Now Packham sets sights on woodcock

“It is also acknowledged that increased damage from deer browsing has changed the structure of woodlands, which reduces habitat for breeding birds. Increased predation pressure and the disappearance of permanent grasslands are also likely to be factors. Mr Packham seems determined to ignore sound evidence, preferring instead anti- shooting rhetoric.

“Those who shoot and those who manage land for shooting must be part of the solution for the longterm success of birds such as woodcock. But it is worth noting that the shooting community has a history of supporting woodcock; indeed, the species did not breed in the UK until the proliferation of woodland planting for gameshooting in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Assault on shooting will not benefit conservation efforts

“Mr Packham’s continued assault on shooting will not benefit conservation efforts in the long run. To continue berating the shooting community is to ignore the evidence that shooting is a force for good. The danger is that such polarising attacks could remove the motivation for many landowners to manage their woods in ways that will maintain suitable woodcock habitat.”

BASC chairman Peter Glenser said: “Successful conservation works best when all sides pull together. That reality seems to have escaped Chris Packham, who would rather drive a wedge between those who would otherwise work best when they work together for the benefit of conservation.”

“Nearly 2 hectares are actively managed for conservation as a result of shooting, and shooting is involved in the management of two-thirds of the rural land area. Shoot providers spend almost £250 million a year on conservation and those who shoot are acutely aware of their responsibility towards birds such as woodcock,” Mr Glenser pointed out.

“Mr Packham continues to court publicity with misjudged comment, causing bad feeling and resentment. The danger is this will send people scurrying for the trenches to protect their position, which may eventually do damage to the very birds he claims to want to protect.”