7th December 2012
Mark Avery has reviewed a new book, Partridges, by Dick Potts on wild grey partridges; a red listed game species in steep decline due to changing land management and use. In his review printed in the December 2012 issue of Birdwatch, Mark says: “Dick has studied partridges, and worked with people who shoot them, for […]
29th November 2012
A grouse moor in County Durham has won a prestigious conservation award for returning block forestry back to globally rare heather moorland. The Weardale Estate in Bishop Auckland won Gold at the 2012 Purdey Awards for Game and Conservation. In 1984 Michael Stone, well known in the City of London as the former CEO, and […]
12th November 2012
Robert Benson has been elected Chairman of the Moorland Association, taking overall responsibility for the direction and activities of this membership organisation representing the owners and managers of over one million acres of moorland in England and Wales. He replaces Edward Bromet who has retired after serving the Association as its Chairman for four and […]
17th October 2012
The RSPB has lodged a complaint with the European Commission concerned with how Natural England has executed its role. One focus of the complaint is the allowing of burning of heather on blanket bog as part of grouse moor management. Blanket bog is an important habitat both nationally and internationally. It supports important wildlife and […]
15th October 2012
Stuart Wood, of Wethercote Farm, Bilsdale near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, has won the coveted Moorland Association Rose Bowl Trophy for the eighth time. Awarded for the best pen of ewes ‘hefted’ to the North York Moors, the silver trophy was presented at the famous Fadmoor Sheep Sales by Mr Peter Woodall of Cundall Auctioneers, after […]
2nd August 2012
AS the grouse shooting season beckons, moorland owners fear an EU spinach ruling threatens the centuries-old tradition.A ban on the only effective bracken control herbicide will change the face of Britain’s countryside, devastate wildlife and destroy land management worth around £100 million a year.So say Moorland Association (MA) members, who are facing the start of […]
3rd July 2012
The charity Lyme Disease Action is running its annual conference in Carlisle on Saturday July 21st. Chairman Stella Huyshe-Shires, who contracted Lyme disease from a tick bite in her garden, says “This conference is suitable for the public, for doctors and for anyone with Health and Safety responsibilities for rural workers.” Full details of the […]
29th May 2012
One year on from England’s biggest wildfire that burnt 6 km2 of precious moorland, Lancashire now has its very own Fire Operations Group. To mark its formation, the group held a massive moorland training exercise on Bleasdale Fell in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A kilometre or more of fire hose […]
11th May 2012
The Moorland Association and four other leading land management and conservation organisations in the Peak District National Park have condemned the destruction of a goshawk nest in the Derwent Valley. The organisations – the Moorland Association, the National Trust, Natural England, Peak District National Park Authority and the RSPB – were responding to the discovery […]
3rd May 2012
The encouraging results of the population survey carried out by The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust follows two successive breeding years when the weather has been much kinder to the charismatic wild birds. Numbers fell to below 500 males in 2010 when the northern uplands were hit by the worst winter weather conditions for almost […]
75% of Europe’s remaining upland heather moorland is found in the UK – 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.
HEN HARRIER SURVIVAL RATE NEARLY DOUBLE IN RECOVERY SCHEME Survival rates for hen harriers reared and released through an innovative scheme to help the recovery of the species are better than for wild birds, it has been reported, as the trial enters its final year. Data from satellite-tagged hen harriers given a boost in the Brood Management Scheme trial shows the […]
Management of game assurance scheme transferring from BGA to Aim to Sustain The infrastructure of the assurance scheme built by British Game Assurance (BGA) will be transferred to Aim to Sustain, it was announced today (Monday 16 October). The transfer should be completed later in the Autumn and in the meantime, the scheme remains unchanged and open to new members. Following completion, Aim to Sustain will take […]
