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Revive report finds against Scotland’s grouse moors

Charlotte Peters

December 09, 2019

Revive - a group made up of Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES), the League Against Cruel Sports, animal rights group OneKind, Raptor Persecution UK and Common Weal - has published a new report

Scotland's grouse moors

A Scottish grouse moor

Revive was launched in  November 2018  with the aim of “working for grouse moor reform in Scotland.” The coalition’s new report entitled: “A Better Way: How an alternative to grouse moors could help tackle climate change, increase biodiversity and benefit Scotland’s people” concludes that grouse moors have caused significant ecological damage and that replacing them with natural woodland and scrub would be more economically productive and sustainable.

However the campaign group claims it is ‘an independent report’ because it has been put together by Dr Helen Armstrong, a land management consultant who has worked for Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Forest Research.

Gamekeepers’ response

In response to the report’s publication, a spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said:

“Revive use neutral words like ‘reform’ but their real aim is to ban grouse shooting in Scotland, empty the glens and put gamekeepers and families on the dole.
“Their wish-lists were effectively discredited in Scottish Government’s own commissioned report into grouse moor economics and alternative uses of moorland.
“If Revive have the answers, why not invest the anti-grouse shooting lobbying cash and go and live and work on land only suitable for rough grazing, to see if they can create and sustain 2500 jobs and associated environmental benefits in those communities.”
Bruce Russell, Director (Scotland) of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) commented to Shooting UK: “GWCT’s Moorland Balance report presents the reality of our working moorlands. The landscape and wildlife are extraordinarily rare, yet heather dominated moors are a Scottish and global asset for tourism and conservation. Sheep, deer and hares also thrive on these hills because they are a managed habitat. The Scottish Government recognises that grouse shooting investment is the only substantial income for maintaining these benefits that does not rely on public subsidy and there is no good evidence that a different look or feel for this wonderful habitat is environmentally, socially, economically or culturally better.”
On 20 November 2019 the Review Group on Grouse Moor management submitted its report to the Scottish Government who commissioned it from the expert working group led by Professor Alan Werrity. The group includes Dr Adam Smith, Director (Scotland) for the GWCT. The findings have not yet been announced to the general public.
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