Summary: The Moorland Association's Driven Grouse Shooting Briefing Note
- Rob Beeson
- Jun 18
- 9 min read
Updated: Jun 24
This is a summary of our full briefing note, published in advance of the Westminster debate on the future of driven grouse shooting.
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The Moorland Association represents those responsible for over a million acres of moorland in England and Wales. Our work covers many environmental priorities, including biodiversity, peatland restoration, wildfire control, and water protection. We aim to balance environmental sustainability with rural livelihoods and community well-being through integrated land management.
We reject calls to ban or license driven grouse shooting, believing these proposals are out of touch with environmental, social, and legal realities. The UK government, through Defra, currently has no plans to ban driven grouse shooting, recognizing its importance to the rural economy.
Why a Ban on Driven Grouse Shooting Is Rejected
Driven grouse shooting is a significant conservation success story, sustaining most of the world's heather moorland. It contributes to peat restoration, carbon storage, and wildfire mitigation, while supporting remote rural economies. Banning it would undermine the UK's ability to meet its environmental targets under the Environment Act 2021.
Crucially, driven grouse shooting is funded privately, unlike other conservation efforts that would require public money if shooting ceased. Critics have yet to propose a clear alternative land use that could replace its benefits or explain who would pay for conservation without it. Existing regulations already govern upland management extensively, making calls for more red tape redundant and potentially disruptive.
Protecting Globally Important Heather Moorland
Heather moorland is a rare global habitat, with the UK hosting about 75% of it. This landscape is semi-natural, shaped by centuries of human activity, and supports unique plants and animals. Driven grouse shooting actively maintains this habitat.
Specific management, such as controlled burning and grazing, encourages new heather growth, creating a varied landscape that supports diverse wildlife. This active management also prevents the moorland from turning into scrub or forest, which would harm open-habitat species. Gamekeepers undertake year-round tasks, including rewetting and peat restoration, which are vital for this cultural landscape.
Critics often claim moorland is extensively drained for grouse, but historical drainage was primarily for agriculture, not shooting. In fact, grouse moor managers have restored over 7,000 km of historic drainage channels to re-wet peatlands, often with government support.
The idea of a blanket ban on heather burning is misguided and could dramatically increase the risk of severe wildfires. Traditional cool burning, performed in winter and spring, only burns surface vegetation, leaving the peat undamaged, unlike uncontrolled wildfires that ignite peat and release vast amounts of carbon.
Scientific evidence supporting the benefits of burning, such as increased peat-forming species, is often overlooked. Attempts to change land management policy before key research is complete are considered dangerous.
Furthermore, restricting traditional burning risks losing crucial local knowledge and skills among gamekeepers, who are often first responders to wildfires and provide vital support to emergency services. The notion that all peatlands are uniform and can be managed identically is rejected, as sites vary greatly in their ecology.
Supporting Threatened Upland Bird Species
Moorland managed for driven grouse shooting is essential for conserving several threatened ground-nesting birds. This is due to a combination of habitat enhancement and predator control. Research shows these species breed more successfully on managed grouse moors. Without this management, their populations could decline severely, as seen at RSPB Lake Vyrnwy.
For example, the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project showed increases in curlew, golden plover, and snipe when grouse management was restored. Conversely, areas where management ceased, such as parts of the Berwyn Special Protection Area (SPA) in Wales, saw declines in these and other species.
The distribution of breeding curlew in the UK closely matches grouse moors, which act as 'source populations' due to effective predator control. English grouse moors host over half of the UK's curlew population and a significant percentage of its lapwing population.
Grouse moor management also benefits some raptor species, including hen harriers and merlin, as studies show their numbers increased during periods of grouse moor management. Predator control, which some critics oppose, is vital for the success of ground-nesting birds.
Many conservation organizations, including the RSPB, also use predator control to protect at-risk species. Research has shown that ground-nesting birds breed three times more successfully with predator control.
