Farm shoots threatened by planned new Welsh licensing laws

Compulsory licencing of gamebird shoots could be in force in Wales as early as next year, with countryside campaigners accusing the Welsh government of having a ‘’toxic view’’ of recreational shooting.

Wales’ environmental regulator, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), wants to introduce measures that would ban the release of the common pheasant and red-legged partridge except under licence and subject to conditions and fees.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) said that would destroy jobs, rural communities, and “decades of conservation work’’.

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Its director, Steve Griffiths, described the proposals as the next step towards the government’s “endgame of shutting down all shooting in Wales’’.

“The Welsh government has taken an increasingly toxic view on recreational shooting in recent years, imposing unevidenced restrictions on game shooting on publicly owned land and refusing Covid-funding to shooting-related businesses,’’ he said.

Countryside Alliance Wales fears that what it describes as “burdensome legislation’’ could be pushed forward, “irrespective of the evidence produced by rural groups as part of the consultation process’’.

NRW’s head of regulation and permitting, Nadia DeLonghi, insisted that the goal was to develop a “proportionate and workable’’ system.

“This is not about stopping gamebird release, but to identify any risks and find solutions that balance the needs of all stakeholders and the environment itself,’’ she said.

The online consultation is open until 20 June 2023.

Regulation could be in force for the 2024-25 shooting season.