Cable restraints vital to save ground-nesters, says NGO

The National Gamekeepers Organisation (NGO) has published a new report examining the importance of the humane cable restraint (HCR) in protecting vulnerable species. 

Through a combination of case studies, scientific research from the GWCT and a survey of NGO members, the report examines the likely effects on vulnerable species if the use of HCRs was to be banned in England. 

They were banned in Wales last year and will be outlawed in Scotland from 25 November. 

The NGO has also highlighted how targeted predator control is an essential step towards the recovery of ground-nesting bird species, using numerous examples to demonstrate what a vital component of conservation management HCRs are. The report also examines the reasons why people use HCRs and how HCRs differ from old-fashioned snares. 

The report has been sent to Defra Ministers, shadow Ministers, Defra staff and numerous MPs for rural constituencies. 

The NGO said: “We hope this will help politicians to understand why the HCR is such a vital tool, and how the removal of it from a land manager’s toolbox would negatively affect conservation work and farmers’ livelihoods.”