There are three petitions going the rounds at the moment which refer to grouse shooting.
These two are well worthy of support in my opinion:
- A petition on the UK parliament website which calls for an independent study to assess the economic benefit of grouse shooting – proposed by Les Wallace (a frequent commenter on this blog). A similar study is being undertaken for the Scottish government and there is no reason why Defra should not commission something similar, perhaps to look at some particularly English issues of wildlife tourism, impacts on flooding such as in the Calder Valley and the impacts on water treatment costs for our utility companies.
I’ll give you updates on the progress of this petition every now and again here. Please sign here.
2. A petition on the Change.org website calling on Yorkshire Water to stop leasing its land for grouse shooting.
It will come as quite a surprise to many Yorkshire Water customers (and maybe shareholders too) that it is involved in such a highly contentious land use. Please sign here and if you are a Yorkshire Water customer or shareholder then why not quiz the company about its links to grouse shooting and its intentions.
And there is a third one too – I’m not so sure about that one and I’ll come back to it later today.
[registration_form]
Thanks for the plug Mark…I’m actually blushing. So far none in the DGS community I’ve approached to see if they’ll support the petition given their constant assertions that it is vital for rural communities has signed or promoted it or even replied to me! I’ll keep trying.
I’ve signed and I wish you every success, Les.
My concern is that any report commissioned by Defra could just be the equivalent of a third PACEC report, essentially claiming that game shooting is a key driver of the UK economy, the only industry we can rely on to keep us afloat post-Brexit, the only dependable source of protein to keep rural communities from starving, and the last surviving bastion of true Englishness.
Just like their shooter friends and colleagues keep telling them…
Yes my fear too, which is why I’m hoping that between now and when the petition closes the issues behind it are brought to public attention so that they have to be fully incorporated in any study – i.e reducing flood risk (and alleviating drought conditions), the loss of opportunities in ecotourism (which if you broaden that out to include working conservation holidays then I’ve done that myself two, one week long residential conservation tasks in the Forest of Bowland clearing rhododendron from woodland that had almost certainly been planted out as pheasant cover). Woodlot forestry is another one – not producing logs so people can have a nice wood stove in the living room, but actual low cost fuel for people without mains gas who struggle to heat their homes – I know from experience there are loads of them in Fort William – driven grouse shooting in the Highlands isn’t helping them much – woodlot forestry would. And of course the possible impact that muir burn is having on fishing especially for salmonids – two fishery scientist friends of mine have confirmed that’s a valid concern yet the field ‘sports’ sector says nothing – but loves to vilify goosanders, seals and increasingly dolphins! It will also help that the ongoing study in Scotland would be a useful comparison – identifying weaknessses in either. Thanks.
I had already signed the Yorkshire Water petition, it has always seemed most odd to me that the sponsor of the EMBER report should continue to allow grouse shooting and the associated lousy management practises in its land after the findings of this report. I might add that the keepers and indeed tenants on some of its moors have appalling reputations.
Best of luck with the petition Les.