Welsh wildlife photographer convicted for disturbing Honey Buzzard nest
A 68-year-old man from Neath has appeared before Swansea Magistrates Court where he was found guilty and fined more than £1,600 pounds for offences against the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 after disturbing a nest of one of the country’s rarest birds.
On Tuesday, June 25, John Paul Haffield was sentenced following a trial of disturbing a nest containing an extremely rare breeding pair of Honey Buzzards and their eggs.
He visited nest sites of Schedule 1 protected birds such as birds of prey and other species throughout Wales taking photographs of the birds and their young or their eggs within the nest and then offered those photographs for sale online on his own website.
The website contained more than 200 photographs of birds, many of which were protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Amongst those photographs were pictures of the Honey Buzzard, which he visited on a number of occasions. It is currently the only recorded nest in Wales.
Police Constable Mark Powell on secondment with the Natural Resources Wales Industry Regulation team said:
“Officers from Natural Resources Wales are successfully working with police forces across Wales, and the National Wildlife Crime Unit to investigate and prosecute those responsible for committing wildlife and rural crime offences.
“This was a particularly upsetting case. The defendant was actively taking photographs of birds protected under Schedule 1 and offering them for sale.
“Climbing to nests causes extreme stress to adult birds resulting in eggs not being properly incubated. On the Honey Buzzard nest there were two eggs and one failed.
“This is very disappointing as the Honey Buzzard is considered to be one of the rarest birds in Wales and this was the only known nest. Recently the nest featured on the BBC documentary Iolo’s Valleys and is actively monitored as part of a nest monitoring programme to help ensure the species survival.
“Mr Haffield maintained his innocence and elected to go to trial. Unfortunately for him he was found guilty and received fines and costs totalling £1,620.
“I would like to thank the Licencing Team at NRW and the expert witnesses who gave evidence in Court. Multi agency cooperation has never been better and together we will continue to investigate and prosecute offenders“.
2 July 2024
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