Annex 1 - Activities, Projects and Legislation Related to Wildlife Crime Policy and Enforcement

Wildlife Crime policy and enforcement involves many organisations in Scotland. To complement the official statistics publication, this document provides background information regarding the relevant activities, projects and legislation related to wildlife crime and the roles of the different organisations involved during the reporting year (2022-23).

PAW Scotland

The Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW) Scotland consists of law enforcement bodies, wildlife and animal welfare charities, land management organisations and government agencies, working together to fight wildlife crime.

The partnership is supported by the Scottish Government, and the PAW Scotland sub-groups listed below comprise of representatives of selected stakeholders and wildlife crime priority groups based in Scotland.

Legislation, Regulation and Guidance

The PAW Scotland Legislation, Regulation and Guidance Sub-group was created to review the operation in practice of wildlife legislation and regulations; to identify areas for improvement and make recommendations; and to produce guidance for wildlife crime law enforcement practitioners, land managers and other countryside users.

Media

The PAW Scotland Media Sub-group was created to oversee the publicising of the work of PAW Scotland, development of the PAW Scotland brand and the co-ordination of events.

Training and Awareness 

The PAW Scotland Training and Awareness Sub-group was created to ensure that training relating to, and awareness of, wildlife crime is maintained at an appropriately high level across Scotland.

Scientific      

The PAW Scotland Scientific group was created to:

• advise on priorities for analysis & research and act as a review panel for grant applications relating to research into scientific aspects of wildlife crime.
• review and advise on presentation of scientific data.
• increase the profile, among the enforcement community, of scientific techniques & methods that can be used for wildlife crime investigations.
• carry out case reviews, from a scientific and/or forensic perspective, of completed wildlife crime investigations.
• increase the profile of the application of science in handling wildlife crime by publishing group minutes and links to appropriate peer-reviewed scientific papers.

Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group 

The Raptor Persecution Priority Delivery Group was established to develop a programme of work to improve prevention, awareness raising, enforcement and intelligence gathering in Scotland related to crimes against birds of prey:

• develop methods to assist in reducing raptor persecution.
• devise strategies to raise awareness of raptor persecution.
• devise strategies to foster trust and relations with PAW partners to maximise intelligence and crime prevention opportunities.
• encourage data sharing between both government and non-government organisations.
• bring a robust, evidence-led approach to prevention and enforcement activity to support policing.
• examine and implement innovative approaches to preventative action to reduce raptor persecution.
• encourage appropriate enforcement action in all incidents of raptor persecution.

Freshwater Pearl Mussel Priority Delivery Group

The Freshwater Pearl Mussel Priority Delivery Group aims to raise awareness of criminality affecting freshwater pearl mussels in order to facilitate intelligence and incident reporting, leading to increased prevention and enforcement action.

The Group did not meet in 2022/23 due to the absence of a Group Chair.        

Badger Persecution Priority Delivery Group

The aims of the group are broadly covered by three headings. These are intelligence gathering, enforcement and crime prevention which are carried out via the UK-wide initiative “Operation Badger”. Intelligence gathering and enforcement rest largely with Police Scotland, NWCU and the Scottish SPCA. Scottish Badgers, NatureScot and NFUS are primarily concerned with crime prevention, in particular via the provision of publicity, education and specialist advice.

• Reduce the instances of sett interference during otherwise lawful operations.
• Increase successful detection and prosecution of badger baiters and the seizure of their dogs.       

Poaching & Coursing Priority Delivery Group

The group aims to build a greater level of public awareness of poaching and coursing as serious wildlife crime, to continue to build working relations, communications and information sharing between all agencies and organisations and rural communities in order to increase prevention activity and enforcement in Scotland.

Funding

The PAW Scotland Funding Sub-group was created to consider, reject or approve applications to the PAW Scotland Fund.  Funding has been provided by NatureScot on behalf of Scottish Government and PAW Scotland. The PAW Funding Sub-group has not met since 2018 and is no longer considering funding applications.  Funding continued for long-term projects in 2022/23:

• RSPB Investigations Team, a specialist team delivering awareness raising, crime prevention and detection functions and assisting Police Scotland in criminal investigations.
• Contribution to the delivery of the National Wildlife Crime Unit Scottish Investigative Support Officer post.

Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime Exhibitions

The Scottish Government arranged exhibitions at the Royal Highland Show and the Scottish Game Fair under the Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime in Scotland banner. These exhibitions raise awareness of wildlife crime, engage younger generations with the importance of conserving our vulnerable species. The exhibitions also provide an opportunity to discuss the laws in place which protect wildlife in Scotland with the public. The exhibitions are supported by colleagues from Police Scotland and the National Wildlife Crime Unit.

Police Scotland

Police Scotland works successfully with many partner agency in line with the commitment to decrease wildlife crime and increase public awareness and understanding. This partnership working includes ongoing consultations, joint operations, mutual assistance with training days and events, multi-agency community engagement and various meetings for both sporadic and ongoing issues.

This also included working with Scottish Government to assist in the implementation of new legislation, such as the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill - detailed in section 5 of this document.

Ongoing National Operations

Throughout the year Police Scotland worked closely with partners to deliver various national and UK-wide Operations – including their implementation, coordination with other UK Forces and enforcement. Operations and initiatives included:

• Operation Jawline - Partner agencies  such as  West Lothian Council, Marine Scotland, Food Standards Scotland, SEPA and HMRC/Revenue Scotland  contacted Police Scotland expressing concerns over the illegal and unlicenced practices relating to the creation and stocking of fishing ponds, the welfare of the fish, fly tipping, unauthorised housing development and resulting tax evasion from these projects.
• Operation Thunder - an annual Interpol led operation undertaken globally to target the illegal wildlife trade. Police Scotland  worked closely with UK Border Force who had intercepted packages being sent overseas from a property in Dundee which contained elephant ivory, primarily jewellery items. Following a successful day of action, approximately 70 items suspected of being elephant ivory were seized. Further to this, items seized at Heathrow Airport by Border Force were linked to the same property.  All items were tested and confirmed that they items were elephant ivory, totalling 170 pieces.

Attending UK Enforcer Conferences/Meetings

Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Unit regularly attends Wildlife Crime Conferences and discussion groups throughout the UK to discuss crime trends, intelligence and investigative strategies with other Forces and partner agencies to ensure Police Scotland stay at the forefront of tackling wildlife crime.

Sporting Estate Visits

As part of a crime prevention initiative, Police Scotland’s Wildlife Crime Unit, supported by partner agency NatureScot, carried out joint visits to sporting estates across Scotland. It was recognised there were limited opportunities for proactive engagement with sporting estates and as such these visits were carried out as both a crime prevention measure, but also to support estate management to prevent wildlife crime and to develop positive relationships with estate management.

Training

Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Unit is committed to its continual training programme with courses being delivered to officers throughout the year:

• Wildlife Crime Guidance - An electronic guidance package was designed and launched providing easy to access information to all officers on Wildlife Crime, providing basic knowledge and legislation for all manner of wildlife incidents.
• Wildlife Crime- Guide for First Responders - primarily aimed at first responders to Wildlife Crimes to facilitate prompt and effective responses. It is relevant to all police officers in providing a basic knowledge and general understanding of the different facets of Wildlife Crime that may be reported to Police Scotland.
• Wildlife Crime Investigators Course - delivered twice a year to officers from all divisions.  This is a more in-depth, week-long course, and is designed to equip officers with the requisite skills and knowledge to effectively investigate wildlife crimes which are often complex and multi-faceted. The course will include inputs from partner agencies as well as inputs from a variety of Police Departments and the group will take part in case studies practical excises and course learners will be assessed as competent in each essential area.

NatureScot

General Licence Restrictions and Protected Species Licensing

A package of anti-wildlife crime measures announced by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change in 2014, included the option of preventing the use of general licences to trap or shoot wild birds on land where there is evidence of wildlife crime against birds. Police Scotland share information with NatureScot where it may prove to be of assistance in deciding on the use of these restrictions. NatureScot published their framework for implementing restrictions on the use of General Licences in October 2014, which was part of a package of measures aimed at tackling raptor persecution. The rationale behind the restriction process was that the light-touch approach to regulation offered by General Licences (where there is no application process, and no significant registration or reporting requirements) would not be appropriate where there has been a loss of confidence, usually in situations where there has been evidence to show that crimes against wild birds have taken place. NatureScot meet with Police Scotland and the National Wildlife Crime Unit every three months to review new information on bird crimes in Scotland and to identify any possible cases for future restrictions. Possible cases are reviewed against the criteria set out in the framework document and must be based upon clear evidence of crimes being committed.

