Major Welsh landowner confirms trail hunting will remain banned
Posted 9th August 2022
The League has welcomed confirmation from one of Wales’s biggest landowners that so-called ‘trail’ hunting will remain banned on its land.
Hunting made up a ‘minor’ use of the land, National Resources Wales said, when it first ended the ‘sport’ in November last year.
That decision followed the conviction of Mark Hankinson for using webinars to teach hunters how to use trail hunting and exemptions in the Hunting Act to continue hunting wild mammals. His conviction, however, was overturned on appeal.
Julie James, MS, Minister for Climate Change within the Welsh Government, also told the League: "I have been advised that Natural Resources Wales will not be reviewing the decision to stop permitting trail hunting on the NRW Estate. Consequently, trail hunting will continue to be prohibited on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate which NRW manage on our behalf."
All other landowners that banned trail hunting on their land as a result of the League’s land denial campaigns, plus Hankinson’s original conviction, have also confirmed their decisions will not be reversed.
Chris Luffingham, director of external affairs at the League, said: “Denying hunts access to land ensures that no wild animals can be killed ‘accidentally’, as the hunts claim, or due to loopholes in the law. We welcome the confirmation from NRW and now urge other landowners like the Forestry Commission and Ministry of Defence to end hunting on public land. It’s time for change: to get a real ban on hunting with dogs.”
- To find out more about trail hunting and the League’s campaign to strengthen the Hunting Act 2004, see https://www.league.org.uk/what-we-do/hunting/hunting-act/