The Government is very concerned about hen harrier populations, which is why we took the lead on the Hen Harrier Action Plan. This sets out what will be done to increase hen harrier populations in England and includes measures to stop illegal persecution. A copy of the plan is available on GOV.UK at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...

The Joint Action Plan was published in January 2016 and we believe that it remains the best way to restore hen harrier populations.

It contains six actions which individually can bring benefits for harriers, but when combined, underpin each other and have the potential to deliver strong outcomes. It includes three measures to stamp out illegality, a trial toolkit comprising two measures for land owners to safely accommodate hen harriers on grouse moors and a measure to reintroduce them to suitable habitat in other parts of England. These six complementary actions have the potential to deliver strong outcomes and set out the expected benefits from each action, who is going to lead actions and the timescales for them to be achieved.

Natural England will report annually on progress on all six actions to the Defra Uplands Stakeholder Forum and also copy this to the UK Tasking and Co-ordinating group for Wildlife Crime.

The Hen Harrier Action plan aims to achieve:
- A self-sustaining and well dispersed breeding population in England across a range of habitats including a viable population present in the Special Protected Areas designated for hen harrier.
- A hen harrier population coexisting with local business interests and its presence contributing to a thriving rural economy.

All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, with strong penalties for committing offences against birds of prey and other wildlife. The Government takes wildlife crime very seriously and has identified raptor persecution as a national wildlife crime priority, focusing on hen harrier, golden eagle, goshawk, peregrine, red kite and white tailed eagle. The Hen Harrier Action Plan includes work with enforcement agencies to tackle incidents of illegal persecution. Any persecution incident has a catastrophic impact on this fragile population.