RSPB accused of ‘manufacturing’ wildlife crime prosecutions

Allegations of three decades of misconduct

The RSPB has been accused of ‘manufacturing prosecutions’ and operating as a rogue investigative force in a damning report examining three decades of wildlife crime cases.

The 79-page dossier, commissioned by the Campaign for the Protection of Moorland Communities and published on 20 January, examines 14 wildlife crime investigations conducted by the charity between 1990 and 2025.

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Claims of flawed evidence and directed prosecutions

Report author Andrew Ben O’Rourke, a journalist with 30 years’ experience, claims the RSPB’s investigations team has routinely directed police operations, handled evidence and secured convictions based on flawed scientific methods and questionable practices.

Among the most serious allegations is that raptor breeders in the 1990s were convicted using DNA testing systems the RSPB helped develop at Nottingham University. The technique was later scrapped after Government scientists found it unreliable, yet the convictions stand.

The report also claims the charity exploited a 2004 amendment to the Wildlife and Countryside Act that inadvertently criminalised egg collections taken legally between 1954 and 1981. Several prosecutions under this amendment were later overturned following a judicial review, but only after collectors had their possessions confiscated and faced criminal proceedings.

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Former wildlife crime chief raises concerns

Nevin Hunter, who headed the National Wildlife Crime Unit from 2012 to 2014 after 28 years in the police, told Mr O’Rourke he became aware of extensive complaints about RSPB interference in investigations. These included taking over from police, demanding to interview suspects, trespassing on private property and failing to report incidents to authorities.

“Investigations should be instigated and led by police, who were the trained investigators,” Mr Hunter said. “You would think that over time, as the police started to become more adept and more capable of investigating, the RSPB would want to withdraw from that role. But actually, it upset them that they weren’t directly involved.”

The C4PMC report is likely to deepen the long-running dispute between the RSPB and the gamekeeping community. It calls for “the absolute closure of the RSPB investigation team”, describing its influence as “insidious, promoting persecution and division in countryside and birdwatching communities based on flawed facts and unclear agendas, none of which improve the welfare of birds”.

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RSPB rejects report’s findings

An RSPB spokesperson told Shooting Times: “We strenuously deny all these allegations. The RSPB only collects evidence of criminal activity which is then handed over to the police. The RSPB has no say in whether cases progress. That decision is down to the local wildlife crime officers and the CPS.”

RSPB Uncovered: The Missing ‘Birdcrime’ Files is available at c4pmc.co.uk.