‘Bit extreme’ to abandon beautiful heather habitat for social justice: Our letter published in the Scotsman

The 1992 Rio Convention on Biodiversity ratified the importance of our heather clad hills, the sort preserved by grouse moors (Here’s why grouse shooting is bad for the Scottish countryside – Robbie Marsland, March 15). They support eighteen species of European or global importance, for example. Robbie Marsland, of the League Against Cruel Sports, and his friends at Revive, may not be fans of grouse shooting but suggesting we should neglect this precious heather habitat, in the name of ‘social justice’, is a bit extreme. In contrast, the RSPB have been clear that the ‘management of land for grouse shooting has protected upland areas from the worst of over-grazing and blanket conifer plantations whilst generating income for upland communities and forming a uniquely British form of cultural land use.’

Andrew Gilruth
Director of communications GWCT