PC Mark Goulding recognised for fighting wildlife crime
PC Mark Goulding has been recognised for his work fighting wildlife crime at the National Wildlife Crime Enforcers Conference.
PC Goulding, who has been on secondment to Natural Resources Wales, was presented with the WWF-Sponsored Wildlife Law Enforcer of the Year Award 2015 for his wide range of work from tackling fishing poaching to raising awareness amongst partner agencies.
He was presented with his award by Sarah Goddard, Species Policy Officer at WWF-UK, and Chief Constable Simon Prince of Dyfed-Powys Police at the National Wildlife Crime Enforcers Conference at Leamington Spa, where law enforcers, statutory agencies and NGOs gathered to hear the latest views, approaches, successes and challenges of combating wildlife crime in the UK.
PC Goulding, who developed the River Taff Project with colleagues from Natural Resources Wales, has helped reduce poaching on the river between Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil, and a number of prosecutions are currently ongoing thanks to his work. Also thanks to his work three men were prosecuted for releasing into the wild a viable breeding population of wild boar following a commercial burglary.
PC Goulding has recently taken on the responsibility of being the Historic and Ancient Monument Crime Single Point of Contact for South Wales Police. He has recovered a fossil from a historical theft on a site of special scientific interest in Mid Wales and is currently working on a case of damage in the Gower.
Anne Meikle, Head of WWF Cymru, said: “Police Constable Mark Goulding from South Wales Police has undertaken a huge amount of work to protect wildlife and the environment in their areas and I’m very pleased indeed to congratulate them on these very special awards.”
Sarah Goddard, WWF-UK Species Policy Officer, added: “It’s fantastic to see that Mark’s work has been recognised with this award. He, and the other nominees, have worked tirelessly to tackle wildlife crime over a number of years and it’s great that we can thank them for this.”
