Bumper year for Hen Harriers in Lancashire

10/01/2007 00:00:00 Twnety seven Hen harriers have fledged this year in just one small corner of the country after a police operation to protect their nests were given extra protection. The Hen harriers all fledged from the Forest of Bowland in eastern Lancashire. Operation Buffer was run by the local police, and various other groups, to protect all vulnerable wildlife in the area.

The Hen harrier is highly threatened in the UK due to persecution, and in 2006 breeding figures for the Hen Harrier Recovery Project showed there were 22 breeding attempts, which resulted in twelve successful hen harrier nests producing 46 fledglings. The Forest of Bowland accounted for 50% of succesful fledglings last year, and this ears numbers in the Forest are well up on last year. Operation Buffer

Operation Buffer was set up to protect all the wildlife o fthe region, though it is best known for its success with Hen harriers. Buffer is a multi agency approach which seeks to co-ordinate the activities of many partner agencies and other concerned parties. It seeks to protect any sensitive location whether it be the nests of hen harriers, peregrines or badger setts to name a few.

Buffer is completely transparent and seeks to promote trust and co-operation across the board and has been implemented on hundreds of locations across the full range of sensitive species whether this be hen harriers, great crested newts, bats or badgers.

Hen harrier protection
Using Hen harriers nests as example, as soon as any concerned party discovers a location, whether this be an estate worker, game keeper or ornithologist, we create a police log. On that log we can record all the issues in relation to that location which means that any concerned party ringing the police with either information about or reporting an evolving event, can quote the log number and be instantly understood in relation to not just the issues of the nest, but also the location, legislation, and partner agencies involved.

Lancashire is blessed with large areas of superb diverse Habitat which has been managed for centuries and the by produce of this effective management is the full range of species of flora and fauna.

Wildlife Officer, PC Duncan Thomas, said: ‘The reason why it has succeeded so well this year is down to the hard work, professionalism and sheer dedication of a large number of practitioners at grass root level, for example, Lancashire’s ornithologists, game keepers, RSPB wardens, Natural England staff and many others.’