Farm groups have met in the Kielder region of Northumberland to air their discontent over plans for a trial reintroduction of lynx into the region, which was submitted to Natural England in July.

Having submitted its formal application, Lynx UK Trust, which is coordinating plans for a reintroduction, has said it is also in discussion with landowners in Argyll and Inverness-shire over potential reintroduction projects in those areas. The Trust maintains that lynx - shy, medium sized cats, which hunt predominantly deer by ambush in wooded areas - have returned to a number of mainland European countries since the ‘90s, with minimal impact on livestock, but huge benefits for tourism and the environment.

As part of their plans for a reintroduction of six lynx to the Kielder forest, which stretches over Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, Lynx UK Trust has promised to set aside funds for a compensation scheme in the event that lynx do prey on sheep. Earlier this month the Trust revealed plans to develop a sheep welfare programme, including research and monitoring activity designed to limit interaction between lynx and sheep, in a bid to placate sheep farming interests, who have been the most vocal opponents of the rewilding plans.

On Wednesday, over 100 stakeholders from groups including the National Sheep Association (NSA), the NFU and the British Deer Society met in Eldon, Northumberland to discuss the plans; the groups complained that the debate over a reintroduction has focused too heavily on the positive aspects, and claimed that, contrary to Lynx UK Trust’s assurances, reintroductions of lynx in other parts of Europe have experienced “limited success.”

NSA Chief Executive Phil Stocker, who led the evening’s discussion said, “The UK is very different from countries where top level predators such as big cats can survive, in terms of land use, wildlife and our population and infrastructure. Lynx are known to prey on ground nesting birds and small mammals and we are in danger of risking investment which has gone into making sure they have a future.”

NSA has declined to engage with Lynx UK Trust, which carried out its own consultation work in the region over 11 months prior to submitting its application. The Association turned down the offer of a place on an advisory group for the project last year, and earlier this year Phil Stocker said farmers would be within their rights to shoot any lynx they believe to be worrying their sheep, if a reintroduction does go ahead.

Speaking after Wednesday’s meeting, the NSA chief exec continued,“Moves for more agro-forestry schemes and further integration of trees and hedgerows would be undermined by releasing lynx if individuals felt these had the potential to create habitat for a species which poses a threat to their livelihoods.”

Discussing the Trust’s plans earlier this month, Steve Piper, chief communications officer for Lynx UK Trust said, “An ongoing compensation program would be prioritised from income [from a planned visitor centre in Kielder], and it's worth clarifying that Lynx populations grow very slowly, six of them cannot dramatically balloon in just five years, and satellite tracking makes it possible to trap them all again at any point in a trial, we can always wind things back, but I really think farming is at a point where it needs to look forwards and at least consider opportunities for positive change.

“The productive, profitable and progressive farming sector envisioned by the NFU cannot be found in more subsidies or the NSA grandstanding in the farming press, but it could be found in a partnership built between farming and lynx reintroduction. Farmers may not believe us, but we want this to work for them. Everything we've looked at tells us that tying the allure of the lynx to local farming in ways like these can bring incredibly positive results for the farmers, their animals and the wildlife living alongside them; and that's the lynx effect we want to see in Kielder.”