Don’t grouse about game management – our iconic heather moors would vanish without it
Bruce Russell says uplands thrive thanks to country sports
Soon Scotland’s moorlands will burst into bloom. Celebrated in song, poetry, art and recognised worldwide, the heather hills were described recently in National Geographic as the “iconic headline of Visit Scotland tourist brochures.”
Many take our heather moorland for granted, which is no surprise since it has been in existence for thousands of years, since our ancestors opened up the forests and ling heather began to dominate the landscape. Three-quartersoftheworld’s heather moorland is in the UK, and the majority of this is in Scotland.
In this country have an almost unique need to value our heather, which currently covers around 50 per cent of Scotland’s uplands, to
foster and promote it, and to continue to manage this cultural landscape.
Heather’s ecological and economic importance is recognised at global level. In 1992, the Rio Convention on Biodiversity ratified the global importance of UK heather moorland. Moorland supports 13 biological communities listed under EC Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Flora and Fauna, and 18 species of European or international importance.
But it is a managed environment. The old saying “use it or lose it” springs to mind as, without use, it would soon vanish. The land uses which promote and conserve our open moors are grazing and game management. Commercial forestry and other alternatives including abandonment, ‘wilding’ or ‘rewilding’, where nature is simply left to take its course typically results in a loss of this national asset.
In benefit terms, managed heather moorland provides a habitat for many upland species, birds, animals and plant life, including curlew, lapwing and other waders, mountain hares and rare bumblebees. Grouse is also an economic driver – the birds need young heather shoots to feed on, and this is achieved by regular burning known as ‘muirburn’, done in early springtime before the ground nesting birds get going.
From an economic perspective heather moorland clearly has tourism value although little of this, except that generated through country sports, finds its way back