Sustaining Ecosystems: How Grouse Moor Management Benefits Our English Uplands
- Rob Beeson
- Apr 28
- 6 min read
Our English uplands are complex ecosystems facing increasing demands from all corners of society. From supporting rare wildlife to acting as vital water sources and playing a crucial role in our fight against climate change, our uplands are truly multi-functional.
But how are these landscapes managed, and what impact does that have on the environment and the services we all rely on? This blog post examines the fascinating world of English grouse moors, a significant land use in these uplands, and explores their contributions to our environmental well-being, drawing insights from a comprehensive report titled "Sustaining ecosystems – English grouse moors".
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What Does Society Want from Our Uplands?
Our expectations for the English uplands have evolved dramatically over the last couple of centuries. Once primarily valued for food, fibre, and minerals, these moors are now seen through a much wider lens. We want them to be havens for specialist plants, animals, and birds; spaces for recreation, including wild game shooting; natural water catchments for our cities; and crucial carbon stores in the fight against climate change.
This surge in value is reflected in national policies and the growing interest from various stakeholders, including government bodies, local communities, farmers, recreational visitors, and environmental organizations. It's a landscape where different needs and desires often intersect, creating both common ground and inevitable tensions. Finding a balanced approach, a "net gain" where multiple benefits are achieved, requires careful planning and management, and crucially, working together.
Grouse Moor Management: A Key Player in the Uplands
Grouse moor management (GMM) is one of the three dominant land uses in the English uplands (areas above 200 meters), alongside livestock farming and forestry. Covering a substantial 423,000 hectares, understanding its impact is vital.
Historically, GMM has provided a significant incentive and the economic means for conserving upland bird populations, moorland habitats, and the vital carbon locked away in peat, particularly when compared to other upland land uses. The core motivation? A sustainable harvest of red grouse, which is increasingly recognized as having cultural, health, and economic benefits.
A recent report undertook a detailed audit to evaluate how English grouse moors contribute to a range of environmental goods and services, explicitly aligning GMM outcomes with the goals of Defra's 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP) for the first time. This audit looked at six key environmental goals and assessed two socio-economic goals relevant to upland management by grouse moors.
The Environmental Contributions
The audit reveals that managing moorland and peatland habitats for red grouse actually delivers a range of the 25YEP goals. Let's take a closer look at some of these key contributions:
Clean Air
While controlled heather burning (a management practice on grouse moors) and wildfires do release pollutants, controlled burning, when done correctly, may represent a net benefit by reducing the risk of larger, more damaging wildfires. Wildfires typically consume and emit nearly twice as much carbon per hectare compared to controlled burns.
Moorland vegetation itself plays a role in capturing particulate matter from the air, potentially contributing to improved human health.
Clean and Plentiful Water
English grouse moors act as natural "filters" and supply drinking water, estimated to be worth around £84.5 million per year.
Practices like blocking drainage ditches on grouse moors, as demonstrated at Coverhead Farm, can help deliver cleaner water and reduce the risk of downstream flooding by slowing surface water flow.
Thriving Plants and Wildlife
GMM actively contributes to moorland habitat conservation. Four upland habitats covering 224,000 hectares under GMM were in average to excellent condition when last assessed in 2015.
Grouse moors provide crucial refuges for several red-listed bird species, including lapwing, curlew, twite, and lesser redpoll. The Bolton Castle Estate, a driven grouse moor, is a key partner in the national Curlew Recovery Partnership.
Controlled burning can even benefit Sphagnum moss, a key component of healthy peatlands.
While concerns exist regarding raptor conservation, the report acknowledges these and points to ongoing efforts and the need for continued collaboration. Notably, hen harrier nesting attempts and the number of chicks fledged in England have increased between 1991 and 2018.
Reduced Risk of Harm from Environmental Hazards
Reducing wildfire risk is a significant contribution of GMM. Controlled burning and cutting vegetation reduce the amount of flammable material. Fire brigades recognize the role of gamekeepers in this crucial work. Wildfire mitigation should be officially recognized as a public good.
GMM and sheep farming are currently the main drivers for controlling ticks, which can carry human diseases, in upland areas open for recreation.
Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change
English grouse moors store a significant amount of carbon in their peatlands, estimated between 66 and 205 million tonnes. Protecting this existing carbon is vital.
GMM of habitat likely reduces emissions from wildfires, which can severely damage carbon stores. Wildfires have been shown to release significantly more carbon than controlled burns.
Grouse moors have actively blocked over 7,000 km of historic drainage channels to re-wet peatlands, contributing to carbon storage and other benefits.
Restoring heather cover on grassy moorland has the potential to double carbon sequestration, and restoring Calluna-dominated upland heath has a carbon sequestration potential equating to approximately 60% of the annual UK forest carbon sink.
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Is Grouse Moor Management Sustainable?
The report assesses whether GMM, as it's practiced today, is a sustainable form of land management. Drawing on the United Nations definition of sustainable land management, which emphasizes meeting human needs while ensuring the long-term productivity of resources and the maintenance of environmental functions, the report concludes that GMM is in large part a sustainable land management practice. It highlights the scaled approaches, spatial planning, local specificity, and adaptive co-management characteristics present in GMM.
Concerns that the intensity of GMM is permanently damaging the environment and biodiversity appear largely unfounded, with many criticisms based on inaccurate, incomplete, and historical views. Furthermore, the report suggests that alternative land uses in the uplands also require management and that their net benefits are often less well evidenced than those associated with GMM.
Co-creating a Brighter Future for Our Uplands
The report emphasizes that achieving the best outcomes for our multi-functional uplands requires a co-created approach between policymakers and land managers. This means working together towards a common purpose, recognizing the different perspectives, and identifying "win-wins".
To foster better outcomes, the report proposes several key recommendations:
Better Quantifying the Environmental Offering: Grouse moor owners and managers should use the audit framework to assess their environmental contributions and strive to be "centres of excellence" in supporting government environmental goals.
Practitioner Monitoring: Implementing structured and regular data collection on key environmental deliverables by those involved in GMM would enhance ownership and evidence improvement.
Updated Evidence Base: Natural England should update its review of upland management, incorporating the wealth of research and evidence available over the last decade, co-produced with practitioners.
Interdisciplinary Research: Collaborative efforts are needed to establish research projects that address the knowledge gaps identified in the audit, focusing on long-term data and spatial scales.
Collaborative Initiatives: Supporting and developing "Moorland Groups" can enable data gathering and conservation action at a landscape level, fostering collaboration between farmers, grouse moor managers, and local communities.
Adaptive Management: Empowering collaborative groups to improve the knowledge base through monitoring and assessing the success of management using adaptive principles is crucial, especially in areas with a weak evidence base. This approach allows for learning and adjustments based on real-world outcomes.
Conclusion: Recognizing the Value and Moving Forward Together
Our English uplands are invaluable assets, and their management is a complex undertaking. The report "Sustaining ecosystems – English grouse moors" provides compelling evidence that grouse moor management delivers a wide range of environmental goods and services, often as a positive by-product of management for shooting. These contributions, from clean water and air to biodiversity support and wildfire risk reduction, are significant and should be recognized.
While there are ongoing demands and areas for improvement, particularly concerning raptor conservation, the report suggests that constraining GMM without strong evidence of better alternatives may not be in the public interest.
Instead, fostering a collaborative environment where knowledge is shared, research is prioritized, and adaptive management is embraced offers the most promising path towards ensuring our uplands continue to thrive and deliver the multitude of benefits we all depend on.
Recognizing the merits of current practices while actively seeking improvements through co-creation will be key to unlocking the full potential of these vital landscapes for generations to come.
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