Protest march in place for challengers of bird shooting bans

After being slapped with a set of potentially life-changing licence revokes/shooting bans last week, landowners, farmers and the rest of the shooting population will finally get the chance to push their own side of the ongoing battle between rural habitants and Natural England. A protest march has been proposed and scheduled for central London, where people in favour of retaining their rights to pest population control can rally up at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park and march through the city towards parliament on the 29th June 2019.

To quickly get you up to date with how things started and what you can expect to see at the march, here is one of the organisers of the event taking you through his plan of action:

The best way to find out more about the latest plans and updates for the march is on the events designated Facebook page, named The Countryside Rally 2019.

The general and well-respected view of the rural community in the UK is that our countryside is a spectacular place that’s only like this because of the people who tend to it and manage it day in, day out. This has been the case for centuries, so making changes to this is unfair and unnecessary. It’s a very valid argument and something that should be seriously considered at the highest level of government. That’s why this march is taking place, with over 38,000 people already listed as members of the Facebook group.

The decision to revoke three licences that permit the controlled elimination of pest birds like Carrion crow and woodpigeon has caused a huge divide between urban and rural communities, just as people knew it would. Many people feel as though it’s a deliberate attempt to provide even more control and power to the city population; leaving the people who actually live there, helpless.

Although some views are extreme, farmers and landowners have expressed concern for the wellbeing of the entire UK population as a knock on effect from the ban. If farmers aren’t able to protect their crop fields and livestock, our homegrown produce inventories could suffer badly. Combining this with the current confusion around trade amidst Brexit negotiations, it’s unclear as to how easily we’ll be able to obtain fresh goods and produce. Ultimately, this could threaten the lives and mental wellbeing of farmers across the nation.

Anyone who shares a passion for the work our rural population does or anyone who cares about the maintenance and biodiversity of our countrysides is being urged to make the trip to the capital in Summer and support the march which could play a big part in persuading Natural England to alter their views.