Biodiversity and Conservation

Baroness Helic Excerpts

Thursday 13th March 2025 Grand Committee

[Baroness Helic (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Grayling, on introducing this debate and I thank my noble friends for supporting my Private Member’s Bill, but above all for supporting hares. I recognise the Minister’s personal commitment to biodiversity and conservation, and I really welcome it. I thank her for all our conversations; I have walked away positive, but I do not know whether we are going to get anywhere. However, I thank her very much.

Global biodiversity is in freefall, driven by habitat destruction, intensive agriculture and unsustainable land management. The State of Nature report has, sadly, identified Britain as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. This is a matter of national heritage, ecological stability, and rural sustainability.

I commend the previous Government for pioneering the global biodiversity framework and embedding legally binding targets through the Environment Act 2021. I also welcome the current Government’s national biodiversity strategy and action plan, but if we are serious about halting biodiversity loss we must focus on specific, meaningful actions. That is why I too urge the Government to address the plight of one of our most iconic yet vulnerable species: the hare.

Hare populations have declined by over 85% since the late 19th century, decimated by modern farming, habitat loss and unsustainable shooting practices. Despite this alarming decline, this is the only game species in England and Wales without a statutory close season, meaning that they can be shot legally throughout the year. This is both an animal welfare and a biodiversity issue. Hares are not just part of our national heritage; they play a crucial role in biodiversity. Their grazing habits promote plant diversity and their foraging improves soil health.

The Born Free Foundation has highlighted the suffering inflicted on hares, which others have already mentioned, particularly when they are killed during the breeding seasons. Leverets, which are entirely dependent on their mothers for survival, are left to slowly starve to death or fall victim to predators. Current protections are fragmented and ineffective, and voluntary codes, although welcome, have failed to prevent the indiscriminate killing of hares.

Like many others, I believe that a statutory close season would bring England and Wales into line with the best practices elsewhere, ensuring that biodiversity commitments are not undermined by avoidable cruelty. Furthermore, studies show that introducing a close season, as elsewhere in Europe or in Scotland, has already had an impact on improving hare numbers. A close season would not hinder farmers but enhance clarity and consistency, licences could still be granted to prevent crop damage, and the legal framework would provide better enforcement against the brutal and illegal practice of hare coursing, which farmers have long endured.

With that in mind, will the Government introduce a statutory closed season for hares? Will they commit to a review of the current regulatory framework to ensure consistency across all game species? If we are serious about restoring biodiversity, we cannot allow inconsistency to undermine our ambitions. A close season for hares would be a small but vital step—practical, proportionate and long overdue.