In June 2022, a General Licence restriction was applied to Moy Estate, Highland for a period of 3 years in response to crimes against birds recorded on the estate. In March 2023, a General Licence restriction was applied to Millden Estate, Tayside for a period of 3 years. Details of these can be found on the NatureScot website.

From 2022 NatureScot has employed a Compliance Officer within the Licensing Team, complimenting the work of Licensing Officers through both routine and random licence checks and responding to any detected breaches.

National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU)

The National Wildlife Crime Unit has a dedicated intelligence function. All intelligence relating to wildlife crime in Scotland is gathered by the NWCU and researched on a weekly basis to identify emerging trends and to prepare tactical and strategic analysis. In addition, for the 2022-23 year, the following bespoke intelligence analysis was provided for Scotland:

• Analysis of top Hare Coursing nominals to direct targeting of resources.
• Analysis of top Operation BADGER nominals of interest to support proactive targeting.
• Update of the Operation EASTER target list – to support and direct proactive targeting across Scotland.
• Intelligence database checks carried out on behalf of Police Scotland wildlife crime officers.
• Various crime prevention briefing notes prepared by NWCU and disseminated to all Police Scotland divisions.
• Collation of illegal wildlife trade seizure data which NWCU supply to the EU-TWIX network (EU trade in wildlife information exchange' group facilitated by TRAFFIC) on behalf of all UK police forces.
• Quarterly submission of reports to the Acquisitive Crime Threat Group which includes all links to Scottish investigations.
• Rollout of NWCU DISC platform to enhance information sharing between police forces and partners, including analytical packages and information about wildlife crime case results.
• Collation of slang term glossary used by wildlife criminals. This was subsequently used in a bird of prey crime case by Police Scotland. 
• Development of 4P Plans for the Priority Delivery Groups including SMART objectives and response plans for the 4Ps: Prevent, Prepare, Protect and Pursue.
• Analysis report on crossbow usage in wildlife crime to inform the National Analysis Capability Board’s research on crossbow use.

Over and above the NWCU’s intelligence and analytical support, the Scottish Investigative Support Officer (SISO) provides advice and ‘on the ground’ support for wildlife crime investigations. Police Constable Gavin Ross is seconded into this NWCU role from Police Scotland.

In this period PC Ross has been heavily involved in Operation TANTALLON, an operation relating to the theft of Peregrine Falcons from the wild which are then being laundered into the falconry trade.  This international enquiry has been led by Police Scotland with investigative, intelligence and analytical support from NWCU and further assistance from a number of partner agencies.  NWCU have advised on changes in policies and procedures and are involved in discussions regarding changes to primary and secondary legislation. Media interest in Operation TANTALLON has been significant, see here for example. 

The SISO gave advice and assistance to Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Liaison Officers and other organisations on numerous occasions and on a variety of subjects related to the priorities as well as other issues including marine life disturbance (cetaceans, otters and eagles), Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) investigations and avian influenza precautions during bird of prey investigations. NWCU have also supported Police Scotland’s Wildlife Crime Investigators Course by delivering training inputs. 

Throughout the year PC Ross continued to work on developing relationships with partner agencies and maximising opportunities for partnership working.  PC Ross has built relations with ornithology clubs across Scotland and attended shows including: the Royal Highland Show, Scone Game Fair and Global Bird Fair.  This approach encourages information sharing and ensures law enforcement offer a joined-up response and maximise investigative opportunities when incidents are reported. 

PC Ross has supported Police Scotland officers with regards to the new Hunting with Dogs Act legislation and licensing system.  He has provided educational inputs to both police officers and hunts in the Scottish Borders.

Assistance was provided on several bird of prey crime operations and investigations.  The annual delivery of Operation EASTER to target egg thieves and nest disturbance during the bird breeding season took place in April.  Other prevention work included erecting signs at vulnerable nest sites to protect birds of prey from disturbance and persecution.  PC Ross continues to work closely with the South of Scotland Golden Eagle project.

PC Ross is a special point of contact for NatureScot and collates the information provided for consideration of General Licence restrictions and completed a number of such reports throughout the year.  This work will develop further when Grouse Moor Licencing comes into effect. 

