Hen harrier recovery should be celebrated, not denigrated

The conservation of hen harriers is one of the most closely watched issues in the British countryside. It is therefore deeply frustrating that, on the very same day that Natural England published encouraging figures showing an increase in fledged hen harrier chicks this year compared with last, the RSPB chose to release a statement blaming the shooting community for the disappearance of a single tagged bird.

No one disputes that the loss of ‘Sita’, a young hen harrier, is disappointing. But to use her disappearance as a springboard to cast blanket blame on shooting is not only irresponsible – it undermines the very progress that is being made.

Hen harrier recovery: A positive story

Natural England’s hen harrier figures for 2025 highlight an uncomfortable truth for shooting’s critics. This success has not come about by accident. It is the product of partnership work, including land managers, gamekeepers, shooting organisations and conservationists, all of whom have invested time, money and effort into creating the conditions in which these birds of prey can breed successfully.

The latest Value of Shooting report underlines the scale of this contribution:

7.6 million hectares of land are managed for habitat and conservation because of shooting.
Shooting providers and volunteers deliver conservation work worth £500m each year, the equivalent of 26,000 full-time jobs and 14 million workdays.
Much of this effort directly benefits ground-nesting birds like hen harriers, through predator control, habitat creation and moorland management.

It is ironic that the very people often vilified by the RSPB are the same people who ensure there is suitable habitat for hen harriers to breed in the first place.

Six months of investigation - no evidence

Crucially, the RSPB pays lip service to a critical fact: North Yorkshire Police and the National Wildlife Crime Unit have already investigated Sita’s disappearance for over six months and had no evidence to satisfy further action. Neither the bird nor the tag was recovered, and the police stated that there were no further lines of enquiry.

For the RSPB to point the finger at the shooting community in spite of this exhaustive investigation is at best disingenuous, at worst damaging to the trust required for genuine conservation partnerships.

Selective storytelling

When satellite-tagged birds go missing, suspicion naturally arises. BASC is clear that there should be no hiding place for those who commit wildlife crime; we are joint signatories to a robust joint zero-tolerance statement on the illegal killing of birds of prey.

We have always strongly condemned such activity; it has no place in our community and those convicted should face the full force of the law. We make it unequivocally clear that any member convicted of wildlife crime will be expelled. But absence of evidence is not evidence of guilt. To suggest – without proof – that a disappearance must equate to illegal shooting is not science, but speculation.

The factors that influence hen harrier numbers are numerous, not least of which is the variability of the British weather, particularly during the breeding season. The news that hen harrier numbers have improved this year should be celebrated, not buried beneath yet another divisive RSPB press release.

A call for balance

No good deed goes unpunished, or so it seems. At the very moment when Natural England releases positive news about hen harriers, the RSPB’s statement risks discouraging those whose daily efforts help sustain the uplands.

If conservation is truly about birds rather than headlines, then we should all be applauding the positive trajectory of hen harrier numbers this year, not undermining it with finger-pointing.

Alex Farrell

Alex is head of uplands at BASC. He has a keen interest in all types of shooting sports, especially rough shooting and pest control. He is also keen on gundog training and generally being outdoors and enjoying the countryside with his family.