NFU view on plans to reintroduce lynx in countryside

Lynx UK Trust has launched a consultation to discuss reintroducing the species to five UK sites in 2016.

The trust’s report cites independent research from AECOM, the infrastructure and environmental services giant, suggesting reintroduction would mean hundreds of new jobs and tens of millions of pounds in eco-tourism revenues over a 25-year period.

The consultation also considers impact on UK ecology and industries including tourism, farming and conservation.

Trial reintroductions would be at sites in Aberdeenshire, Argyll, Northumberland, Cumbria and Norfolk. The consultation will run until the new year at a national level, moving onto more detailed consultations at a local level in areas where trials are planned.

NFU countryside adviser Claire Robinson said: “Any species introduction, particularly if it has not been in this country for hundreds of years, can have a massive impact on the many benefits that the countryside delivers.

“The environment has changed drastically and we do not know how lynx would behave in the current environment.

“But the biggest concern we have would be the impact on farm animals with lynx preying on lambs, poultry and outdoor piglets – those animals are farmers’ livelihoods.

“In our view any re-introduction of lynx would be expensive with a high risk of failure - we believe efforts, and finances, would be better focused on retaining current biodiversity.

"The NFU will respond in full to any official consultation from Natural England. We will continue to raise these very serious concerns with Natural England as the licensing body.”