Reintroduce The Lynx back into the UK

LATEST NEWS
09/01/2018: LATEST ON THE TRIAL LYNX REINTRODUCTION LICENSING APPLICATION

In July 2017, the Lynx UK Trust submitted the first ever license application for the release of Eurasian lynx into the UK. The license was submitted after a comprehensive consultation lasting almost 2 years during which a wide range of local and national stakeholders were consulted. The wider general public were also consulted using an online questionnaire to which we got almost 10,000 responses in 7 days. 92%of the respondents were in favour and the majority of respondents were from rural areas.

The license application consisted of thousands of pages of rationale, explanation, data, scientific analysis and literature review and this paperwork was submitted directly to Natural England who are the relevant licensing body. It is important to note that the Lynx UK Trust has also had ongoing communication with SNH, DEFRA and the Animal Plant and Health Authority, who are all fully aware of the license application and are in communication with Natural England about it. Indeed it has been very encouraging that this application is the subject of multi-agency attention which shows just how seriously this application is being treated.

After a period of review by Natural England, the case managers from Natural England and representatives of the Lynx UK Trust met to discuss the status of the application in September 2017. The meeting was very useful and lasted around 3 hours during which time all aspects of the license were discussed. As was agreed at the meeting, Natural England sent over details of further information that they required. The Lynx UK Trust is in the process of compiling the further requested information and will be submitting this to Natural England at the end of January.

It is important to note that the Lynx UK Trust has not been requested to carry out any further consultation for the license application. This is very satisfying given the effort and scope of our pre license consultation process. However this does not meant that consultation and engagement work has stopped, indeed these activities are still ongoing both in Kielder and at other sites.

Since we submitted our license application, relevant senior members of the government have expressed an interest in being involved with the decision making process and this is something that we of course welcome. Indeed representatives of the Lynx UK Trust have been invited to Westminster for a meeting to discuss the application in the very near future.

This type of application has never been submitted before but we are very satisfied that our application is being taken very seriously by all relevant government departments and is being appropriately considered. From our point of view, the licensing process is going exactly to plan and we are hopeful and confident of a positive decision in the very near future. The exact timing of a decision is of course out of our hands. However rest assured you will all know as soon as we do and in the meantime we are all working flat out to ensure that any information requested of us is comprehensively and promptly provided.

Thanks for all your interest and support, it is a real privilege to be leading the way on what will undoubtedly be the most exciting conservation/reintroduction project ever conducted in the UK.

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