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Sustainable Driven Grouse Shooting? A summary of the evidence Authors Professor Simon Denny, BA, MA, PhD Dr Tracey Latham-Green, BA, MBA, PhD Professor Richard Hazenberg BA, MA, PhD Independent chair Professor James Crabbe, Wolfson College, University of Oxford July 2021 1 Date Version Updates 18.07.2021 1.0 First edition 2 CONTENTS FOREWORD BY THE INDEPENDENT CHAIR 7 1 INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 AIM OF THE REPORT 9 1.2 RELEVANCE AND AUDIENCE 9 1.3 THE LOGIC OF OPPOSITION TO DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 10 1.4 ABOUT THE AUTHORS 12 1.5 INDEPENDENT REVIEW 13 2 SYNOPSIS 14 2.1 ECONOMICS 14 2.1.1 ECONOMIC IMPACT 1 14 2.1.2 ECONOMIC IMPACT 2 15 2.1.3 ECONOMIC IMPACT 3 16 2.1.4 ECONOMIC IMPACT 4 16 2.1.5 ECONOMIC IMPACT 5 17 2.1.6 ECONOMIC IMPACT 6 17 2.2 BIODIVERSITY 18 2.2.1 INTRODUCTION 18 2.2.2 IMPACT OF POLICY DECISIONS 19 2.2.3 RENEWABLE ENERGY 19 2.2.4 TOURISM 20 2.2.5 INTEGRATED MOORLAND MANAGEMENT 20 2.2.6 PREDATOR CONTROL 20 2.2.7 MOUNTAIN HARES 21 2.2.8 BIRDS 21 2.2.9 INVERTEBRATES 22 2.2.10 TICKS 22 2.2.11 MEDICATED GRIT 22 2.2.12 HEATHER BEETLE 23 2.2.13 STAKEHOLDERS 23 2.3 NATURAL CAPITAL AND ECOSYSTEMS 24 2.3.1 INTRODUCTION 24 2.3.2 DEFINITIONAL ISSUES 25 2.3.3 FIRE 25 2.3.4 BURNING VS. MOWING 28 2.3.5 WATER 28 2.4 SOCIAL IMPACTS 29 2.5 ALTERNATIVE USES 32 2.6 OPPOSITION TO DGS: MOTIVATIONS AND METHODS 36 3 METHODOLOGY 40 4 OVERVIEW OF DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 41 4.1 THE RED GROUSE: AN INTRODUCTION 41 4.1.1 INTRODUCTION 41 4.1.2 DIFFERENT SPECIES OF GROUSE 41 4.1.3 THE RED GROUSE 42 3 4.1.4 HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION 43 4.1.5 DISEASES 44 4.1.6 ENDEMIC STATUS 44 4.1.7 LEGAL STATUS 45 4.2 WHAT IS DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING? 46 4.2.1 TYPES OF GROUSE SHOOTING IN THE UK 46 4.2.2 THE COST OF GROUSE SHOOTING 47 4.2.3 A TYPICAL DAY DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 47 4.3 WHO IS INVOLVED IN THE DRIVEN GROUSE INDUSTRY 48 4.4 THE SIZE OF THE INDUSTRY 52 4.4.1 NUMBER OF GROUSE MOORS 52 4.4.2 AREA COVERED BY GROUSE MOORS 52 4.4.3 NUMBER OF PEOPLE EMPLOYED ON GROUSE MOORS AND VALUE OF DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 53 4.4.4 CONCLUSION 54 5 SUSTAINABLE DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING: THE EVIDENCE 55 5.1 THE COMPLEX WEB OF GROUSE MOOR MANAGEMENT 55 5.2 THE ECONOMICS OF DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 56 5.2.1 INTRODUCTION 56 5.2.2 THE SUSTAINABILITY OF REMOTE COMMUNITIES 56 5.2.3 ECONOMIC IMPACTS 62 FIRST ORDER 65 SECOND ORDER 70 THIRD ORDER 73 FOURTH ORDER 76 FIFTH ORDER 79 SIXTH ORDER 82 5.2.4 THE ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY OF DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING: CONCLUSIONS 86 5.3 INTEGRATED MOORLAND MANAGEMENT: SUSTAINABLE BIODIVERSITY? 88 5.3.1 NOTHING IN ISOLATION 88 5.3.2 LIVESTOCK GRAZING 88 5.3.3 COMMERCIAL FORESTRY 89 5.3.4 RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION 90 5.3.5 TOURISM 91 5.3.6 PLANTS AND ANIMALS 92 5.3.7 MAMMALS 93 5.3.8 BIRDS 96 5.3.9 INVERTEBRATES 97 5.3.10 DISEASES, PESTS AND PARASITES 98 5.3.11 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 102 5.3.12 MULTIPLE STAKEHOLDERS 103 5.3.13 ARE THE BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS OF INTEGRATED MOORLAND MANAGEMENT SUSTAINABLE? 105 5.4 INTEGRATED MOORLAND MANAGEMENT: SUSTAINABLE NATURAL CAPITAL? 106 5.4.1 WHAT ARE NATURAL CAPITAL AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES? 106 5.4.2 INTEGRATED MOORLAND MANAGEMENT AND NATURAL CAPITAL 109 5.4.3 PEATLANDS AND CARBON 110 5.4.4 AIR, WATER AND CARBON 111 5.4.5 BURNING 111 5.4.6 AN ECOSYSTEM LEAGUE TABLE? 117 4 5.4.7 FUTURE RESPONSIBILITIES 117 5.5 THE SOCIAL IMPACTS OF DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 118 5.5.1 OVERVIEW 118 5.5.2 COMMUNITY AND SENSE OF BELONGING 119 5.5.3 WIDER DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH 120 5.5.4 INTANGIBLE FACTORS – IDENTITY AND INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE 121 5.5.5 GREEN SPACES ACCESS, WELL-BEING AND EXERCISE 122 5.5.6 CONCLUSION 125 6 SUSTAINABLE DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING: OPPOSITION AND KEY ISSUES 126 6.1 RAPTORS AND SUSTAINABLE GROUSE SHOOTING 126 6.1.1 THE LAW RELATING TO RAPTORS AND PROTECTED SPECIES 126 6.1.2 REGIONAL RAPTOR POPULATIONS 126 6.1.3 FAVOURABLE CONSERVATION STATUS AND RESILENT POPULATION LEVELS 127 6.1.4 RAPTORS IN THE UK 128 6.1.5 GREEN AND AMBER LISTED RAPTOR SPECIES 129 6.1.6 RED LISTED RAPTOR SPECIES 133 6.1.7 INTEGRATING GROUSE MOOR MANAGEMENT AND RAPTOR CONSERVATION 135 6.1.8 THE JOINT RAPTOR STUDY AND LANGHOLM MOOR DEMONSTRATION PROJECT 136 6.1.9 ILLEGAL PERSECUTION OF RAPTORS 136 6.1.10 BIRDS OF PREY: ENSURING A LONG TERM-FUTURE 138 6.1.11 CONCLUSION 142 6.2 THE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY LANDSCAPE FOR DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 143 6.2.1 LICENSING 143 6.2.2 STEWARDSHIP SCHEMES 145 6.2.3 PEOPLE, WILD ANIMALS AND LAND MANAGEMENT 147 6.2.4 THE SHOOTING SECTOR AND SELF-REGULATION 149 6.2.5 CONCLUSION 152 6.3 THESSITUATION IN SCOTLAND 153 6.3.1 THE GROUSE MOOR MANAGEMENT REVIEW GROUP REPORT 153 6.3.2 LICENSING IN SCOTLAND 154 6.3.3 SCOTTISH LAND REFORMS 156 6.4 THE OPPONENTS OF DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 158 6.4.1 THE ARGUMENTS EMPLOYED AGAINST DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 158 6.4.2 METHODS USED BY SOME OPPONENTS OF DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING 165 6.4.3 USE OF SELECTIVE EVIDENCE 171 6.4.4 MOTIVATIONS FOR OPPOSITION 175 6.4.5 CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY 175 6.5 ALTERNATIVE USES 180 6.5.1 OVERVIEW 180 6.5.2 AGRICULTURE, PRIMARILY IN THE FORM OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION 181 6.5.3 AFFORESTATION 181 6.5.4 RENEWABLE ENERGY, PRIMARILY IN THE FORM OF ON-SHORE WIND ENERGY 184 6.5.5 REWILDING 187 6.5.6 TOURISM 192 6.5.7 CONSERVATION/NGOS 193 6.5.8 CONCLUSION AND EVIDENCE SUMMARY 193 5 7 CONCLUSIONS 211 7.1 ECONOMIC IMPACTS 211 7.2 BIODIVERSITY: ECOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS 211 7.3 NATURAL CAPITAL AND ECOSYSTEMS 212 7.4 SOCIAL IMPACTS 213 7.5 ALTERNATIVES 213 7.6 OPPONENTS 213 8 RECOMMENDATIONS 215 9 REFERENCES 216 6 FOREWORD BY THE INDEPENDENT CHAIR Often referred to as the ‘King of Gamebirds’, the red grouse is unique to the British Isles