Countryfile presenter ‘huge fan of shooting & conservation’

Speaking at the launch of the Wildlife Habitat Trust?s latest stamp at this year?s CLA Game Fair, he said: ?The eyes and ears of the countryside are those who work in it and carry out sport in it.?

?It is absolutely essential to try to raise funds for wildfowlers across the countryside, so that they are able to buy land, create wetlands, and look after biodiversity and all the wildlife and ecology that survives around wildfowling.?

He also spoke about the BBC?s Countryfile programme, and in particular its move to a primetime slot on Sunday evenings.

He said: ?We are now getting between seven and nine million viewers and so loads of people are really excited about what?s going on in the countryside, and really getting reconnected with the countryside, food and farming.?

?It is up to everyone here who understands what is going on to bridge that urban divide and get the whole nation involved and to understand what is going on out there. We mustn?t paint a sort of chocolate box image. It has to be real; it has to be the highs and lows and the tragedies and the successes.?

?These sorts of stories are a huge celebration that I think we really need to shout about.?

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