Moorland Association to apply again for hen harrier brood licence

The Moorland Association has confirmed it will apply for another conservation licence for hen harrier brood management, a day after Natural England’s 2026 breeding figures showed attempts rising from 39 to 45. The association is also pressing Natural England to agree a monitoring protocol with land managers before the next breeding season.

Natural England recorded 112 chicks fledged in England this year, up from 106 in 2025, with successful nests unchanged at 33. Nine recorded breeding attempts were on moors managed for grouse, a figure Natural England itself acknowledges could reflect reduced monitoring on grouse moors in 2026.

Why does the association say the grouse-moor count is incomplete?

Writing on the association’s site, chief executive Andrew Gilruth argues the nine attempts “cannot safely be treated as a complete count” of nesting on grouse moors, and that comparisons with earlier years need to account for changes in survey coverage and effort. He wants Natural England to explain those changes and work with land managers to secure a fuller picture while protecting sensitive nest locations.

The association says it engaged with the national hen harrier surveys in 2016 and 2023 but has received no subsequent request to help agree a coordinated monitoring programme with its members. It cites the Merlin survey row earlier this year, after which Natural England apologised for not involving the association at the outset, and the England Ecosystem Survey access requests that reached members without advance briefing. “An apology needs to lead to a change in practice,” Mr Gilruth writes.

What would keeper-led monitoring look like?

The association wants gamekeepers and estate teams given a clear route to contribute hen harrier records directly, with agreed recording methods, verification standards and training. It is asking for a protocol covering trusted surveyors, minimum disturbance around nests, and how sensitive records are verified and shared, and has published a downloadable monitoring access template its members can adapt before agreeing survey visits.

What happens next

The brood management licence application now goes to Natural England, which refused the association’s previous application. Natural England’s final evaluation of the brood management trial, published on 22 July 2026, concluded the technique probably contributed to population growth, primarily through reduced nest disturbance and improved settlement on some grouse moors. The association argues that evidence must now translate into a licence that is workable in practice, and says agreeing monitoring arrangements and assessing the licence application can proceed in parallel before the 2027 breeding season.