Grouse shooting boosts conservation

YOUR article “Yorkshire Water told to choose between grouse hunting and wildlife conservation” on the 12th of September highlighting campaign activity urging Yorkshire Water to halt leases to shooting estates failed to mention the enormous and varied benefits of grouse shooting.

Not only does grouse shooting support rural communities, businesses, families and schools, but grouse moors are also vital for peatlands which provide 70 percent of England’s drinking water.

Grouse moor managers work incredibly closely with Yorkshire Water to ensure best practice across a raft of activities on important water catchment land and are proud of providing the best quality drinking water possible to towns and cities.

On Yorkshire Water land we collaborate with partners from some of the country’s leading conservation organisations including Yorkshire Peat Partnership and Moors For The Future Partnership, on innovative measures aimed at restoring peat soil to retain water in the uplands,.

These include blocking of historical agricultural drainage ditches to wet the peat and building resilience while inoculating the moors with special mosses to keep water in the hills and reduce the chances of flooding downstream.

Far from the peatland habitat being degraded as suggested by campaigners, our moorland managers are in fact helping to create healthy peatland, which plays an essential role in water quality, flood and wildfire mitigation and carbon capture.

This management also creates an ideal environment for a variety of fauna and flora to flourish, notably endangered ground-nesting birds.

Globally threatened species such as curlews, lapwings, buzzards and short-eared owls have all been thriving on land managed for grouse shooting, with over 60 percent of this year’s hen harrier chicks fledging from land managed for grouse shooting.

Amanda Anderson,