BASC’s new campaign needs your input 

With a relentless conveyor belt of hostile government consultations and frequent bad news in the media, it sometimes feels like shooting is under siege. However, rather than keeping our heads down, this is a time to fight back against the negative narrative by showcasing all that is good about shooting.

With that in mind, BASC has launched a Four Seasons campaign to celebrate the all-year-round positive work carried out by the shooting community and to encourage more people to share their stories and evidence. The campaign is built around the changing seasons, highlighting different conservation activities and the benefits they bring throughout the year.

Ian Danby, BASC’s head of biodiversity, is spearheading the project. “The Four Seasons campaign represents our collective effort to ensure shooting is delivering maximum value for the environment. We are demonstrating this with clear, credible evidence for decision-makers as well as the wider public.

“Together, we can tell our story to help people really understand what shooting brings to the environment.”

The campaign launched in spring covering two themes – habitat management for grey partridges and predator management for breeding waders. For summer, it will include advice and case studies on cover crops for wildlife, wetlands managed for shooting and the control of non-native species, including grey squirrels and mink.

What would really help would be case studies from DIY game shoots, showcasing their conservation successes. In the face of recent Government threats to ban gamebird releasing in England and Wales, your stories will help evidence our argument that game shooting, underpinned by the release of pheasants and red-legged partridge, is a force for good.

New audience

I have been recently working with Monk Wood shoot near Chesterfield for a sponsored BASC article on the LabourList news website to reach a new audience about the various benefits of shooting.

Shoot manager Jim Allsop and his team of volunteers have turned 190ha of land into an oasis for wildlife with many rare species including nightjar and bittern. In the article, which you can read online, we explained that the shoot brings together people aged eight to 90 years old from all walks of life – including those from local mining families.

We gave Labour supporters some facts and figures, too. Five miles of hedgerows and shelterbelts have been planted, two miles have been laid, 50,000 trees have been planted, 70 acres of wildflower meadows looked after, 35 small ponds created, 20 acres of wild bird plots established and hundreds of bird nest boxes and duck tubes erected.

We outlined that these conservation efforts have been largely funded and supported by club members, many of whom help all year round, as well as meeting up in autumn and winter for shoot days, with around 2,300 pheasants and 600 red-legged partridges released annually.

We pointed out that the shoot works closely with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and an area of species-rich semi-natural grassland was recently designated a Local Wildlife Site. We also asserted that shoots like this are nature reserves and nationally they cover more than 20 times the land owned by the RSPB and National Trust. Several other comparisons were made.

Finally, we argued that at a time when the Government is looking for ways to deliver nature recovery alongside economic growth, gamebird shooting and releasing is exactly the kind of integrated, working-landscape model that policymakers should be supporting.

These are the stories that we need people outside our bubble to hear more of, not the misinformation peddled by the antis. And guess what? The article went down well, with no negativity. So please get in touch if you would like your conservation story to be told to a wider audience.

Dr Conor O’Gorman is BASC’s head of policy and campaigns. He has over 25 years of experience in conservation and land management and a keen interest in wild grey partridges. Contact him at: conor.ogorman@basc.org.uk