Offences at nature reserves Jan 21- Jan 2026

Your request details

1. the number of reported incidents of suspected vandalism, poaching, arson and trespassing on nature reserves (either National Nature Reserve or Local Nature Reserve) within your jurisdiction between January 2021 and January 2026?
   2. the number of cases brought against individuals or groups for alleged crimes of vandalism, poaching, arson and trespassing committed on nature reserves?
   Here is a list of nature reserves in the South Yorkshire police area, and their postcodes. The final column is the owner of the reserve - RSPB, Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trusts (SRWT), National Nature Reserve (NNR), Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWR).
   
   Adwick Washland DN7 4JG         RSPB
   Agden Bog                  S6 6JX            SRWT
   Anston Stones Wood            S25 4BH         NNR
   Black Carr Plantation            S26 5PQ         YWT
   Blacka Moor  S17 3BJ          SRWT
   Blackburn Meadows              S9 1EA            YWT
   Carbrook Ravine        S2 1AB           SRWT
   Carlton Marsh            S71 3HW        YWT
   Carr House Meadows            S35 0DE         SRWT
   Centenary Riverside              S60 1DS         SRWT
   Crabtree Ponds          S5 7BB           SRWT
   Denaby Ings               DN12 4LD       YWT
   Edderthorpe Flash     S73 0YF          YWT
   Fox Hagg                    S10 4LW         SRWT
   Greno Woods             S35 8NA         SRWT
   Hagg Wood                 S6 6GH           SRWT
   Kelham Island Riverside       S3 8RY            SRWT
   Kilnhurst Ings            S64 5TA          YWT
   Moss Valley Woodlands        S8 8DZ            SRWT
   Old Moor                     S73 0YF          RSPB
   Phoenix Park (YWT-managed areas)           S13 8AS         YWT

Potteric Carr  DN4 8DB        YWT
Rotherham Eastwood           S65 1AJ          YWT
Rotherham Valley Wetlands             S60 5WG        YWT
Salmon Pastures       S4 7WZ           SRWT
Shire Brook Valley (SRWT-managed areas)           S13 8HS         SRWT
Sunnybank                 S10 2DG         SRWT
Thorne & Hatfield Moors (Humberhead Peatlands)          DN7 6DS              NNR
Wombwell Ings (YWT partnership area)     S73 0YF          YWT
Worsbrough Mill Country Park (YWT partnership areas)             S70 5LJ           YWT
Woodhouse Washlands        S13 9WD        SRWT
Wyming Brook           S10 4QX         SRWT

Response

I approached our Performance Review Unit for assistance with your request. An analyst within this unit has conducted a search of our Crime Management System - Connect which records complaints or allegations of those matters, which the Home Office specify should be recorded as 'crimes'. All our systems are designed and used first and foremost for Policing Purposes and have limited search capability. They provided me with the following explanation regarding their search criteria:

The data will need to be manually reviewed to verify if the offence was committed on the premises names below as the search has been based on the postcodes provided.

Criteria Used -  Incident Created Date  is between  01/01/2021 and 31/01/2026, SYP & crime only filter, HO Sub Group Name is equal to / is in  CRIMINAL DAMAGE, Postcode is equal to / is in  DN7 4JG; S6 6JX; S25 4BH; S26 5PQ; S17 3BJ; S9 1EA; S2 1AB; S71 3HW; S35 0DE; S60 1DS; S5 7BB; DN12 4LD; S73 0YF; S10 4LW; S35 8NA; S6 6GH; S3 8RY; S64 5TA; S8 8DZ; S13 8AS; DN4 8DB; S65 1AJ; S60 5WG; S4 7WZ; S13 8HS; S10 2DG; DN7 6DS; S70 5LJ; S13 9WD; S10 4QX

Question 1

A review of 172 reports linked to the postcodes provided a total of 50 reported incidents of suspected vandalism, poaching, arson and trespassing on nature reserves (either National Nature Reserve or Local Nature Reserve) within your jurisdiction between January 2021 and January 2026. All 50 reports are recorded as criminal damage.

Question 2

Please note, every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that data has been extracted from data sources used by this force for police purposes. The detail collected to respond specifically to your request is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording systems and information assets.

The figures provided therefore are our best interpretation of relevance of data to your request, but you should be aware that the collation of figures/data for any requests may have limitations, and this should be taken into account when those data sets are used.

Police forces do not use generic systems or identical procedures for capturing the data. For these reasons this response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with responses you may receive from other police forces.