directors: Chris Packham CBE, Dr Ruth Tingay and Dr Mark Avery. This is our second legal action after taking a successful challenge to Natural England’s issuing of an unlawful general licence to kill birds earlier this year. If for any reason this crowdfunder raises more money than is needed to fight this case (this is highly unlikely unless Defra concedes the case quickly) any unspent funds will be recycled into future legal action on behalf of wildlife.