With preparations for the pheasant and partridge shooting season well underway by May, over 200 shoots received notice at the eleventh hour that their general licences (GL43) had been revoked.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) rescinded licences, which had previously authorised the release of pheasants and red-legged partridge on or within 500 metres of special protection areas (SPAs), in a bid to combat avian flu but countryside groups are in disbelief.
Rural workers claim to have been granted no forewarning, prior consultation or communication concerning the last minute decision.
Countryside groups have described the move as a “kick in the teeth” for gamekeepers, which carries immediate threat of financial ruin as well as self-defeating long-term risk to conservation projects.
Head gamekeeper Phil Lowe, with his dog Deano as he took a shooting party for the start of the grouse shooting season
PA
John Clarke, Development Officer for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO), told GB News of being “astounded by how unprofessionally the situation regarding the changes GL43 had been handled”.
Clarke said: “The lack of prior information on this decision could now mean financial ruin and the loss of jobs for many people.
“For us to be left in the dark until such a late point in the day is a kick in the teeth for us and for our members.”
Clarke added that “estates and shoots will now have made significant financial commitments for the season ahead”.
So belated was Defra’s intervention that estates have already spent thousands of pounds and initiated the process of importing gamebirds.
Though the pheasant season runs from October until February, and the red-legged partridge season from September to February, game farming begins in February and so would be well underway by May.
Head gamekeeper Graeme MacDonald leads a shooting party on the moors at the Alvie Estate near Aviemore
PA
Many estates now face a possible unenviable dilemma of possessing a vast quantity of birds with no legal means of releasing or culling them, and likely no option to house all the birds safely.
Estates will instead have to apply for individual licences, administered on a case by case basis which takes up valuable time and, based on initial reports from shoots, seem to be allocated on a sporadic basis.
Caroline Bedell, the executive director of conservation at the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) said: “Defra has significantly underestimated the impact of a decision we believe it has taken without justification or sound evidence.
“We need to be clear here that Defra has taken an action that will force some shoots to close. The impact on jobs, business and fragile rural communities should not be underestimated.”
Bedell added: “Forcing hundreds of shoots to apply for an individual licence at the eleventh hour is a recipe for chaos.”
A gamekeeper beats back the flames as he burns heather on the Invercauld Estate near Braemar.
PA
Countryside groups have also warned that inevitable mass gamekeeper redundancies would have a profound knock-on effect on the countryside.
John Clarke told GB News: “The loss of gamekeepers will in many cases mean a loss of vulnerable species, in particular ground-nesting birds which are particularly vulnerable to predation.
“Land managed for game shooting provides cover crops for nesting and food sources for songbirds and farmland birds; without gamekeepers these food sources and protected areas simply won't exist.”
Clarke makes the additional point that some areas designated as SPAs might never have achieved such status were it not for the tireless efforts of gamekeepers.
BASC has launched legal action against Defra but remains acutely aware that by the time any ruling were to come about, the damage would likely have already been inflicted on the shooting scene.
Ian Bell, BASC chief executive and member of the Royal Artillery Shoot said: “We are clear that Defra has thrown shooting into turmoil at a critical time in the rural year and has threatened jobs and businesses.
Gamekeeper Andrew Drummond from The Milton Estate with his Springer Spaniel gun dog on the Drumochter moor
PA
“The key government department that is supposed to protect the best interests of rural Britain has shown a significant lack of understanding and empathy. That must not go without substantial challenge.”
Bell set out BASC’s intentions as “immediate reinstatement of a workable GL43 system” but also sees the legal challenge as an opportunity to secure a better future for rural communities.
He said: “We believe the High Court review is necessary to ensure that Defra’s processes are changed for the future and proper engagement with the rural community takes place before any significant changes are introduced.”
On its decision, Defra said: “We are currently experiencing the worst global outbreak of avian influenza on record.
“Following a robust scientific assessment, we are having to limit the release of gamebirds in areas of conservation concern in an effort to reduce the impact of this insidious disease.
“We will review this change and modify the licence should the risk change.”
Game shooting is a thriving activity in the UK, now worth over £2billion each year.
Areas affected include: North York Moors, Breckland, Salisbury Plain, North Pennine Moors, South Pennine Moors, Peak District Moors, Bowland Fell, and Dartmoor.
