Hi folks
I have spoken to one of the mods and he has agreed that it is ok for me to post this thread here. I did ask permission because I feel that the following subject could be quite emotive and may lead to some debate.
I would ask first that in deference to the nature of this superb forum and the equally superb members, we try to keep things adult and friendly.
Ok, so here goes,
I have been asked to give a presentation to the Police Wildlife Crime Unit, this meeting is a multi-disciplinary meeting consisting of myself, the Police, the RSPCA and a couple of other interested organisations.
The purpose of the meeting is to see how the Bushcraft Community can assist the Police in combating wildlife crime such as poaching, badger baiting, damage to property/land, theft of wild flowers/birds eggs, etc etc
Before I go any further, it is worth pointing out that the super-intendant that invited me to attend this meeting was keen to stress that this was not an underhanded way of "catching out" the bushcraft community, he stated that he is more than aware that a lot of the bushcraft fraternity partake in "wildcamping/stealth camping" in private woodland - but he has no interest in this at all!!
Instead, he feels that the bushcraft community are currently an "un-tapped" resource that could aid the fight against wild life crime. We could essentially be the eyes out and boots on the ground help that the Wildlife Crime unit really need.
How many of us have come across abandoned camps, burnt out parts of woodland, broken beer bottles, food packets etc etc in our favourite woodland?!?! This could be our way of trying to stop it.
Now I am no expert at all, so I am asking you guys and gals for your opinions. If you had a chance to say something to the police about trying to help out the woodland/wildlife that as bushcrafters we all cherish, what would it be?
Do you have any suggestions that they could look at?
Do you know of any local hotspots where wildlife crime, poaching etc happens on a regular basis?
How about a centralised number to call incase you want to report something?
Could we work with the police and rural land/woodland owners to allow us a granted access to their land to camp on in return for us being an extra pair of eyes to watch their land?
etc etc
Could Bushcrafters across the country assist with training the police with tracking/animal sign, locations of poachable animals, badgers etc?
Also, I could do with some facts and figures to present at the meeting such as the popularity growth of Bushcraft in Britain, how many bushcrafters are there in the country? etc However, my google-fu is weak and I can't find this info as yet.
Does anybody here have any connections with bushcraft/wilderness shows that could offer up there attendance numbers over the last couple of years so that I can see the percentage growth in numbers etc.
Please let me know if you can help, offer advice, suggestions, facts, figures etc etc
I would VERY MUCH welcome your educated opinions and help on this subject prior to my meeting at the end of this month.
All the best
Ade