Wildlife crime in England and Wales soared during the pandemic and is at a record-high level.

Dec 01, 2022

According to the annual Wildlife Crime Report produced by Wildlife and Countryside Link, wildlife crimes reached record highs in 2021. It is sad to read page after page of hare coursing, the killing of badgers, bats, and birds of prey, the disturbing of seals and dolphins, illicit wildlife trade, and other wildlife crimes.

According to The Environmental and Countryside Link, the biggest coalition of wildlife and environment charities in England and Wales, there were 1,414 wildlife crime incidents in 2021. But the report's authors noted that more than half (53%) of prosecutions for hunting offenses failed to result in a conviction in 2021, a percentage that contrasts with the much higher overall conviction rate for crimes in the UK, which is 82%.

Post Brexit UK is eroding the former EU environmental safeguards

Unfortunately, there is a bigger context that doesn't make me hopeful for swift improvements. According to the report's authors, the government's current policies may erode environmental safeguards and put the natural world at even greater risk. They warn that numerous protections for species and ecosystems might be lost due to the government's controversial Retained EU Law Bill.

During the roughly 50 years that the UK was a part of the EU, it was bound by a broad range of European legislation negotiated among all member nations, including the UK. These laws include a variety of topics, such as fair competition, labor, environmental protection, and food safety laws. The common set of regulations raised standards throughout the EU.

I find it hard to understand why anyone would kill a badger (photo: PBarlowArt)

If the UK had simply let all this law lapse when it left the EU, the outcome would have been turmoil and confusion for both businesses and consumers. Therefore, the UK Parliament approved the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 four years ago, effectively "copying" and "pasting" nearly all EU law into UK law. According to the original design, laws would remain in effect until they were altered by domestic legislation. Thousands of laws make up this body of law, which is now referred to as "retained EU law" (REUL).

“Sunsetting” the retained EU law

By the end of the following year, the UK government plans to completely repeal all of this remaining EU law. The UK Government has tabled the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill in Parliament to accomplish this. An estimated 3,800 articles of the REUL are up for repeal or replacement under the Bill. It suggests that most REUL will "sunset" or automatically cease to apply unless one of the UK's four governments passes legislation protecting them before December 31, 2023.

Thus, essential regulations safeguarding the environment and animal welfare and many other issues like workers' rights or food standards are now in jeopardy. These laws include the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, which make it a criminal offense to damage the habitats of key species, including badgers and bats. Such habitat offenses form most wildlife crimes against badgers and bats.

The UK has lost more biodiversity than any G7 country

The Bill will likely lead to the hasty rewriting of the regulations, potentially weakening the legislative underpinning for tackling common wildlife crimes. The alliance of wildlife organizations is rightly concerned. Nearly half of the UK's biodiversity has been lost since the Industrial Revolution. It makes the UK one of the most nature-depleting countries in the world, it has lost more biodiversity than any G7 country, and the UK is consistently in the bottom 10% of nations in terms of biodiversity intactness.

I fear that weakening the existing legislation on wildlife crime is the fastest route to maintaining the record high level of wildlife crime.

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