Natural Justice: A Joint Thematic Inspection of the Arrangements in Scotland for Preventing, Investigating and Prosecuting Wildlife Crime

During the early part of 2006, Constable Steven Ritchie of Dumfries and Galloway Police lead a project within 12 primary schools entitled "Look. Don't Touch!". The schools involved were situated in and around the villages of Wigtown, Creetown and Newton Stewart. The project was designed to introduce children of P5 and P6 ages to the wealth of wildlife in their area and to make them aware of some elements of wildlife crime such as the disturbance of animals and birds, and the negative impact that can have on them. The 200 children who took part in the project were given talks by Constable Ritchie and other guest speakers from local agencies concerned in the conservation and protection of animals and birds.

The project culminated with a competition sponsored by Scottish Natural Heritage ( SNH), RSPB and Dumfries and Galloway Police to design a poster conveying the message of "Look. Don't Touch!". The winners and runners up received prizes from SNH and RSPB. Over and above the competition sponsorship, Dumfries and Galloway Police also put forward sufficient funding that allowed 200 books on basic bird identification to be bought and presented to each child who took part in the project.