Wildlife crime enforcement not tough enough, outgoing Natural England chair says

Penalties for wildlife crime need to be “significantly harsher”, outgoing chair of conservation regulator Andrew Sells told MPs on a House of Commons committee.

Speaking to members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee, Sells said that society had “not been very good” at dealing with wildlife crime. It was hard to obtain evidence, and even when people were prosecuted, the penalties were very light, he said.