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21
Oct
Lobby group seeks 'corrective action' to protect from 'risks' posed by wildlife activists
The Moorland Association has said it wants "proportionate corrective action" to address complaints it made to the Charity Commission about a campaign to stop bird-of-prey persecution in the Yorkshire Dales.
The Eyes on the Skies campaign was launched by Friends of the Dales last October with the aim of ending the killing of raptors in the National Park.
Gamekeepers have been known to illegally kill birds of prey to protect gamebird stocks, and some have been jailed for such offences.
The Eyes on the Skies campaign says the Yorkshire Dales are a UK 'black spot' for this type of wildlife crime, with 152 confirmed incidents of raptor persecution over a recent 15-year period.
The hen harrier is the most intensely persecuted of all the UK's birds of prey. Photo: RSPB.
The Moorland Association is the main lobbying group representing grouse moor owners and managers – including gamekeepers – in England and Wales, and it says that the trustees running the Eyes on the Skies campaign have not done enough to ensure its supporters do not intimidate rural workers.
'All evil criminals'
In March, the association complained to the Charity Commission, saying the charity appeared to have "used its platform in a way that may have resulted in foreseeable risks of hostility, harassment, and community division affecting lawful rural workers".
It also complained of "material falling below reasonable standards of fairness, balance, and evidential caution expected where a charity presents contentious material as ‘education’".
It claimed one visitor reportedly referred to a Friends of the Dales webinar and described gamekeepers as “all evil criminals”.
In a press release, the Moorland Association said it wanted "proportionate corrective action":
We are concerned about how evidence was presented and the risks to gamekeepers, rural workers and their families.
The charity’s trustees gave assurances in April but have not substantively answered two follow-up letters.
Heather moorland is often managed for grouse shooting. Image: Pixabay.
The body also pointed to a 2025 report by Professor Simon Denny, which it said drew on "information from gamekeepers on 58 English grouse moors, and recorded more than 1,000 threats, more than 1,500 insults and 30 keepers physically assaulted during one year".
But it also stressed that the Eyes on the Skies campaign could not be blamed as a catalyst for those incidents as it was launched after the report was published.
RNLI comparison
The Moorland Association drew a parallel with recent persecution of lifeboat staff, perpetrated by anti-immigration activists angry at the RNLI for saving migrants' lives at sea.
It said:
The Charity Commission has recently condemned the intimidation directed at RNLI staff and volunteers. Its chair, Dame Julia Unwin, has stressed the need to distinguish powerful disagreement from harassment and abuse.
Gamekeepers, rural workers and their families deserve the same seriousness of consideration when concerns about intimidation are raised.
That principle also matters when concerns arise about the effects of a charity’s own campaigning. Trustees should be able to explain how they considered reported hostility, assessed the evidence and decided what safeguards were appropriate.
A red kite in flight.
The association has asked the regulator to examine unresolved questions about the presentation of evidence, risks to lawful workers and their families, and the Eyes on the Skies trustees’ response after those concerns were brought to their attention.
Friends of the Dales is the working name of the charity the Yorkshire Dales Society.
Eyes on the Skies is supported by seven charities and organisations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.
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