Grouse shooting ‘beneficial to the upkeep of moors’
PROTESTS BY BAN BLOODSPORTS
THE director of the Moorland Association has hit back at protests by Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors, after two owls were shot dead near Holmfirth.
Amanda Anderson spoke out after a tawny owl, a bird of prey, was discovered with shotgun wounds while a short-eared owl was also discovered on Yorkshire Water’s land at Wessenden Head and Digley.
Members of Ban Bloodsports were incensed by what occurred and released evidence of alleged wildlife persecution and environmental damage on Yorkshire Water’s land at Wessenden Head, following an investigation by its team.
The Examiner highlighted its demands for Yorkshire Water to halt leases to shooting estates, but Ms Anderson says the pressure group has failed to recognise the enormous and varied benefits of grouse shooting.
Ms Anderson said: “The well-established socio-economic and environ- mental benefits of moorland management for wild red grouse are widely accepted by conservation bodies and the government.
“Managing the unique and rare heather moorland habitat for red grouse helps provide ideal conditions for a broad range of wildlife to thrive including curlew, golden plover, lapwing, merlin and snipe.
“This year we have been hugely encouraged by the best hen harrier breeding season in a decade and the fact that 60% of the successfully fledged chicks had help from gamekeepers.
“These are ground-nesting birds vulnerable to predation and predator management is a recognised conservation tool for moorland management.
“The most recent Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ crime report notes a 15% year-on-year decline of confirmed incidents of persecution across the UK and a 21% decrease in North Yorkshire – a far cry from claims made by Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors that the uplands are being ‘purged’ of wildlife.
“Grouse moor managers work incredibly closely with Yorkshire Water to ensure best practice across a raft of activities.
“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.
“This management also creates an ideal environment for a variety of fauna and flora to flourish. Likewise, controlled heather burning which is also a vital part of this careful management, reducing the fuel load available for devastating wildfires without damaging the underlying peat.”
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