THE RSPB is urging Defra to publish the workable elements of the Hen Harrier Action Plan, which the Society believes could bring about the recovery of one of England’s most threatened birds of prey.

But the charity is also highlighting its rejection of one point of the six-point plan, known as brood management, saying it believes immediate removal of chicks from the wild and rearing them in aviaries is ‘unacceptable and legally ambiguous’.

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Conservation Director, said: “Ministers are accountable for preventing the human-induced extinction of species, and the illegal persecution of the hen harrier is the main reason for this bird’s desperate plight.

“It surely makes sense to publish elements of the plan which has agreement.”