New campaign group Wild Justice, launched today by Chris Packham CBE, Birdwatch columnist Dr Mark Avery and wildlife campaigner Dr Ruth Tingay, will use the legal system to fight for wildlife and habitats and enforce protection.
The not-for-profit alliance has been formed to take legal cases on behalf of wildlife against public bodies where they are failing to protect species or habitats. Working with legal teams in England and Scotland, Wild Justice says the legal action it engages in will be funded by public donations and crowdfunding appeals.
The three conservationists behind Wild Justice have each been chosen by Birdwatch readers as their Conservation Hero of the Year in the annual Birders' Choice Awards, with Chris Packham having won the coveted title twice. Each is an active campaigner, having been involved in a wide variety of contemporary conservation issues both at home and abroad in recent years. Chris Packham recently received a CBE for his services to nature conservation in the New Year's honours list; last summer he organised a BioBlitz to demonstrate the dire state in which British nature found itself, while he has also actively campaigned in Malta in recent years. As well as being a well-respected expert on birds of prey, Dr Tingay is also the face behind the tireless Raptor Persecution UK blog, while she co-led the 2018 legal challenge against Scottish Natural Heritage's decision to licence the culling of Ravens on grouse moors in Strathbraan, Perthshire, an initiative which attracted widespread public support and funding. A former Director of Conservation at the RSPB, Mark Avery is well known to Birdwatch readers for his monthly column in the magazine; he is also an active blogger, conservationist and acclaimed author.
Wild Justice has been set up by (left to right) Chris Packham CBE, Dr Mark Avery and Dr Ruth Tingay.
Chris Packham said: "Wild Justice. Because the wild needs justice more than ever. The pressures wrought on our wildlife have reached a crisis point and this is an essential response. The message is clear: if you are breaking the law, if the law is weak, if the law is flawed – we are coming for you, peacefully, democratically and legally.
"Our simple premise is to work with the laws we've got to seek real justice for our wildlife, and to reform, refine or renew those laws we have to ensure that justice can be properly realised. Our wildlife has been abused, has been suffering, exploited or destroyed by criminals for too long. Well, no longer. Wild Justice will at last be the voice of those victims and it will be heard … and justice will be served."
Mark Avery added: "Wild Justice will take on public bodies to get a better deal for wildlife. It's a shame that we have to do this but we have little confidence that statutory bodies are fulfilling their functions properly. We aim to hold their feet to the fire in court. I'm reminded of what the great American environmental campaigner Ansel Adams said: 'It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.'"
Ruth Tingay commented: "I know many people who despair about what's happening to our wildlife but who also feel powerless to help, typically because access to justice can be prohibitively expensive and a daunting arena. Wild Justice provides an opportunity for ordinary citizens to fight back on behalf of wildlife, collectively helping us to challenge poor decisions or flawed policies that threaten to harm our wildlife. With so many potential cases, the difficulty for us will be to decide which ones to take on first."
Find out more at www.wildjustice.org.uk or follow the organisation on Twitter: @wildjustice_org
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