Clodhopper
Well-known member
"To give just one example: grouse moors - those profitable playgrounds of the rich – are a Bermuda Triangle where birds of prey disappear and a heather monoculture induced to feed young birds. They are owned by a tiny elite who receive public subsidy for their contribution to environmental damage."
I have no knowledge of the profitability of grouse shooting, Kev, and I am, personally, far too clumsy to ever be allowed near a shotgun. However, I do find this, from the British Trust for Ornithology, very interesting:
BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Red Grouse
In particular, the view encapsulated in the final paragraph ("Hen Harriers in particular can reduce grouse shooting bags, limit grouse populations and cause economic losses to moor owners, and have been subject to much illegal persecution (Thompson et al. 2009). Finding a solution to the harrier–grouse conflict would bring considerable benefits to the management of the UK's heather moorlands and have broad implications for the conservation of predators (Redpath & Thirgood 2009"), seems enlightened. Finding a way of maintaining red grouse levels through the management of moors for the benefit of paying customers is surely better than watching the disappearance of the moors and, subsequently, the grouse and its predators?
Ultimately, I believe that it is arguments such as these that are the best defense for our own sport. Angling Club management of waterways and fish stocks for the benefit of fishermen is surely the most pragmatic approach.
I have no knowledge of the profitability of grouse shooting, Kev, and I am, personally, far too clumsy to ever be allowed near a shotgun. However, I do find this, from the British Trust for Ornithology, very interesting:
BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Red Grouse
In particular, the view encapsulated in the final paragraph ("Hen Harriers in particular can reduce grouse shooting bags, limit grouse populations and cause economic losses to moor owners, and have been subject to much illegal persecution (Thompson et al. 2009). Finding a solution to the harrier–grouse conflict would bring considerable benefits to the management of the UK's heather moorlands and have broad implications for the conservation of predators (Redpath & Thirgood 2009"), seems enlightened. Finding a way of maintaining red grouse levels through the management of moors for the benefit of paying customers is surely better than watching the disappearance of the moors and, subsequently, the grouse and its predators?
Ultimately, I believe that it is arguments such as these that are the best defense for our own sport. Angling Club management of waterways and fish stocks for the benefit of fishermen is surely the most pragmatic approach.
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