Rural Crime
A Guide to Wildlife Law Enforcement in the UK
Published by Department of Environment Transport and the Regions in1998 as a practical guide for anyone in wildlife law enforcement.
The 'Guide to Wildlife Law Enforcement in the UK' is intended as a practical guide for anyone in wildlife law enforcement. It is not a legal document but it does contain many of the legal provisions that apply to the protection of wildlife. It also gives useful and pragmatic advice on the prevention of offences and the detection and prosecution of offenders. It is directed principally at practitioners within the law enforcement, government and conservation agencies.
The majority of people who live in the countryside respect the country and the diversity of wild and domesticated bird and animal life, and wish to see it flourish. There is though, a very small percentage of the population who are prepared to disregard the law and who, in some cases, are prepared to deny the ability of some species to continue to exist in order to trade in these species for considerable sums of money. Of course the rarer the species the greater the incentive to trade illegally, and the greater the financial reward.
For the newcomer to wildlife law enforcement, the relevant legislation can initially appear to be a daunting mass of statutes of disparate ages and intentions. These range from early 19th Century Game Laws, aimed at preventing people from poaching the Squire's rabbits, to recent European Community Regulations intended to curtail the activities of organised international criminals in the multi-million pound trade in endangered species.
This working guide to the principal legislation was compiled with the objective of telling practitioners:
-
where to look for the answer;
-
where and/or whom to ask for specialist advice, if they cannot find it.
The guide is available from http://www.defra.gov.uk/paw/publications/law/default.htm
Last update: 09/09/03