Forestry England is responsible for managing and promoting the nation’s forests owned by the Government of the United Kingdom. However, what many people do not realise is that up until 2020 Forestry England gave permissions for ‘trail hunts’ to use its land.

Following a year-long campaign ran by Protect the Wild and other groups, Forestry England suspended all ‘trail hunt’ licences on their land in November 2020. We are now calling on this landowner, as well as others, to make these suspensions permanent. 

Hunts are frequently in the press for alleged trespass, killing wildlife and domestic animals, losing control of their dogs and violent behaviour towards those who monitor them.

Forward to 2025 and hunts are still killing on Forestry England land.

On 22 April 2025 the Quantock Staghounds killed a young stag in the Quantock Hills on Forestry England land.

There is plenty of evidence that the Quantock Staghounds routinely break the law. The vast majority of the public is opposed to hunting with hounds. This appalling act has been widely reported and has elicited widespread anger and disgust.

Yet Forestry England has failed to take a strong stance against both the trespassing and the killing, instead insisting that the onus is on the public to report incidents to the police.

We are asking Forestry England to take strong action to protect wildlife on your land:

• Take out injunctions against any hunts that trespass on your land.
• Send each hunt a warning letter, complete with property maps and property boundaries;
• Monitor and penalise tenants supporting and hosting hunts, evicting them if necessary;
• Report incidents to the police to ensure that charges are brought against hunt staff;
• Deploy staff on hunting days to act as a visible deterrent, to gather evidence, and to compile a dossier which can be used for civil proceedings or legal actions.

You can take action, click the link below to send a letter direct to their inbox from our site: