Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime
PAW is a collaboration of organisations who work together to reduce wildlife crime. They do this through prevention and awareness-raising, better regulation, and effective and targeted enforcement.
Role
The Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime UK (PAW UK) helps statutory and non-government organisations to work together to reduce wildlife crime.
PAW’s objectives are to:
- raise awareness of wildlife legislation and the impacts of wildlife crime
- help and advise on wildlife crime and regulatory issues
- make sure wildlife crime is tackled effectively
The UK’s wildlife crime priorities are set every 2 years. The current wildlife crime priorities are:
- badger persecution
- bat persecution
- illegal trade in CITES species
- freshwater pearl mussels
- poaching (deer, fish & hare coursing)
- raptor persecution
What is wildlife crime
Wildlife crime includes offences such as poaching, killing or disturbing protected species or damaging their breeding and resting places, and illegally trading in endangered species. It is one of the pressures that can push animal and plant species closer to extinction. Some wildlife crimes, such as badger-baiting and the illegal use of poisons and traps, can cause animals unnecessary pain and suffering.
Join PAW
Any organisation actively contributing to the PAW objectives can apply to become a member of PAW UK. To join, please fill out our membership form.
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Our publications
You can access all our recent publications in one place.
PAW liaison group
The Liaison Group meets twice a year to co-ordinate the Partnership’s activities, and to determine its priorities. It oversees working groups to take forward work on particular issues.
Membership of the group comprises:
- Government departments: Defra; Home Office; Crown Prosecution service; Border Force
- Devolved Administrations: Scottish Government, Welsh Government, The Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland
- Statutory bodies: Joint Nature Conservation Committee; Kew
- Regulatory bodies: Natural England; Environment Agency; Animal and Plant Health Agency
- Police: National Wildlife Crime Unit
PAW working groups
The working groups are:
- PAW Forensics working group
- PAW Marine working group
- PAW Training and Conference working group
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
PAW Scotland, PAW Northern Ireland and PAW Cymru also look at wildlife crime problems in their own countries and at ways to tackle them.
Wildlife forensics
Tools to assist investigators with DNA identification and other forensic techniques can be found on the PAW forensics working group website.
Contact Lucy.Webster@sasa.gsi.gov.uk.
Secretariat
The secretariat, provided by the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, gives administrative support to the liaison group. It also arranges the annual PAW engagement forum.
Contact us
If you need to report a wildlife crime you should follow our guidance on wildlife crime and how to report it. Please don’t contact the PAW secretariat to report wildlife crime incidents.
PAW Secretariat
Defra
Seacole Building, NE 1st floor
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF