Leading UK rural organisations have today (23rd July) announced the launch of a formal partnership to promote the multitude of conservation and community benefits that make the countryside a better place for all to enjoy. ‘Aim To Sustain’ has been formed to highlight the crucial role that sustainable game shooting plays in delivering biodiversity net gain through

A wildlife rich stretch of Highland Perthshire is providing hope for the embattled kestrel, with monitors observing trend bucking chick production spanning almost 20 years. Recent national trends were published highlighting an alarming rate of decline for a favourite farmland bird, once commonly seen from roadsides, hovering above its prey. Data sourced from studies by

Rural organisations said today (26 November 2020) that the Scottish Government’s announcement that it is to develop a licensing scheme for grouse moors will be a seriously damaging blow to fragile rural communities. Following publication of Scottish Government’s response to Werritty Review of grouse moor management, the following joint statement was issued by: British Association

The Gift of Grouse ‘Moorland Briefing’ offers a round up of industry news as we head towards the conclusion of the grouse shooting season for 2020. This report offers an insight into the new safety measures implemented to limit the potential spread of Covid-19 and how they have been working well. The findings of a

New Scottish Government-led research into the impact of grouse shooting has provided ‘definitive proof’ of its value to rural Scotland. Scottish Land & Estates welcomed research carried out by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the James Hutton Institute, which studied socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts of driven grouse moors as well as the employment rights of

The importance of the shooting sector to rural businesses has been underlined by new research from the University of Northampton which found that the direct economic benefit of grouse shooting is estimated to be £67.7million per annum for the UK as a whole. In Scotland the grouse season is estimated to be worth £32m each

Muirburn – the controlled, cool burning of heather on Scotland’s moorlands – is becoming ever more important in the fight against wildfires in Scotland, land managers said today. As the permitted season for muirburn (October 1 to April 15) opens, grouse moors and estates are working with government, conservation groups and Scottish Fire & Rescue

Authors: Professor Simon Denny, Tracey Latham-Green (link here) This mixed methods research study considers the economic and social impacts of upland, moorland management in the UK and compares them to nationally available data. The research project aimed to identify the economic and social circumstances of communities in moorland areas where grouse shooting takes place, and

Author: Dr Tracy Latham-Green, University of Northampton Executive Summary of a PhD thesis, 8th September 2020 An estimated 1.5 million people take part in driven game shooting in the UK. The findings of this PhD thesis show that participation offers significant benefits for participants in terms of physical health, mental health, social cohesion, inter-generational mixing,