· Advice and support for law enforcers
· A free, easy-to-use app for reporting poaching incidents.
NFU members could well find the app a useful tool for reporting poaching crimes (including hare coursing). The app is available for iPhone, Android & Windows Phone and can be downloaded at www.projectpoacher.com
The aims of Project Poacher are to coordinate action across England and Wales through:
- Prevention – offering best advice to farmers, landowners, gamekeepers, shooting and land management organisations regarding measures to put in place to prevent poaching and disruption mechanisms
- Intelligence – to allow the police to target offenders
- Enforcement – with good intelligence the police can target poachers through the various rural and poaching based operations run throughout England and Wales
- Reassurance – by working together and by publicising resulting actions such as activity, arrests, seizures and convictions.
The NFU works with the British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC) on poaching issues, and BASC offer useful advice on what to do if you have poachers on your land:
- If you see or are aware of poachers on your land and want them off, call the police.
- Call 999 or 101(101 is the non-emergency number to report incidents).
- If you are being threatened or damage is being caused, then that is urgent and 999 should be used.
- Give the call taker as much information as you have, such as vehicles used, how many offenders, do they have firearms, etc.
- Give as good a location as you can, especially at night.
- The most important thing is to get an incident or log number for what you are reporting.
- You might be told that there is nobody to send immediately, but insist on the incident/log number.
- Ask for the incident to be forwarded to the Wildlife Crime Officer and the local beat officer.
To provide anonymous information about poaching or other rural crimes, use the NFU/Crimestoppers Rural Crime Reporting Service0800 783 0137