Badgers are not out of the woods yet
The Government may have said that it will end badger culling in 2022, but ERIN MCDAID of Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust explains why he is treating the announcement with caution
WITH news that the controversial badger cull is set to end in 2022 making the headlines recently, you might expect me to be celebrating the success of our efforts to end the killing, but even a cursory glance below the headlines makes it clear that we must remain vigilant.
In March last year the Government announced that its policy was to move away from culling as a means of controlling bovine tuberculosis – only to make a massive U-turn by expanding the cull into new areas including many where badgers had already been vaccinated.
We were devastated at the prospect of badgers that our staff and volunteers had worked hard to vaccinate being shot and sadly this will inevitably have been the result of the U-turn.
The recent announcement that the end of culling is set to be brought forward, along with confirmation that trials of a vaccine are imminent, is to be welcomed, but experience would suggest that caution is required. 2022 is only the date suggested for the end to issuing new cull licences – not all culling.
Any optimism that an end to the mass killing of badgers is in sight must be balanced against the fact that tens of thousands more badgers will continue to be killed unless the licensing process is ended now.
The position of the Wildlife Trusts is clear – vaccinating badgers is a more humane, sustainable and cost-effective alternative to shooting.
Thanks to the backing of our members and donors, and the farmers and landowners who have participated in our programmes, Wildlife Trusts have led the way with badger vaccinations across England.
We are now calling on the Government not to issue any new cull licences and to focus efforts and resources on developing and rolling out a comprehensive fully-funded and resourced badger vaccination programme.
We stand ready to help the Government achieve this.
If you feel that my cautionary tone feels a touch cynical then I would highlight two further issues as context. The Environment Bill – which will provide the legal framework for protecting species and habitats as well as vital resources such as clean air and water – was due back in Parliament last month but will now not return this parliamentary session.
And, as the UK prepares to welcome world leaders to what should be a pivotal conference on climate action later this year, the green light has been given for the creation, in Cumbria, of a colossal coalmine under the Irish Sea – the first new deep coal mine in the UK for half a century.
These and similar issues fan my concern that much of the Government’s positive talk about protecting the environment is mere rhetoric.
Whilst I’m sure that all politicians fall, at some stage, into the trap of saying what they believe people want to hear, the midst of a combined climate and ecological crisis is a time for brave and positive action – not posturing and prevarication.