A decision to retain and modernise the bird registration scheme in England was announced today.
Controls on the keeping of birds will be directed at those native bird species whose conservation status would be most at risk from being taken from the wild for commercial activities.
The revised scheme will introduce proportionate regulation. Those bird species considered not at risk will be removed from the scheme and unnecessary burdens placed on responsible bird keepers lifted.
Joan Ruddock, Minister for Climate Change and Biodiversity, explained at a Westminster Hall debate this afternoon;
"I have given the future of the Bird Registration Scheme a great deal of thought over the last few months and am very pleased that we will be retaining the scheme in England for a limited number of birds.
"It is my belief that bird registration should only be targeted at those species, where taking them from the wild would affect their conservation. We will work to simplify administrative procedures for obtaining permits under CITES and Bird Registration to ensure minimum burdens on keepers."
Alongside the changes to species on the scheme, we will look at complimentary measures to protect native birds from being taken from the wild, and will look at streamlining the registration of species that are on both the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the bird registration scheme.
Complimentary measures which will be examined will include:
-Whether more stringent sales controls are required to protect certain species removed from the scheme.
-Discussions with the appropriate bodies on the effectiveness of using more CITES single transaction certificates for the species removed.