and has a shooting season which runs from 12 August – the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ – until 10 December. The red grouse has been walked-up and shot over dogs since Stuart times. Sportsmen experimented with driven grouse shooting during the early years of the 19th century, but the practice did not come into general use until the Victorian period. When I was invited to Chair the production of this Report on Sustainable Grouse Shooting, it quickly became apparent to me that both the grouse and grouse shooting were just small parts of a much bigger picture involving ecology, conservation, land management, economics, and social impacts of a significant area of our country’s land and heritage. It is the evidence underlying that larger canvas that this report seeks to capture and evaluate. A good definition of sustainability is that it is a long-term goal to achieve a more sustainable world. Sustainable development refers to the many processes and pathways to achieve it e.g., sustainable agriculture and forestry, sustainable production and consumption, good government and governance, research and technology transfer, education, and training1. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has stated that “the core of mainstream sustainability thinking has become the idea of three dimensions, environmental, social and economic sustainability.” These three dimensions underpin our Report. We have collected much evidence underlying these three dimensions; 25 pages of our 242-page report - over 10% - details the literature we have studied and evaluated. Because grouse shooting can be such an emotive subject, we have endeavoured to be as objective as possible in looking at all sides of any argument, and always at the ‘bigger picture’ I alluded to above. We feel that the recognition and understanding of the evidence within our report will be of vital importance in both driving improvements in sustainability, and in ensuring that irreversible negative environmental, economic or social impacts do not occur. Despite – or because of – our research-led approach, it is clear that there are a number of areas 1 Li, R.Y.M., Li, Y.L., Crabbe, M.J.C., Manta, O. and Shoaib, M. (2021) The Impact of Sustainability Awareness and Moral Values on Environmental Laws. Sustainability. 13, 5882. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115882. 7 that need significantly more research in order to come to a valid evidence-based conclusion. Those areas are detailed in the Report. This is not the end of the story. From the outset we intend our report to be a ‘living document’ that will be updated regularly. We therefore hope that this Report will be an important resource now, and in the future, for policy-makers, and for anyone who cares, not only about driven grouse shooting, but about the sustainable development of our rural communities and of the people that they serve. James Crabbe, Emeritus Professor & Supernumerary Fellow, Wolfson College, Oxford University 8 1 INTRODUCTION In December 2020 the authors were commissioned by the Uplands Partnership to produce a detailed report reviewing the evidence on whether driven grouse shooting was sustainable.
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