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House Sparrow wins protection 2005 will bring some welcome news for the House Sparrow, a species whose numbers have fallen from an estimated 12 million pairs to just six million pairs over the last twenty-five or so years. On October 14th 2004, the Government announced that the House Sparrow (and another declining species - the Starling) is to be taken off the general licence that enables perceived 'pest' species to be controlled for the purposes of preventing damage to crops or the spread of disease. Ben Bradshaw (Minister for Nature Conservation) said 'I have been keen for some time to halt the dramatic decline of the House Sparrow, particularly in the south and south-east of England. The consultation process of the review of the general list has just been completed, and I think the time is now right to put work in hand to restore the dwindling populations of the House Sparrow and Starling. It is my view that both these birds should be removed from the general list to afford them greater proteciton.' Even though BTO-led research (click here to jump to the BTO-led Defra report) found that the shooting of House sparrows was playing a minimal part in their decline, the news that House Sparrow is being taken off the list is still extremely welcome. As Mike Toms (Garden BirdWatch Organiser and the person running the current BTO House Sparrow Survey) notes: 'We are delighted by this news, not least because it sends a very positive message that the Department of the Environment is fully behind efforts to reverse the decline of this once-common species.' The announcement also gives further support to the ongoing survey work that the BTO is carrying out into the reasons behind the decline. For more information on the BTO House Sparrow Survey, click here.
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