In 2021, the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) announced they were proposing a cull of Badgers in Northern Ireland, which could commence as early as July 2022. We strongly oppose this for many reasons and, working closely with Northern Ireland Badger Group (NIBG) have looked into DAERA’s reasoning for their proposition.  

Wild Justice and NIBG believe that DAERA’s proposition to carry out a cull of Badgers has not been subject to lawful consultation with the public. Their proposal referenced a ‘business case’ for the cull, which has not been made available publicly. We think it’s right that the public should have a full say in decisions that affect the wildlife on their doorstep and that requires all the information to be made available. 

We are preparing to seek a Judicial Review of the lawfulness of DAERA’s proposed Badger cull and have sent DAERA a formal legal letter as the first step in this process. DAERA has delayed replying.

To proceed, we’ll need to raise £50,000 for the first stage of the challenge, and we may need more as we move through the process. These funds will go towards paying our lawyers, court costs, the costs of research and costs awarded against us if our challenge is unsuccessful. Wild Justice is meeting the costs of the NIBG in this case. Some of this money has already been spent from our savings but we can't take the challenge all the way without raising more funds.

Please help with a donation to enable us to take this challenge on behalf of Badgers in Northern Ireland. 

Badgers are a charismatic and important component of natural ecosystems in the UK; we need your help protecting them from widespread culling.                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Thank you for any support you can give.  

Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and Mark Avery (co-founders of Wild Justice). 

Should we exceed our fundraising target for this case, any additional funds raised will be used to support work of a similar nature by Wild Justice.  

Photo: Vincent Van Zalinge - UnSplashed