25th February 2020

The Peak District Bird of Prey Initiative has published its 2019 breeding season report. The report brings together data on key birds of prey or ‘raptors’ nesting within the Dark Peak – a largely upland region of the Peak District National Park. Results from the 2019 season include the fledging of goshawks from all eight […]

24th February 2020

Leading shooting and rural organisations have today announced they want an end to the use of lead and single-use plastics in shotgun ammunition for live quarry shooting within five years. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), British Game Alliance (BGA), Countryside Alliance (CA), Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), The National Gamekeepers’ […]

30th January 2020

The Moorland Association responds to the announcement by Natural England of new arrangements for licensing the control of Herring Gulls (HG) and Lesser-Black-Backed Gulls (LBBG). Two species removed from the 2019 General Licences. These arrangements include the introduction of a maximum threshold for the total number of these gulls that they will allow to be […]

29th January 2020

A GROUP of leading rural organisations has issued a new joint declaration as a clear signal of their intent to see the end of raptor persecution. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), Countryside Alliance (CA), Moorland Association (MA), National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) have outlined a […]

23rd January 2020

The Moorland Association said today that moorland managers are wholly committed to combating climate change and the government should not rush into an outright ban on controlled heather burning over peatland. Following the publication today of the report, Land Use: Policies for a Net Zero UK by the Committee for Climate Change, Amanda Anderson, Director […]

16th January 2020

Dee Ward, Vice-Chair at Scottish Land & Estates, reflects on the future of Scotland’s moorland. Scotland’s purple-clad heather moorland is heading into a new era and uncertain future. The final report of a two-year long review into grouse moor management, commissioned by the Scottish Government, has made a host of recommendations that would result in the […]

9th January 2020

Amanda Anderson, Director of the Moorland Association, responds to the recent wildfires in Australia: The horrific wildfires that are devastating large parts of Australia are extremely tough viewing. Pictures of badly burnt koalas, kangaroos and vast swathes of the countryside and people’s homes and livelihoods ablaze cannot but tug on the heartstrings and it is […]

19th December 2019

The Werritty Review into Grouse Moor Management in Scotland has been published today. Here is the link to the full report and the Scottish Government’s initial response. Below is a joint sector statement from rural organisations responding to the review. GROUSE SHOOTING REVIEW REPORT WILL MEAN ‘SEISMIC’ CHANGE FOR MOORS IN SCOTLAND Rural organisations said today that […]

31st October 2019

A new survey of breeding birds in the Peak District National Park has shown a positive trend in numbers of endangered species. Populations of 16 bird species in the Peak District are up, in contrast to national trends from the UK Government’s State of Nature 2019 report. Out of the 29 species sighted, the numbers […]

28th October 2019

The Moorland Association, which represents moorland owners and managers in England, today urged the RSPB to be ‘fair and factual’ in the review of game shooting it plans to conduct. Responding to the announcement of the review at the RSPB AGM,  Amanda Anderson, director of the Moorland Association, said:  “There are hundreds of people within […]