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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/oct/30/fired-up-over-grouse-shooting-and-moorlands
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| Fired-up over grouse shooting and moorlands Fired-up over grouse shooting and moorlands | |
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| Driven grouse shooting (Report, 28 October) is a minority “sport” which uses live birds as target practice, yet its destructive effects are paid for by the public. Earlier this year, Dr Mark Avery, Chris Packham, and the League Against Cruel Sports launched a petition calling on the government to ban driven grouse shooting. Shortly after the start of shooting season, the petition passed 100,000 signatures. | Driven grouse shooting (Report, 28 October) is a minority “sport” which uses live birds as target practice, yet its destructive effects are paid for by the public. Earlier this year, Dr Mark Avery, Chris Packham, and the League Against Cruel Sports launched a petition calling on the government to ban driven grouse shooting. Shortly after the start of shooting season, the petition passed 100,000 signatures. |
| The effects of driven grouse shooting are wide-ranging and devastating. Birds of prey are relentlessly persecuted to the point where the hen harrier is facing extinction in England. Other animals such as foxes, hares and stoats are wiped out on grouse moors using a range of cruel and indiscriminate devices. The burning of heather contributes to flooding and reduces the effectiveness of moorland to act as a reservoir to store carbon in the ground. All of this is done with considerable subsidy from the public purse; astonishing in these times of austerity. | The effects of driven grouse shooting are wide-ranging and devastating. Birds of prey are relentlessly persecuted to the point where the hen harrier is facing extinction in England. Other animals such as foxes, hares and stoats are wiped out on grouse moors using a range of cruel and indiscriminate devices. The burning of heather contributes to flooding and reduces the effectiveness of moorland to act as a reservoir to store carbon in the ground. All of this is done with considerable subsidy from the public purse; astonishing in these times of austerity. |
| The government needs to take an impartial, scientific look at the industry, and its wider impact. Millions of animals are suffering and our moorlands are becoming monocultures. This is too high a price to pay for a minority hobby. We believe it is time to treasure our natural environment. It is time for a ban on driven grouse shooting.Isobel Hutchinson Director, Animal AidEduardo Goncalves CEO, League Against Cruel SportsDominic Dyer CEO, Badger TrustPhilip Mansbridge UK director, International Fund for Animal WelfareClaire Bass Executive director, Humane Society International UKElisa Allen Director, Peta UKAnne Brummer CEO, Save Me Trust | The government needs to take an impartial, scientific look at the industry, and its wider impact. Millions of animals are suffering and our moorlands are becoming monocultures. This is too high a price to pay for a minority hobby. We believe it is time to treasure our natural environment. It is time for a ban on driven grouse shooting.Isobel Hutchinson Director, Animal AidEduardo Goncalves CEO, League Against Cruel SportsDominic Dyer CEO, Badger TrustPhilip Mansbridge UK director, International Fund for Animal WelfareClaire Bass Executive director, Humane Society International UKElisa Allen Director, Peta UKAnne Brummer CEO, Save Me Trust |
| • Only agricultural land is eligible for Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments as determined by Defra’s Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which administers the scheme in England. The RPA guidelines make it clear that moorland used primarily for shooting purposes is not eligible for BPS payments, and there is also an “active farmer” test for claimants along with a range of other criteria to prove that the land is in agricultural use. The primary land use on many moors managed for grouse shooting is low-intensity grazing, often leased to a tenant farmer, and it is the farming side of the business which benefits from these payments, not grouse shooting. | • Only agricultural land is eligible for Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments as determined by Defra’s Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which administers the scheme in England. The RPA guidelines make it clear that moorland used primarily for shooting purposes is not eligible for BPS payments, and there is also an “active farmer” test for claimants along with a range of other criteria to prove that the land is in agricultural use. The primary land use on many moors managed for grouse shooting is low-intensity grazing, often leased to a tenant farmer, and it is the farming side of the business which benefits from these payments, not grouse shooting. |
| Defra may be surprised that anyone is trying to suggest that they are subsidising grouse shooting, but divisive, class-war rhetoric has been an unfortunate feature of the latest campaign against moorland management. This attempt to suggest that government subsidies are being used to pay for grouse shooting makes for sensational headlines, but doesn’t reflect the truth on the ground. | Defra may be surprised that anyone is trying to suggest that they are subsidising grouse shooting, but divisive, class-war rhetoric has been an unfortunate feature of the latest campaign against moorland management. This attempt to suggest that government subsidies are being used to pay for grouse shooting makes for sensational headlines, but doesn’t reflect the truth on the ground. |
| Subsidies in the uplands are used to support agricultural and conservation activities, just as they are in the lowlands. These attempts to politicise the debate over how we manage our moorlands are deeply unhelpful, our solutions need to be driven by evidence and based in cooperation between landowners, conservationists and the shooting community.Liam StokesHead of shooting, Countryside Alliance | Subsidies in the uplands are used to support agricultural and conservation activities, just as they are in the lowlands. These attempts to politicise the debate over how we manage our moorlands are deeply unhelpful, our solutions need to be driven by evidence and based in cooperation between landowners, conservationists and the shooting community.Liam StokesHead of shooting, Countryside Alliance |
| • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com | • Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com |