Blogs

Scientific research, practitioner evidence and environmental accreditation are essential for sustainable game management -- the take home message from GWCT’s lowland gamebird conference.

Defra will shortly publish an updated GL43 licence and guidance for 2025 for the release of gamebirds on and within 500m of areas that are Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), but not Special Protection Areas (SPAs). 

Planting hedgerows and beetle banks is a great way of enhancing habitats, but according to Arthur Barraclough at Bright Seeds, the benefits can be multiplied by drilling conservation crops either side of the new wildlife corridor.

Spring has well and truly arrived over the last few weeks. The hillsides are a lot noisier with the return of curlew and lapwing. The black grouse are less in need of shelter with the weather cheering up, so sightings in the woodlands have dropped off, but there’s plenty of other animals to distract us whilst we’re out.

Greyhens are sensitive to disturbance, often leaving their broods unattended, making studying them during this critical period challenging. One potential solution is by monitoring of birds remotely through the use of GPS tags.

The year 2024 has officially been declared “the worst year for bumblebees since records began” by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. While out in the field surveying pollinators across southern England, GWCT researchers also noticed a shocking decline in bee numbers compared to previous years. And they were not alone. What’s behind these declines?

Thank you to all to all those who met in February at Barnard Castle for the 2025 Upland Game Conference. The overall message was clear: to safeguard a future for grouse moor management, upland estates across England and Scotland must work together and do their best to capture as much data as possible, using the latest technology.

Over the course of a series of blogs this year I will be considering the current science on peatland management and restoration with a view to challenging some of the ‘accepted truths’. 

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (GWCT) Allerton Project is partnering with the Environmental Farmers Group (EFG) to create a Knowledge Hub to serve as a resource for farmers looking to enhance their understanding of natural capital markets, sustainable land management, and the latest innovations in nature friendly farming.

Three days ago I watched four hares in my 7 acre paddock in front of my house being ‘mad march hares’. Baroness Helic is correct (Thunderer 25th March) that they are one of the most evocative symbols of the English Countryside.