SIR – Animal Aid’s Andrew Tyler (Letters, July 27) has revealed his lack of knowledge of moorland management for grouse shooting (pictured).
Heather moorland is rarer than rainforest and threatened globally, and it is thanks to its management for grouse shooting that 75 per cent of what is left is found in Britain, where elsewhere it has been lost.
The rotational burning of small patches of heather by gamekeepers produces a “mosaic” of young shoots for food, while leaving older stands for nesting cover which benefits a unique assemblage of wildlife such as snipe, dunlin, ring ouzel, black grouse, merlin, lapwing, red shank and meadow pipits, birds that share this habitat with red grouse in order to breed.
RSPB research has shown some rare upland wading birds are up to five times more abundant on moorland managed for grouse than on other moorland. Far from harming wildlife, the controlled burning actively helps prevent uncontrolled wildfires.
If there is a sustainable surplus of grouse to allow shooting to take place without impacting on breeding stocks, then the income generated is used to offset the cost of year-round management.
Adrian Blackmore, Moorlands Director, Countryside Alliance
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article