SCOTLAND’S national conservation body has been accused of misleading the public over plans to slaughter 300 ravens.

The RSPB has blasted Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), calling for the licence allowing the “experimental” cull of the birds – awarded to gamekeepers and farmers in Perthshire – to be fully revoked.

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Earlier this week, in response to a huge public outcry at the proposal, SNH announced a review, saying its Scientific Advisory Committee would now scrutinise the cull. But the RSPB says that despite media reports to the contrary, this does not mean the cull has been stopped.

It is concerned that SNH has not withdrawn the licence from the Strathbraan Community Collaboration for Waders (SCCW), and there has been no sign the killing will be paused while the scientific scrutiny is carried out. “Choosing not to pause a cull in order to make sure the science is in order has to beg the question why on earth is this being done at all?” said RSPB Scotland director Anne McCall.

In the last decade the number of wading birds in Scotland has fallen sharply. The number of Dunlin is down by 52 per cent, while oystercatchers are down by a third, and the population of curlews has plummeted 23 per cent.

The rationale for the cull is that the raven, a scavenger, is responsible.

McCall said SNH was simply “killing ravens to see what happens” rather than acting on any significant research.

She said: “The most recent and relevant piece of peer- reviewed science examining any such relationship between wader declines and ravens found ‘no significant negative associations between raven abundance and population changes in upland waders, and so does not provide support to justify granting of licences for the lethal control of ravens in the interest of population- level conservation of these upland wader species.’

“That’s pretty emphatic. Why has SNH ignored this?”

McCall also expressed concerns about the lack of means to “monitor and properly evaluate the efficacy of this lethal act”, which she said was happening in area with a “worrying history” of wildlife crime.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has called the cull a “positive action to address a known problem before it is too late”.

It chairman Alex Hogg said: “The combined field knowledge of farmers and gamekeepers, gleaned over centuries, is no less valid than other science on this issue.” He said the time for talk about saving wading birds was long past, adding: “The reality is no number of keyboard petitions will save the curlew. Only action will.”

A spokeswoman for SNH said: “We need to get a balance between species – bringing back waders from the brink whilst still maintaining a healthy national population of ravens.

“Given concerns about the future for local ground nesting waders, the SCCW approached us in 2017 with a request for a licence which would help us understand the decline of these important species.

“SNH considered this request, following due process and have granted the licence, attaching clear conditions for SCCW to follow.

“The information SCCW gather throughout the trial will contribute to the wider work for waders and will be made available to others who are also working to save these endangered birds to allow us all to learn and make progress in conserving some of our most threatened species.

“SNH is confident about the rationale behind this licence.

“However, in recognition of the concerns expressed, we have asked our Scientific Advisory Committee – a group of respected external experts – to review as speedily as possible how this particular case fits with the wider work on adaptive action to save waders and to report on whether the methods agreed for this trial fit with the wider body of work under way.”

The four-year licence allows the killing of 69 ravens per year, and SNH says that if the maximum number is exceeded, it will be revoked.

“Scottish Government’s Understanding Predation project brought together natural science and local knowledge with the common aim of saving these birds. Raptor workers, RSPB, farmers, gamekeepers and everyone with a stake in the countryside agreed in countless workshops that urgent and bold action was now necessary. Adaptive management was identified as one of the tools to save the curlew and other wading birds whose populations have crashed dramatically.

“There is no point in reaching those conclusions then failing to act,” said Mr Hogg. “This licence is a positive action to address a known problem before it is too late. The combined field knowledge of farmers and gamekeepers, gleaned over centuries, is no less valid than other science on this issue.”