2020

This presentation was delivered by Kenny Nutting from St David's Poulty Team during our recent Game 2020 Conference and covers the best practice rearing of gamebirds.

White-tailed sea eagles were once widespread in Southern England, but relentless persecution led to their extinction 240 years ago. The South Coast White-tailed Eagle Reintroduction project, which started in 2019, will see up to 60 young eagles fitted with GPS-trackers and released on the Island, over a five-year period under licence from Natural England.

Whilst we recognise that planting trees is an important tool in the drive to offset carbon emissions, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) believes that the ‘right tree in the right place’ approach is vital. There are plenty of opportunities for increasing woodland cover in our landscapes that do not require the repurposing of land.

Court papers have revealed that had the Wild Justice legal action to ban gamebird releasing near protected sites reached a courtroom - it would have failed.

The Chief Veterinary Officers for England, Scotland and Wales have agreed to bring in new measures to help protect poultry and captive birds, following a number of cases of avian influenza in both wild and captive birds in the UK. The new measures come into force on Monday 14th December.

“We want to support the choices that farmers and land managers take on their holdings,” writes George Eustice in the foreword of Defra’s Agricultural Transition Plan, launched on 30 November. For farmers working under the trappings of the Common Agricultural Policy, this will provide a welcome sense of relief. In fact, much of the 66-page report will.

We take a closer look at the RSPB's attitude to shooting and how they continue to project it negatively to the public and its members.

You may be very disappointed with the announcement after all the hard work which the GWCT has devoted to the 'Werritty Review', and multiple representations to policy makers. As the recently published GWCT blog on the issue states, we are deeply concerned that what is required is solutions, not another layer of bureaucracy.