Research
The Grouse Moor Gamekeeper in England in the 21st Century
Professor Simon Denny’s report, ‘The Grouse Moor Gamekeeper in England in the 21st Century’, is the first academic study to gather detailed information about the economic, environmental, and social impacts of gamekeepers and their work.
Key findings from the report:
Moors managed by gamekeepers spend approximately £21.8 million per year with contractors - especially agricultural contractors - to improve the habitat of their moors and access to them.
Grouse moor management brings uniquely high value tourism to the English uplands, with a total value of £121 million per year. No alternative activity generates anything near this figure.
Gamekeepers maintain moors for public access, allowing hundreds of thousands of visitors to enjoy them by walking, rambling, or cycling.
Gamekeepers reduce the risk of wildfires through practices such as controlled heather burning. They also play a vital role in tackling wildfires on moorlands when they break out.
Moorland management helps protect some of the UK’s most endangered species enabling the UK government to achieve its legally binding nature recovery targets by 2030.
The People’s Plan for the Uplands
People living in the English uplands feel that politicians are in hock to a conservation industry that doesn’t care how its work affects local communities. Their message? Stop interfering and put people in charge who actually know what they are talking about.
Residents of the English uplands overwhelmingly believe that politicians do not do enough to look after rural communities, according to a new report.
97% of those surveyed in the ‘People’s Plan for the Uplands’ answered ‘no’ to the question: “Do politicians do enough to look after rural communities?”.
The report was compiled by the Regional Moorland Groups (RMGs) and is intended to provide recommendations for policymakers regarding Britain’s heather moorlands and the communities that depend on them.
The Blanket Approach is Failing
Natural England is restricting effective management of heather moorland and insisting that private landowners plant failing sphagnum moss plugs after heather cutting over SSSI sites, costing large sums to private owners and taxpayers.
This independent review into sphagnum moss inoculation on Peak District Moors was commissioned by the Peak District Moorland Group.
The report finds that the initiative of Sphagnum inoculation needs more scientific and precise subscription versus the one size fits all approach that is costing a huge sum of money for minimal reward.
Landowners and staff working on the moors are crying out for more leeway and collaboration from governing bodies, with a recognition of the emerging science which takes into account the longterm results as opposed to the previous studies which often concentrated on short term results.
Sustainable Driven Grouse Shooting?
Authored by Prof. Simon Denny (formerly University of Northampton) and reviewed by Prof James Crabbe (Wolfson College, University of Oxford), this groundbreaking report highlights that grouse shooting is not an isolated activity but part of a complex mix of activities that result in more positive outcomes for people and nature than alternative uses.
It concludes that, based on International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) environmental, social and economic definitions, moorland managed for grouse shooting provides greater overall benefits than any alternative use.
This review into sustainable driven grouse shooting, which was peer reviewed by academics from four UK universities, was designed to look both at the sustainability of grouse shooting and the various alternative uses of moorland that others suggest.
