RJ Hamster
End Bird Netting: A New Campaign to Expose a…
Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more
End Bird Netting: A New Campaign to Expose a Ignored Wildlife Crisis
APR 14READ IN APP
Walk through almost any town or city in Britain and you’ll see it if you know where to look; green plastic mesh stretched over hedges, trees wrapped like packages, buildings draped in almost invisible barriers.
At first glance it looks harmless, just another piece of urban infrastructure. But look closer and you begin to see the truth. Birds trapped alive, their suffering ignored, left to die.
Image from Humane Wildlife Solutions.
Bird netting is often installed to stop birds nesting, roosting, raiding bins, perching or feeding in certain areas, but it does not work effectively, depsite this it is widely used across the UK, companies ignore the serious welfare concerns that come hand in hand with bird netting. And yet the real scale of the problem remains largely invisible.
Until now.
Today we’re launching a new national campaign website designed to change that.
Introducing End Bird Netting
Protect the Wild has launched a new website dedicated to exposing, documenting and ultimately ending harmful bird netting across the UK.
The aim is simple: shine a light on a problem that has been allowed to remain largely invisible, show the scale of the problem.
Bird netting is often installed out of sight, behind construction hoardings, high on buildings, or wrapped around vegetation before the nesting season begins. In many cases it is used specifically to stop birds from accessing certain areas.
While birds and their nests are protected under UK law, the practice of installing netting harms them, and is often marketed as a humane alternative to fatal management practices. However, bird netting is ineffective, inhumane, and indiscriminate.
The End Bird Netting campaign exists to expose this reality, and to build the evidence needed to change it.
What the new campaign website does
For the first time, the End Bird Nettingwebsite creates a national platform for documenting bird netting incidents. The site allows anyone, from wildlife rescuers to concerned resident, to report cases where birds have been trapped in netting, whether alive, injured or dead. It also provides a “what you need to know” page if you are seeking advise on how to rescue alive birds.
By collecting these reports from across the country, the campaign will begin to build a national picture of a problem that has never been systematically recorded.
Every report helps. Every photograph matters. Every location adds to the evidence.
Through the website, supporters can:
- Report birds, dead or alive, trapped in netting
- Submit photographs and evidence
- Document incidents across towns and cities
- Expose companies and developers responsible for animal suffering
- Help build a national record of the problem
- Help identify potential prosecutable offences
The site also provides clear information about humane alternatives, practical solutions that allow buildings and infrastructure to coexist with wildlife rather than excluding it.
Image taken by Humane Wildlife Solutions at the Mercure Hotel, Nottingham.
Why ending bird netting matters
At its core, bird netting reflects a deeper problem in how we treat urban wildlife. Across the UK, development pressure is pushing nature into ever smaller spaces. Trees, hedges and buildings that once supported nesting birds are disappearing, or being deliberately blocked off. Instead of designing cities that make room for wildlife, we are increasingly designing them to keep wildlife out. Bird netting is one of the clearest examples of this.
It is indiscriminate: It does not distinguish between species. Sparrows, pigeons, starlings, swifts, birds of prey, even different animals like rats, mice, and bats are at risk.
It is inhumane: Birds can become trapped, injured or left to die in the mesh.
It is ineffective: Bird netting does not work, birds still find ways in, and still become trapped, or entangled, leading to mortalities.
And perhaps most importantly, it is often unnecessary. But as long as the scale of the problem remains hidden, change will be slow. That is exactly what this campaign intends to change.
Building a national movement
Ending bird netting will not happen through one organisation alone.
It will take a movement. That means working together, across the entire wildlife community and beyond.
The End Bird Netting campaign aims to bring together:
• wildlife rescue groups
• campaigners and activists
• ecologists and scientists
• members of the public
• journalists and investigators
• organisations advocating for urban wildlife
Because every time someone reports an incident, every time a rescuer documents a trapped bird, every time a local community challenges a harmful installatin, the pressure grows. Evidence builds. And the argument for change becomes impossible to ignore.
How you can help
The success of this campaign depends on people on the ground.
People who notice. People who document. People who refuse to walk past suffering wildlife and pretend it isn’t happening.
Here’s how you can help right now:
- Report trapped birds
If you see birds caught in netting, alive or dead, submit the details through the campaign website. Note, netting must contain dead or alive birds. - Submit evidence
Photos, locations, dates and species information help build the national evidence base needed to push for change. - Share the campaign
The more people who know about this issue, the harder it becomes to ignore. - Work with local groups and councils
Communities can challenge harmful installations and push for wildlife-friendly alternatives. - Expose harmful netting
Developers, contractors and property owners must be held accountable when wildlife is harmed and netting is not maintained.
This is how change starts. With evidence. With visibility. With people refusing to look away.
A dead baby pigeon, trapped in netting, credit Humane Wildlife Solutions.
This is not wildlife management
Bird netting is often presented as a practical solution. A simple fix. A necessary inconvenience. But let’s call it what it really is.
It is wildlife exclusion.
It is a symptom of a planning system that still treats nature as an obstacle rather than something to protect. Our towns and cities belong to wildlife too. Swifts have nested in our buildings for centuries. Sparrows have lived alongside us for generations. Starlings once filled our skies in their thousands. Pigeons have helped the Uk win wars… they all deserve more than plastic mesh.They deserve space. They deserve compassion.
And with enough people speaking up, documenting the problem, and demanding better, we can end harmful bird netting for good.
Visit our site: End Bird Netting.
Help fund our work to Protect the Wild
We’re not afraid to try everything in the fight for British wildlife – from undercover investigations and viral animations, to protests, hard-hitting reports, political lobbying, and even standing for public office.
We believe in doing what others won’t. In trying what hasn’t been tried. And in saying things exactly as they are.
And we’re powered entirely by you.
We don’t rely on big donors or hidden backers. Our strength comes from thousands of ordinary people giving a few pounds a month – and together, that becomes unstoppable.
Right now, our goal is 200 new monthly supporters.
We’re already at 51 in just the first week of this month.
If you believe in what we’re building and want to be part of one of the fastest-growing animal protection movements in the UK, please consider joining us and chipping in a few pounds a month.
Thank you for standing with us.
