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Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) wants to ban lead shot in the UK.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...-lead-shot.html

'An attack on country sports' ...anger at Wildfowl Trust's bid to ban lead shot

By Valerie Elliott

PUBLISHED: 01:27 GMT, 13 May 2012 | UPDATED: 01:27 GMT, 13 May 2012

A leading conservation charity is at loggerheads with its pro-shooting president, Prince Charles, after launching a campaign calling for a nationwide ban on lead shot.

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), which also has the Queen as patron, is calling for a ban on the shot used in game shooting – despite the risk of offending members of the Royal Family who enjoy this traditional country sport.

The move has revived tensions in the countryside, seven years after the foxhunting ban.

Chef Marco Pierre White is among many people convinced it is an attempt to attack game shooting.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation and the Countryside Alliance have been angered by the move and insist there is no scientific justification for a lead shot ban.

They claim it would harm an industry worth almost £2 billion to the national economy.

Farmers are also concerned the higher price for non-lead shot will drive up the cost of controlling rabbits, foxes, pigeons and rooks on farmland.

A typical pack of 25 cartridges filled with lead shot costs about £7 while a pack with non-toxic shot made of the metal bismuth costs about £34.

Cheaper steel shot is sold for about £5 a pack – but this high-velocity ammunition is not suitable for many older guns because there is a risk the barrels could explode.

The controversial WWT strategy is revealed in papers leaked to The Mail on Sunday.

It has triggered particular anger because the charity is widely supported in the shooting community.

The WWT was established by conservationist Sir Peter Scott in 1946 at the Slimbridge nature reserve in Gloucestershire and now has eight sites in the UK.

Mr Pierre White, a keen shooter, said: 'People have been shooting with lead for generations, why would you want to change it?

'If you want to talk about pollution, let's talk about petrol and industry. The bottom line is that they are trying to ban shooting.

'This is a decision made by people who have nothing else to do.'

He added: 'When I think of my childhood in the countryside it was with swallows, skylarks, butterflies, patchworks of fields and ground-nesting game, like grey partridge, but all this has been reduced by modern farming.

'Pesticides do more damage to nature than lead shot.'

The WWT denies it is anti-shooting but admits it has been concerned for some time about risks to human health from eating wild game shot with lead ammunition.

The charity also wants to reduce the number of birds poisoned by lead shot and to prevent tiny lead pellets entering lakes, ponds, rivers and coastal waters – which are important feeding grounds for water and wading birds.

A nine-page document for a WWT council meeting in March flags up possible opposition from Prince Charles and others in the Royal Family.

It states: 'HRH & others at Buckingham Palace may not be amenable to this – but if handled in the right way (new information, emerging risks, how could anyone have known etc) Prince Charles could be an advocate – unpredictable.'

The charity also describes how it could drum up a national campaign for a ban by enlisting support from organisations such as Mumsnet, the National Childbirth Trust, supermarkets and celebrity chefs.

Martin Spray, WWT chief executive, last night defended the plan and said he would try to convince the Prince and other Royals to support it.

'Part of our objective is to counter any threats to wetlands and wetland species and we are honour-bound to argue the case for alternatives. I would argue it with the Royals,' he said.

'I accept it is not our job to advise on health issues. But we've taken lead out of petrol, paint and piping for water and yet there seems to be a denial about lead shot.'

Strict laws are already in place on the use of lead shot in the wild.

In England and Wales it is banned from the foreshore and designated sites of special scientific interest.

Shooting fan: Prince Charles has been shooting for decades at Sandringham

It is also illegal to kill ducks and geese with lead shot. But the charity has conducted research on wild ducks on sale in Britain and found that almost half are being illicitly shot with lead.

Mr Spray said: 'The WWT is clear that lead poisoning as a result of lead shot in the environment is of serious concern both for our treasured wildfowl and potentially for people.'

Buckingham Palace and Clarence House declined to say if the Royals use lead shot or to comment on a lead shot ban. But game shoots are held at the Queen's private Sandringham estate in Norfolk and at Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has already banned lead shot on its 211 reserves and a spokesman confirmed its council may also decide to campaign for a nationwide ban on lead ammunition.

Rural organisations, however, fear a national campaign against lead shot on human health grounds will start a new food scare and stifle a growing UK market for game birds that is worth millions.

Simon Clarke, spokesman for the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said: 'It is a tragedy that an organisation with a remit to protect wildfowl and wetlands has chosen to move into areas beyond its scope. The declared intention of the WWT to deliberately start a health scare around game meat is shocking.'

Tim Bonner, for the Countryside Alliance, said the WWT move was 'a blatant attack' on shooting and that it would create a health scare that could affect hundreds of rural jobs.

The Health Protection Agency and the Food Standards Agency are not aware of complaints from anyone who has become ill after eating game shot with lead.

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John aka NitroX

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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
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