The 'Why Moorland Matters' Initiative: Guest Blog by Ian Coghill

The grouse moor community is a tight knit one. Little happens without some hint getting out. So we thought it would be useful to explain to everyone the nature of the 'Why Moorlands Matter' initiative into which we have been drawn.

It was an idea of Tarquin Millington-Drake’s, seconded by Emily Graham and myself, and first saw the light of day at Fourstones and Keasden four years ago. Grouse shooting accommodation is an underused resource in the spring, and the spring is when it is impossible not to be impressed by the sheer abundance of these amazing landscapes.

The idea was a simple one. Get a variety of people (including even some from the shooting community who know surprisingly little about grouse moors, particularly in spring, therefore lack the knowledge to defend them adequately) to stay under the same roof and spend a couple of days seeing the richness of these landscapes, in particular the extraordinary abundance of ground nesting birds, species that are virtually extinct elsewhere in mainland Britain, and spend time discussing in confidence whatever the guests wanted to talk about.

The intention was not to tell people what to think, but to let them see for themselves the reality of moorland management and its consequences, environmental, cultural and economic, and allow them to form their own opinions.

By their nature these are relatively intimate events with 8-10 guests, and a home team of volunteers of 4-6. But they add up and over four springs they have involved around 160 guests, some of whom have considerable influence over the future of the uplands.

It is fair to say that none has left with a less favourable view of grouse moor management, and many were amazed at the abundance of life and the vitality and importance of our community. All of them now know at first hand that the RSPB's description of grouse moors as burnt, barren and bare, industrial landscapes, is a travesty.

Having hosted events, we have seen for ourselves their serious impact, but also the skill and energy that is invested in them by Tarquin and his unpaid volunteers. They can only succeed thanks to the generosity of a number of people and organisations. We obviously were happy to host the events at Cotherstone and Arkengarthdale, but others make all sorts of contributions.

Eatwild provided venison, Silverscale provided the only smoked salmon Tarquin will eat (Icelandic on-shore tanks with zero sea lice and antibiotics), and wine donated by Bordeaux Index and finally the books gifted to guests were kindly paid for by the North Pennines Moorland Group.

Even with this support Tarquin needs to raise £10-£12,000 to cover the other inevitable financial consequences of running 6 or 7 two-day events. Spending your spare time raising money, so that you can work for nothing, is unusual to say the least. Even more surprising is that a lot of it comes from people who don't shoot grouse.

Like all things that seem to run effortlessly, an enormous amount of effort goes in to making them look effortless. Assembling the list of guests is a daunting task in itself. Important people have full diaries and even the most powerful are at the mercy of events, but somehow Tarquin always manages to get the right people.

It is not possible to precisely evaluate the impact these events have, but what they have made very clear is that the uplands in general, and grouse moors in particular, are very little understood outside our community. Indeed, the existence of our community in all its social richness is probably as great a surprise to many guests as is the bio abundance of our springtime moors.

The vital role grouse moor management plays in the uplands is a message that can be spread in many ways. There is not one exclusive route, and many reading this will already be doing their bit for the cause in a variety of ways, but we thought it might be helpful to explain what is going on through the medium of 'Why Moorlands Matter' and make it clear that in our view it has an important role in the defence of our way of life and deserves all our support.