BASC has told the BBC that the organisation has zero tolerance for wildlife crime.
Speaking on Sunday Politics, BASC North director Duncan Thomas called for people to ‘work together’ to deal with wildlife crime.
The programme included a piece on bird of prey persecution in the Peak District.
Mr Thomas said: “There is a tiny amount of persecution occurring. What we have to do is work closely with our conservation partners to eradicate that.
“BASC and the other shooting organisations have a zero tolerance for wildlife crime. Anybody committing any crime will be expelled from the organisations, the police will remove their firearm and shotgun certificates, they won’t be able to work. There’s a zero tolerance for it. Let’s work together and take this issue forward.”
Speaking on the show, Mark Spencer MP – who spoke at BASC’s rural reception at the Conservative conference last year, said: “They are beautiful birds and they need protecting, that’s why the government introduced the National Wildlife Crime Unit to work with and the shooting associations are working with the police to try and solve this challenge but it does need jumping on and these birds need protecting.”
Toby Perkins MP said on the show: “I think it’s a real significant issue. I think it’s right to say it’s only the irresponsible members of the shooting community that are responsible for a lot of this damage but we do need to see it really clamped down on by the police. We need to take wildlife crime seriously because there is clearly a link between areas where there is shooting and the reduction in these species.”
The programme can be viewed here.