Driving Private Investment and Rural Economies
Driven grouse shooting is a significant source of private investment and economic activity in remote rural areas. Moor owners often subsidise this activity, seeing it as part of an integrated management system that maintains the unique moorland environment.
This private funding would be difficult to replace with public or charitable sources.
The economic impact extends beyond the direct act of shooting, encompassing a complex network of activities:
Direct Employment: Full-time gamekeepers, and casual labour like beaters and drivers, receive year-round or seasonal salaries. A typical shooting day can involve up to 100 people.
Local Businesses: Substantial expenditure occurs with outdoor contractors (e.g., for roads, fencing), indoor contractors (caterers), and other local services. This continues even in non-shooting years.
Indirect Benefits: Estates help farmers access agricultural subsidies, boost local tourism by increasing spending in hotels and pubs, and reduce health risks through bracken and tick control.
Environmental Services: Economic benefits also arise from carbon sequestration, wildfire reduction, and flood mitigation achieved through moorland management.
A new study highlights that English grouse moor tourism contributes £121 million per year. This high-value tourism often occurs outside the main tourist season, providing crucial income to remote communities.
Claims that alternative land uses are more profitable often rely on a narrow view of economic viability, ignoring the broader, diversified rural enterprise model. Country sports have historically contributed more to the economy than other forms of tourism.
Cultural and Community Importance
Driven grouse shooting is deeply intertwined with the cultural heritage and community identity of many upland areas. It fosters social cohesion, inter-generational connections, and a strong sense of place. Gamekeepers, in particular, play central cultural roles as custodians of the land and community leaders.
The activity brings together diverse people, from those who shoot to local beaters and caterers, strengthening social bonds. Participation is seen as an integral part of rural identity and is recognized by UNESCO as "intangible cultural heritage".
Grouse moors maintain attractive and accessible landscapes for public leisure activities like walking and birdwatching. Gamekeepers actively engage with the public and maintain tracks, making the moors enjoyable for all. The activity provides vital employment in remote areas with limited alternative opportunities. It also contributes to physical and mental health through regular exercise and social interaction, helping combat loneliness.
Critics often dismiss the social and cultural importance, portraying it as an elitist pastime. However, studies on Scottish moorland communities found significant positive impacts, including employment and local business income. The year-round presence of gamekeepers and their families is often more economically important than seasonal shooting parties. Surveys show most participants are local, challenging the "elitist" label.
Addressing the Hen Harrier Issue
Brood management is a conservation tool designed to reduce conflicts between hen harrier populations and grouse shooting. It involves rearing hen harrier chicks from grouse moors in captivity and releasing them back into the wild. This approach emerged from findings at Langholm Moor, where high harrier numbers led to the abandonment of shooting and subsequent declines in both harriers and other waders.
The Joint Hen Harrier Action Plan in England, which included brood management, achieved the highest hen harrier breeding success in England in 200 years. This scheme provided an incentive against illegal activity while increasing harrier numbers. However, Natural England ended the scheme in 2025, a decision criticized for ignoring evidence that moorland management benefits hen harriers.
While illegal raptor killing occurs, it is not the sole cause of low harrier numbers, and many estates actively protect raptors. The cessation of moorland management in the Berwyn SPA, for instance, led to declines in hen harrier numbers, suggesting active grouse management can be beneficial. Opposition to brood management by some activists is viewed as focusing on process rather than effective conservation outcomes.
No Clear Alternative Land Uses
Those advocating for a ban on driven grouse shooting have not presented clear alternative land uses that can match its comprehensive environmental, social, and economic benefits. Suggested alternatives have significant limitations:
Forestry: Large-scale planting, especially on peatlands, can fragment habitats, alter water flow, and increase predator and tick populations, leading to biodiversity loss.
Intensive Sheep Farming: This can convert valuable heather moorland into low-value grassland, with high restoration costs, and often depends on subsidies to be profitable.
Land Abandonment: Ceasing active management leads to scrub and tree growth, harming ground-nesting birds that need open habitats.
