5th August 2020
Date: 31 July 2020 Introduction This document outlines the principles for Covid safe operation of game shoots in England through reference to relevant Government guidance and regulation. It has been produced to assist those managing game shoots to think about and manage the risk posed by COVID-19. It is not exhaustive, and each shoot will […]
5th August 2020
A £1.5m restoration project in Yorkshire has provided valuable protection for the local peatland and its ability to combat climate change. The development spans 1,414 hectares, equivalent to 1,724 football pitches. The project in Middlesmoor, Upper Nidderdale was undertaken in collaboration between the landowners and Yorkshire Peat Partnership, an organisation founded under Yorkshire Wildlife Trust […]
4th July 2020
The curlew is one of the UK’s most endangered bird species. Yet it is thriving on grouse moors thanks to skilled land management. Tom Orde-Powlett, Moorland Association vice-chairman and land manager at Bolton Castle estate explains on Radio 4’s Today programme why the curlew is doing so well on heather moorland.
2nd July 2020
A dossier of new evidence on peatland protection has highlighted a raft of scientific findings that could help shape future conservation of some of the UK’s most iconic landscapes. New research on key issues including carbon storage, water quality, biodiversity and wildfire reveals that conclusions drawn from previous science are now out of date and […]
1st July 2020
Peregrine falcons have thrived on grouse moors during lockdown, with successful fledging taking place in three nests across the Forest of Bowland and Peak District. The fledging in the Forest of Bowland took place on a private estate which is managed for red grouse and other important moorland birds. A total of four chicks […]
26th June 2020
Gamekeepers and moorland managers in the Peak District have saved one of the most important moorland restoration projects in the country by successfully tackling a wildfire thought to be started deliberately. Fire broke out on the edge of Woodhead Moor in the Peak District, Derbyshire, late on Thursday. Twenty nine gamekeepers and staff from 11 […]
19th June 2020
The Countryside Alliance, Moorland Association and National Gamekeepers Organisation have welcomed the announcement by DEFRA that six General Licences for the control of wild birds will be reissued on a temporary basis ahead of new licences coming into force on 1 January 2021. The current General Licences had been due to expire on July 31st. […]
18th June 2020
Hopes of a successful breeding season rose today after moorland estates managed for red grouse across the North of England have reported an encouraging number of Hen Harrier nests on their land. These include six nests in Lancashire, four nests in Cumbria and two nests in Yorkshire. The dozen nests reported so far this year […]
2nd June 2020
Leading rural organisations have today joined forces to call on the Environment Secretary, George Eustice, to bring the chaotic wildlife licensing system run by Natural England back into central Government where it can be fixed. A new paper, ‘Wildlife Licensing in England: Chaos, Crisis and Cure’, written by the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, the Moorland […]
29th May 2020
Amanda Anderson, Director of the Moorland Association, today urged that science and facts should dominate the debate over raptor persecution. We need greater use of official facts and science in the debate to end raptor persecution. No-one is denying there is an issue and the law should be applied rigorously where wildlife crime happens – […]
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.
Aim to Sustain hails Wild Justice defeat as “vindication of upland managers” AIM TO SUSTAIN partner organisations have said another legal defeat for Wild Justice is vindication of those who manage Britain’s uplands. Wild Justice again attempted to launch an appeal after the High Court last month refused their application for a judicial review of the Heather Burning Regulations for a second time. But the Rt Hon Lord Justice […]
NEW RESEARCH CONFIRMS IMPORTANCE OF CONTROLLED BURNING Prescribed burns lock greenhouse gases in the soil Research by the University of Cambridge published in the journal Nature Geoscience confirms that controlled burning can increase carbon storage in the soil. The study found that controlled burns cause changes in soil composition which not only offset immediate losses but can actually lock in or increase […]
