Farmers have heavily criticised a decision by Natural Resources Wales to further restrict the ability of farmers and conservationists to control birds.
New general licences for the control of certain species will come into effect on 7 October 2019, NRW has confirmed.
But leading farm groups in Wales fear they will introduce significant additional restrictions compared with current licences.
It follows a legal challenge earlier in the year in England from pressure-group Wild Justice.
The Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) called out the NRW for 'running scared' of any similar challenge which could face Wales.
FUW Land Use Committee Chairman, Tudur Parry said: “It was certainly right of NRW to have reviewed the current legislation in light of what happened in England, but the new licences go far further than just making them legally watertight.
“In our view the review has been hijacked by those wishing to introduce additional and unnecessary restrictions which are unrelated to the risk of a legal challenge.”
The union says that the advice given by farmers had 'effectively been ignored', meaning that the new rules would prevent or restrict conservation work as well as prevent farmers from protecting their crops and livestock.
NRW has statutory obligations with regard to protecting biodiversity, but some fear the body has introduced changes which will make it more difficult to control species that cause damage to wildlife.
It has also introduced a decision to no longer allow rooks to be controlled where they are damaging crops or spreading disease.
Mr Parry added: “Rooks cause huge damage to crops all over Wales, and can decimate vast areas for example where seeds have been sewn, and preventing such damage being caused by a very common species is ridiculous.”
One of the new licences no longer allows carrion crow, magpie, jackdaw, rook, jay, collared dove or wood pigeon to be controlled to protect public health - with the feral pigeon being the only species left on the list.
Another licence restricts action that can be taken to conserve wild birds and does not allow the protection of Wales’ most threatened species.
The new general licences will not apply in, or within 300 metres of 203 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), meaning the actions of NRW, farmers and conservationists in and around these areas will be further restricted.
“Farmers will conclude from this decision that NRW is more interested in introducing ridiculous bureaucracy for political reasons rather than protecting Wales’ wildlife and helping farmers protect their livestock and crops,” Mr Parry said.
