Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has declared that two 'pilot' badger culls will go ahead in the summer in an attempt to tackle the spread of bovine TB in England. Paterson said badgers will be killed at sites in West Gloucestershire and West Somerset, as outlined last year, and added that a "reserve pilot" is being prepared in Dorset in the event that unforeseen circumstances prevent one of the cull areas from being used.

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Speaking at the annual NFU conference in Birmingham, the Defra Secretary announced that authorisation letters have been issued by Natural England confirming the culls can proceed, though a set date is yet to be given the licenses are effective from 1st June.

Natural England said on Wednesday that "Licensees are authorised to reduce badger populations in the two pilot areas by at least 70 percent and a maximum number of badgers has been specified to prevent the risk of local extinction." The licenses allow for culling to be conducted over 6 weeks each year for four years.

Last year companies who opted to undertake culling in the two trial areas were found to have grossly underestimated the number of badgers. Culling was postponed at the eleventh hour by Owen Paterson, who announced the delay in a speech to Parliament. At the time, Shadow Environment Secretary Mary Creagh suggested Paterson would use the delay as an opportunity to kick a deeply unpopular policy "into the long grass".

However, the Environment Secretary said on Wednesday, "I am determined that there are no further delays this year. That is why we have taken the sensible step with the farming industry to elect a reserve area that can be called upon should anything happen to prevent culling in Somerset or Gloucester. These pilot culls are just one part of our approach to control and eradicate this dreadful disease. We are using everything at our disposal to get to grips with TB including new tougher controls on moving cattle, increased herd testing and working to get effective vaccines ready as soon as possible."

Anti-cull protestors gathered outside the NFU conference on Wednesday morning to demonstrate against badger culling. The Union has been a vocal supporter of the government's policy on culling. Around 100 protestors holding placards met outside the entrance to the conference.  

Responding to Paterson's announcement, Badger Trust spokesperson Jack Reedy commented, that the statement, made to coincide with the first day of the NFU Conference, would be sure to "bring delight to farmers whilst ignoring the real issue," which he said is the reservoir of infection in cattle.

Mr Reedy said, "A Durham University study recently called into question the existence and effect of 'wildlife reservoirs'. Furthermore, the latest figures released by Defra on the impact of bovine TB show a massive reservoir of infection in officially TB-free herds, where many more tests were carried out last year." He added, "Whilst they don't necessarily support one another, these two revelations do run parallel. The argument is a complicated one, but science tends to be complicated and politics always is."

Research conducted by a risk assessment expert at Durham University and released earlier this month suggests that widespread culling will have little impact on tuberculosis in cattle at best, and could even exacerbate the problem. Durham Professor Peter Atkins said, "Badgers almost certainly play a part in spreading the disease, but… their impact over the decades has been far less than suggested." He explained that the main direction infection travels in has yet to be established, and that badgers, alongside other animal species which are susceptible to bTB, could be suffering as a result of 'spillover' from the disease in cattle herds.