Inside Protect the Wild: why did we create Protectors of the Wild?

We wanted the most comprehensive accurate resource of its kind on the internet.

Many organisations - from wildlife charities to the police - ask us to 'report wildlife crime' when we see it taking place. The idea is that all of us can become 'eyes in the field', watching for crime or illegal persecution and helping stop it.

It's a simple and potentially very empowering concept. The problem is putting it into practice. While we might have a rough idea, few of us really know what a wildlife crime is. Laws are often extremely complex and can be different across the UK. Exemptions and loopholes abound, and major legislation can change. On top of everything else, the information we need can be very difficult to find - and online searching often takes us - *shudder* - to shooting or hunting websites.

We wanted to change that, so in 2023 we started to develop 'Protectors of the Wild'. We envisaged a unique, practical resource which would put all the information we needed in one, animal-friendly place. 'Protectors' would give us all the confidence we need to Recognise, Record, and ultimately Report wildlife crime and wildlife persecution.

What began by asking and answering one question - 'What is a wildlife crime?' - led us to ask literally hundreds more.

Check out ‘Foxes and the Law’

Hundreds of questions

Over the months we've been writing 'Protectors of the Wild' we've essentially tried to imagine being in the field, finding ourselves in an unfamiliar situation and wanting to know, for example, precisely what UK law really says about hunting with hounds, using firearms, or destroying bird nests. What legal protection do foxes, deer, badgers, bats, and birds of prey actually have? What does the Hunting Act 2004, the Animal Welfare Act 2006, or the CRoW Act 2000 say? How would we tell if the snare or cage trap we’ve just found is being used within the law or not (and whether we can do anything about it)?

We've also looked at practical issues that monitors and sabs come up against each day, like the use of drones and mobile phones, the laws on driving quad bikes, what harassment or assault is, and what rights someone has if they’re stopped and searched or even if they're arrested.

After all, the more we know, the more any potential criminal will have to be looking over their shoulder wondering if we know enough to Recognise, Record, and Report what they’re up to, and the more we know our rights the better we can protect ourselves.

We've written forty pages now, grouped in ‘sections’ like Birds, Mammals, Equipment etc. Each page contains a brief overview followed by FAQs, Some are simple one-paragraph answers, some are almost mini-essays, but we’ve researched and written over 400 of them so far with more being added every week!

‘Protectors’ is designed to be used in the field, so there are very few images to keep page loading speeds high in remote locations where signals may be spotty, and we utilise an accordion-style ‘drop-down’ system to deliver the bulk of the information so you get to choose what information you want to see when you want to see it (rather than have it all load at once and swamp your mobile phone screen).

We think we’ve got the content right because we’re ranking higher and higher in search engine returns - search for something like “Are foxes vermin?” and there we are at the top of the page telling the world “No they are not”.

Check out ‘Birds of Prey and the Law’

A ‘first stop’ before seeking legal advice

Protectors of the Wild has been a massive but hugely enjoyable undertaking. We should stress here that we're not legal professionals though - think of ‘Protectors of the Wild’ as a ‘first stop’ before seeking legal advice if you need it - but we are sure that this is the most comprehensive and accurate resource of its kind on the internet. In fact, we were delighted to say that when 'Protectors' first went online a renowned investigator described it in a tweet as "an amazing legal resource and probably the best anywhere" - and we’ve expanded it a great deal since then.

We want to make sure 'Protectors of the Wild' stays ‘the best’ too. We are always updating and improving our information, filling gaps where they are pointed out, and listening to feedback.

Talking of which, do please let us know if we’ve got something wrong or could explain things in a different way. And please use ‘Protectors’ in the field yourself and share it among your groups - it was fun to put together as we said, but it really is intended to be used!

As an organisation everything we do is aimed at 'Empowering people to protect British wildlife'. We are confident that 'Protectors of the Wild' does exactly that, and its impact will be felt for many years to come.

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