Hi All

This is a very important update. We are pleased to say that on 4th March 2026, the High Court has ordered a full hearing of our claim by the Lynx UK Trust against Natural England and the Secretary of State.  We are arguing that Natural England has acted unlawfully in their approach to our licence application for the release of lynx into the wild.

The court is clearly taking our claim seriously and has assigned 1.5 days of court time to the hearing. This is a hugely significant step. 

Currently, as it stands, Natural England are refusing to review any license application now or in the foreseeable future, from us or indeed anyone else. This is the very sad reality of the Rewilding landscape in the UK. There is no legal/licensing route that allows lynx to be reintroduced.

That is truly shocking and so we are compelled to sue the government in order to resolve this deadlock. Without our legal actions, lynx cannot legally be reintroduced. 

The large-scale restoration of our woodland ecosystems simply cannot happen without apex predators and the government is blocking their return. 

So, we are focussing our efforts on where it matters most and that is on winning this court case. If we don’t, the prospects for meaningful rewilding in the UK are dire.

Your support has been invaluable in getting us to this point and now we need to see it through until the end, so that lynx can once again roam our forests where they rightfully belong.

We are very proud to be working with Richard Buxton Solicitors and Richard Turney KC on this landmark case. 

The hearing dates are currently being finalised, but we will let you know as soon as the date is known.

If you want to support our fight, then you can support our legal crowdfunder at: 

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/bring-back-the-lynx/

Sincere thanks, this is a fight we can and must win

Paul

Dr Paul O’Donoghue 

Director 

Lynx UK Trust