On Saturday 7th August 2021 Chris Packham, Mark Avery and Megan McCubbin of Wild Justice are hosting this year’s Hen Harrier Day.
Since its inception in 2014 The Moorland Association has been fully supportive of Hen Harrier Day and we are fully aligned with the Wild Justice ethos of a zero tolerance towards raptor persecution and wildlife crime.
As such we are proud to be playing our part in the protection and expansion of this rare and magnificent bird. With licensing for brood management being introduced in 2018, now, for the fourth year running, we can boast year on year population increases of Hen Harriers – with 2021 seeing a new record of more than 77 chicks fledged from 24 successful nests.
Thanks to the fantastic work of gamekeepers, grouse moor owners and managers this now shows a rise of around 800% in the Hen Harrier population in just four years. This year 19 of the 24 successful nests have been on land actively managed for red grouse – that’s nearly 80% of all successful nests in the England.
And we’re not stopping here. Martin Harper, now ex- director of RSPB, stated in his blog in 2015 that:
“The RSPB will work with everyone who wants to secure favourable conservation status……. Based on an estimate of 6,636 km2 of habitat*, this suggests that England should be supporting at least 61 pairs to achieve favourable conservation status.”
*A Conservation Framework for Hen Harriers in the United Kingdom (JNCC Report No. 441)
At the current rate, could we be on track to hit this target in just two years?
Thank you Hen Harrier Day – you’re doing a great job of informing the public of this fantastic news.
To show your support for the amazing work that our gamekeepers, moorland owners and managers are doing, please shout this from the roof tops!
2021, another record year with at least 77 Hen Harrier chicks fledged, 80% on managed grouse moors. Keep up the good work gamekeepers and moorland managers #henharrierday #broodmanagement @natures_voice @ChrisGPackham @BlanaidDenman
You can make a donation towards this ground breaking successful conservation programme here
