The Department of the Environment (DoE) has come under fire from wildlife organisations for its decision to stop issuing Game Birds Preservation Orders for the foreseeable future.

An annual Game Birds Preservation Order has, for some years, made it illegal to kill all partridges and hen pheasants, and to sell or purchase partridge, hen pheasants or grouse for consumption unless an exemption has been issued by DoE for that particular year.

However, Sam Foster MLA, the Minister of the Environment, has announced that due to declining numbers in the truly wild populations of these birds - which the order was originally designed to protect - the annual Game Preservation Order “no longer serves any conservation purpose”. Subsequently, after 30 September of this year, an exemption will no longer be required by law to shoot partridges and hen pheasants.

But the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust has responded to the announcement by claiming that the move will “pose a number of risks” for the province’s wild birds, in particular the dangers caused by the use of lead in shotgun cartridges, which can poison birds who ingest the toxic substance.

A spokesperson from the Trust added: “The red grouse is a very important bird here and it’s clear their number have been falling so opening them up to further shooting will make a susceptible species even more at risk.”

(CL)