Following a successful legal bid in England by campaign group Wild Justice, Natural Resources Wales has announced changes to its own general licensing system.

From Monday 7 October three general licences will be replaced, with a fourth licence scrapped completely.

Once the new licences come into force the existing licences (GL001, GL002 and GL004) will no longer be valid.

What’s changing?

Rooks are now completely excluded from the general licences, due to evidence that rook populations have declined significantly.

The collared dove and jay will be taken off GL001, as well as the GL002 alongside the carrion crow, magpie, jackdaw and wood pigeon.

Feral pigeons and Canada geese have been removed from GL004.

GL003 is to be withdrawn completely. According to Natural Resources Wales, “the small number of aerodromes and airfields in Wales, and the various species encountered at the different locations” means that the control of birds for aviation safety will need individual licence applications.

More information

You can read more about the changes on the Natural Resources Wales website, where the new licences will be published on 7 October.

Source: Online