An on-going element of the SISO role is the ongoing support and expertise that is provided to the Priority Delivery Groups, plus the additional PAW Scotland groups for Badgers and Science. Priority Delivery Groups specific to Scotland are Poaching, Bird of Prey and Fresh Water Pearl Mussels.

The Scottish Government

This section sets out details of specific projects carried out by or on behalf of the Scottish Government over the time period of this report.

Hunting with Dogs

The 2021/2022 Programme for Government contained a commitment from the Scottish Government to:       

“Introduce a Bill this year to strengthen the law relating to the use of dogs to hunt and flush foxes and other wild mammals, implementing the majority of the recommendations of the independent report on the Protection of Wild

Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, and introduce further measures such as preventing trail hunting.”

This follows ongoing concerns about the effectiveness of the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 which was the subject of a government review led by Lord Bonomy. Lord Bonomy’s report is available on the Scottish Government Website.

In the reporting period of this Wildlife Crime Report (2022/23) the Scottish Government introduced the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 to the Scottish Parliament. The stages of which are set out below:

• 25 Oct 2022: Stage 1 debate – passed with 110 for, 1 against and 0 abstentions. Debate mainly focused on the licensing scheme.   
• 14 Dec 2022: Hunting with Dogs Bill passes Stage 2  
• 24 January 2023: Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Bill – Stage 3 debate 
• 25 Feb: The Bill published in Parliament, containing provisions to: 
  • Limit the number of dogs that can be used to search for, stalk or flush wild mammals from cover above ground, to two. 
  • Introduce a licensing regime for the use of more than two dogs to search for, stalk or flush wild mammals above ground in certain limited circumstances. 
  • Prohibit the activity known as trail hunting (the activity of directing a dog to find and follow an animal-based scent). 

The Bill was passed on 24 January 2023 and became an Act on 07 March 2023.

Please see below website links for an updated position at the time of publication of this report:

• Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023

• Hunting with Dogs and licensing

Grouse Moor Management

A report on the environmental impact of grouse moor management practices was published on 19 December 2019. The Scottish Government provided a response to the recommendations on 26 November 2020. The response announced the Scottish Government’s intention to licence grouse moors and deliver the recommendations.

The full Scottish Government response to the recommendations provides further detail.

In the reporting period of this Wildlife Crime Report (2022/23) the Scottish Government introduced Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill to the Scottish Parliament.

An updated legislative position from the time of publication of this report can be found here.

Legislation

Legislative Requirement for Annual Wildlife Crime Report

The Wildlife Crime in Scotland report is a requirement of Section 20 of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, which inserted a new Section 26B into the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The section prescribes that Ministers must lay a report following the end of every calendar year on offences which relate to wildlife, to include information on incidence and prosecutions during the year to which the report relates, and on research and advice relevant to those offences.

Offence Categories (by crime code) and Legislation

Badgers:

• Protection of Badgers Act 1992

Birds:

• Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981

Cruelty to wild animals:

• Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996; Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981

Deer:

• Deer (Scotland) Act 1996

Hunting with dogs:

• Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002 superseded by the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 in October 2023

Conservation (e.g. protected sites, conservation orders):

• Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004

Poaching and game laws:

• Game (Scotland) Act 1772
• Game (Scotland) Act 1832
• Night Poaching Act 1828
• Poaching Prevention Act 1862
• Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948

Fish poaching:

• Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries (Protection) (Scot) Act 1951
• Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries (Consol) (Scot) Act 2003
• Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975
• The Fish Conservation (Fishing For Eels)(Scotland) Regulations 2008
• The Conservation of Salmon (Scotland) Regulations 2016
• The Conservation of Salmon (Prohibition of Sale) (Scotland) Regulations 2002
• The Salmon Carcass Tagging (Scotland) Regulations 2016
• The Tweed Regulation (Salmon Carcass Tagging) Order 2016
• The Conservation of Salmon (Annual Close Time and Catch and Release) (Scotland) Regulations 2014
• The Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order 2006
• The Tweed Regulation (Salmon Conservation) (No. 2) Order 2016

Other wildlife offences (e.g. European Protected Species, CITES, attempts to commit offences):

• The Conservation (Natural Habitats etc.) Regulations 1994
• Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981
• Control of Trade In Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regs 1997

Legislative Changes

During the period of the 2022-23 Annual Wildlife Crime Report, the Scottish Government introduced the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 to parliament.