Rewilding/Nature Reserves: These often require substantial public funding and may not maintain existing valuable habitats. There is limited long-term research on their outcomes in the UK, and rewilding can cause local community resentment. Some publicly funded nature reserves have even failed to maintain bird populations.
Eco-tourism: This has not consistently matched the income generated by driven grouse shooting, nor does it directly fund land management or local contractors to the same extent.
Walked-up Shooting: Requires fewer grouse, offers less employment, and has shown reduced conservation benefits. It is often not economically viable as a sole management objective.
Land use is not an "either/or" choice; driven grouse shooting is a valuable part of an integrated approach. Claims that alternatives are more economically viable often rely on government subsidies, unlike the privately funded grouse shooting. The social impacts of alternatives are rarely fully considered, failing to explain how the social cohesion, employment, and well-being benefits would be maintained.
Disputed Environmental Criticisms
The environmental impacts of moorland management, particularly controlled burning, are highly debated, with scientific evidence often mixed. There is no scientific consensus to support a blanket ban on controlled burning. Defra's consultation on heather burning is criticised for relying on what the Moorland Association believes are biased and methodologically inadequate publications from Natural England.
Regarding carbon capture, published science does not conclusively prove that controlled burning is detrimental on managed heather peatlands. Some evidence suggests that biochar produced by controlled burning can effectively store carbon in peatland soils. Unmanaged, aging heather can dry out peat, reducing carbon uptake.
The evidence on water quality and flood control is also inconclusive. A 2012 RSPB-commissioned report found no definitive evidence that land management for game shooting negatively impacted flooding. Grouse moor managers are actively engaged in rewetting moorland, often benefiting water quality and flood mitigation.
Managed burning reduces fuel loads, leading to less severe wildfires and better access for firefighting, which is increasingly important with climate change. Gamekeepers are experts in moorland fire knowledge and actively assist Fire & Rescue Services.
Claims that burning universally damages peatlands are often simplistic and selectively evidenced. The idea that rewetting alone guarantees fire resilience is not supported by evidence and ignores factors like climate, topography, and seasonal droughts.
Existing Regulations Are in Place
Moorland management practices associated with driven grouse shooting are already extensively regulated by law. This includes specific licensing for predator control, controlled burning regulations, and controls on medicated grit use. Regulatory bodies, such as Natural England, oversee these practices, requiring landowners to maintain detailed records and submit to audits.
Shooting organisations like BASC and GWCT actively promote "best practice" standards and lead self-regulation initiatives. Opponents argue existing regulations are insufficient and call for additional measures, such as a licensing scheme. However, the demand for additional licensing may not offer real benefits beyond existing laws and could disrupt legitimate operations.
The suspension of general licences in England and Wales due to legal challenges has already caused disruption to communities and wildlife. Further regulation would also undermine findings and recommendations from other key government policies and reviews, such as the Corry Review and the 25 Year Environment Plan.
Wider Wildlife Benefits
Beyond red grouse and specific threatened upland birds, management for driven grouse shooting supports a wider range of wildlife, enhancing overall biodiversity. This is achieved through predator control, habitat management, and disease control.
The varied age classes of heather created by practices like controlled burning support a richer population and diversity of invertebrates than unmanaged, uniform heather. Grouse moors also support specialist invertebrate species, like the bilberry bumblebee.
Controlling ticks on managed moors reduces health risks for wild and domestic animals.
Legal control of generalist predators benefits ground-nesting birds and mountain hares. Data suggests that 'grouse moors' have a biodiversity that is "at least as rich, if not richer," compared to unmanaged upland areas. Notably, shooting estates account for a disproportionate 29% of upland Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Critics' arguments that grouse moor management focuses too narrowly on red grouse, harming other wildlife, are challenged by the evidence of these wider biodiversity benefits. The idea that grouse moors create a "monoculture" of heather is contradicted by the emphasis on creating a "mosaic" of heather ages, which directly benefits invertebrate and plant diversity.
You can watch the debate via the UK Parliament YouTube Channel.
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