The group will target public bodies which are failing to protect species or habitats
Campaigners have vowed to use the legal system to fight for wildlife and protect precious habitats.
Three of the UK’s foremost activists have founded Wild Justice to use the law to enforce protection.
Working with legal teams in Scotland and England, the group will target public bodies which are failing to protect species or habitats, and will fund its actions through public donations and crowdfunding.
Heaving up the not-for-profit alliance are wildlife broadcaster Chris Packham, wildlife crime campaigner, author and former RSPB conservation director Mark Avery, and Ruth Tingay, who created the Raptor Persecution UK blog.
Tingay has got experience in this as she co-led the 2018 legal challenge against Scottish Natural Heritage's decision to licence the culling of Ravens on grouse moors in Strathbraan, Perthshire, an initiative which attracted widespread public support and funding.
Packham said: "The wild needs justice more than ever. The pressures wrought on our wildlife have reached a crisis point and this is an essential response. The message is clear: if you are breaking the law, if the law is weak, if the law is flawed – we are coming for you, peacefully, democratically and legally.
"Our simple premise is to work with the laws we've got to seek real justice for our wildlife, and to reform, refine or renew those laws we have to ensure that justice can be properly realised. Our wildlife has been abused, has been suffering, exploited or destroyed by criminals for too long. Well, no longer. Wild Justice will at last be the voice of those victims and it will be heard - and justice will be served."
Tingay added: "I know many people who despair about what's happening to our wildlife but who also feel powerless to help, typically because access to justice can be prohibitively expensive and a daunting arena.
“Wild Justice provides an opportunity for ordinary citizens to fight back on behalf of wildlife, collectively helping us to challenge poor decisions or flawed policies that threaten to harm our wildlife. With so many potential cases, the difficulty for us will be to decide which ones to take on first."
