By James Swyer, GWCT Head of Press & Publications
It’s not a question I’ve ever asked before but, given the level of discourse about conservation on social media, it’s how I started my morning.
Confused? Let me fill you in.
Among the thousands of people to complete the GWCT Accredited Game Shot accreditation online, yesterday we received a pass from someone named ‘Brussel Sprout’. We thought nothing more of it and carried on with our charitable objects, promoting working conservation and undertaking leading research to increase biodiversity.
That was until this morning. Earlier today, George Monbiot was so taken with a tweet from Wild Justice director Ruth Tingay about Brussel’s success that he shared it with his 454,000 followers, tagging in the GWCT. ‘We believe this might be the first occasion on which a brussel sprout has achieved this distinction’, crowed the author, journalist and founder of Rewilding Britain.
We’re not sure what Wild Justice is trying to achieve here, nor why George got quite so excited about it.
Our test sets out to achieve something that George, Ruth, Mark Avery and Chris Packham have all argued for – better use of the countryside. I’m proud of how many people have taken the time to take the test, to improve their understanding of their role in the countryside and understand their responsibility. Those who shoot have shown they care.
I’d like the thank George and Ruth for highlighting the test and all of those who have passed it. I’m in no doubt that if all of George’s followers took the test, there would be a better understanding of our countryside and those working in it than they did this morning.
When Mark Avery poked fun at our financial troubles in the midst of the pandemic, your donations increased. Hopefully ‘Brussel’ has encouraged many more of you give our free test a go.
If you’d like to see if you can do better than someone purporting to be vegetable for likes on social media, you can do so at www.gwctknowledge.com.
If you’ve already completed the test and would like to support our work, you can do so below.