June

Dave Baines shares his views on the nutritional challenges facing red grouse amidst the
destruction of its food plant by heather beetle and the ever-present strongyle worm.

Despite the drive for rewilding in the UK, farmers still feel pressured to keep their hedges and fields neat and tidy. 

GWCT Head of Education Mike Swan urges caution when it comes to overusing the strimmer, which can easily result in exposing the carefully hidden nest of a pheasant, partridge or duck.

Phil Warren reports on the plight of grey partridges in the English uplands and believes immediate action is needed to reverse their decline.

GWCT Cymru are very much involved in working with farmers in Wales and soil health is firmly on the agenda in several ongoing projects across the country.

Pheasant release pens should contain a mosaic of evenly distributed habitat providing a stimulating environment for the poults to acclimatise themselves before being released.

When simulated shoots first emerged no one could have predicted just how popular the concept would become. Despite the large following, there are still many game shots who profess to not enjoy simulated days. Why is this when simulated game days are meant to simulate a driven day?

Seems a simple enough question, but when it comes to public policy it is more difficult. The current focus on climate change centres predominantly around carbon, with biodiversity rendered a supporting role through nature-based solutions. This raises the question: is biodiversity a good in its own right, or is it a supporting service that underpins delivery of a broad range of ecosystem services?

The big new story in agri-environment schemes and farmland conservation is farmer clusters – groups of neighbouring farmers working together to deliver landscape scale conservation in a co-ordinated way. So, why not shoot clusters as well?