Blanket Bog Track Trial - Moor House NNR
A study demonstrating that it is possible to use some vehicles on blanket bog habitats while minimising damage.
Conservation at Work
Latest News
- The Moorland Association responds to the sentencing of Mohammed Zulkifl at Bradford Crown Court today. Zulkifl pleaded guilty to committing arson on Ilkley Moor in April and was sentenced to a young offender’s institution for 27 months. Passing the sentence Judge Durham Hall remarked: “This case is a matter that has come to considerable public […]
- The arrival of the grouse shooting season has been enhanced by an upsurge of breeding success stories including Merlin, Peregrine Falcon and Hen Harrier. A survey of 14 grouse moors on the North York Moors revealed they hosted at least 25 nests of Merlin in 2019. Eighteen of these nests were monitored by gamekeepers and […]
- The Moorland Association today called for the government to ‘hit the pause button’ on making decisions over the impact of heather burning on grouse moorland following the publication of a new scientific report, which has found previous research to be ‘flawed’ and ‘unreliable.’ Scientists from Lancaster and York Universities have published a critical analysis of […]
- Grouse moor owners today voiced their support of Hen Harrier Day and predicted that breeding success of the species in England this year had marked a ‘turning point’ in efforts to rebuild the population. Following the announcement by Natural England earlier today that hen harriers have enjoyed a record year for breeding success in England, Amanda […]
- The Moorland Association today welcomes the publication of research by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust which looks at the impact of ending grouse moor management on a range of bird species. The GWCT study, which focused on two areas in Southern Scotland, shows that ending grouse moor management risks the decline and possible extinction […]
Blanket Bog Land Management Guidance - FAQ's
Created by practitioners for practitioners. It explains the current evidence base for peatland restoration and the impacts that different management methods may have, depending on local conditions.
Blanket Bog Land Management Guidance - Outcomes & Improvements
The booklet details the most likely starting points of deep peat you may find on your moor, as described in the Blanket Bog Restoration Strategy. These pages explain how each state of deep peat meets or detracts from the five agreed key outcomes. Actions and examples of restoration scenarios are suggested to move the peatland towards favourable condition.
Blanket Bog Land Management Guidance - Decision Making Toolkit
Use the decision aids in this toolkit on the hill to agree the starting condition of the blanket bog and to decide on best management methods to improve it. The decision aids are intended to aid the thought process when making these decisions, rather than a step-by-step guide to what to do. Use them in conjunction with Blanket Bog: Outcomes and Improvements and Blanket Bog: FAQ to take steps to improve the condition of your blanket bog
Moorland Association submission to Natural England wildfire evidence review, Nov 2016.
The Moorland Association (MA) has answered the eight questions posed by Natural England for this evidence review on wildfire and provided five case studies to illustrate what worked and what did not in mitigating wildfire damage. The MA has drawn 12 observations and conclusions to help the future protection of our precious dry heath and blanket bog from the projected increased threat from wildlife. This threat is now recognised as an urgent climate change risk to natural capital by the Committee for Climate Change Adaption sub-Committee (see page 5.) https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/UK-CCRA-2017-Synthesis-Report-Committee-on-Climate-Change.pdf
Code of Good Shooting Practice
Shooting is under constant and detailed scrutiny and we must demonstrate that we conduct it to high standards. The Code of Good Shooting Practice brings together those standards and makes them easily available to all who participate. It embodies fundamental respect for the quarry species, and care for the environment
Management for red grouse and breeding wader numbers
Lapwing and golden plover are five times more abundant and curlew twice as abundant on moorland managed for red grouse compared to moors with no gamekeepers. RSPB and GWCT research
2008 - 2011 Breeding Merlin Distribution
Of the 10km squares containing breeding Merlin records between 1968 and 2008, around 80% of the records are now located within keepered moorland (Data source: BTO Atlas)
The role of shooting in landscape scale land management
BASC White Paper
Moorland Infrastructure
Natural England's guidance to land managers for applying for consent for butts, scrapes and grit stations.
Peatland Restoration - Landowners rising to the challenge
Poster presentation to the Upland Hydrology Conference in Leeds
The Facts of Rural Life
Charlie Pye-Smith’s new book makes the case for the need for better wildlife management.
Benefits of grouse shooting - infographic
The Moorland Association and British Association for Shooting and Conservation have united to produce this informative infographic on the benefits of grouse shooting.
Stark consequences of no shooting
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation has put together a graphic infogram showing what would happen if there was no shooting. Check out the stark contrasts in Consequences-of-non-shooting BASC infogram
MPs targeted in myth busting mission
TWO leading conservation organisations have united to deliver a series of messages to MPs following flawed and damaging claims about grouse moors and flooding. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation and the Moorland Association have produced Briefing Note - Grouse Moors and Flooding.
Where have all the waders gone?
The tragic loss of lapwing and massive reduction of important waders such as golden plover and curlew are highlighted in a study published in the Welsh Ornithological Society’s journal Birds in Wales.
The study, which cites the loss of driven grouse shooting as being a possible reason behind the declines, together with afforestation, changes in upland farming and climate change, identifies that a reduction in vital moorland management for red grouse has been associated with changes in numbers of upland birds.
PRESS RELEASE
Stark findings in Berwyn
In the 1990s, driven grouse shooting and habitat management stopped in the Berwyn Special Protection Area in North Wales, leading to a serious fall in bird species.
Research into changes in upland bird numbers and distribution between 1983 and 2012 revealed stark findings.
The complete loss of lapwing and serious and rapid declines of many other red listed birds were highlighted. Hen harriers dropped by 48 percent, golden plover by 90 percent, curlew by 79 percent, ring ouzel and black grouse by 78 percent and red grouse by 54 percent.
The Berwyn report demonstrates with great clarity the consequences of losing grouse shooting as a land management tool. The report shows the hugely important work of MA members in their care for 860,000 acres of heather moorland in England and Wales. Without this work, the precious land would revert to scrub and forest and the heather moors lost forever, along with the loss of many red listed birds.
The value of grouse moor management
The Countryside Alliance and National Gamekeepers' Organisation have united to produce this guide on the value of grouse moor management.
Paradoxically, it is due to shooting that the red grouse is not on the endangered species list, and that the numbers of many of the birds which share its habitat during the breeding season are at the high levels that they are. On grouse moors, the management continues whether there is a sufficient surplus of grouse to shoot in a season, or not, and with all the factors that can adversely affect their population, there can be some years when no shooting can take place. The income from shooting is used by landowners to help offset the cost of that management, which benefits not just shooters, but also birdwatchers and all those that love to visit our heather moorlands.
Did You Know?
75% of of the world’s remaining heather moorland is found in Britain – but this area declined alarmingly over the latter part of the last century. The Moorland Association was set up in 1986 to coordinate the efforts of moorland owners and managers to halt this loss, particularly in England and Wales.
Stay in Touch with Us
Read our News
STATEMENT ON ILKLEY MOOR ARSONIST SENTENCE The Moorland Association responds to the sentencing of Mohammed Zulkifl at Bradford Crown Court today. Zulkifl pleaded guilty to committing arson on Ilkley Moor in April and was sentenced to a young offender’s institution for 27 months. Passing the sentence Judge Durham Hall remarked: “This case is a matter that has come to considerable public […]
Merlin, Peregrine and Hen Harrier fly high over grouse moors The arrival of the grouse shooting season has been enhanced by an upsurge of breeding success stories including Merlin, Peregrine Falcon and Hen Harrier. A survey of 14 grouse moors on the North York Moors revealed they hosted at least 25 nests of Merlin in 2019. Eighteen of these nests were monitored by gamekeepers and […]