Blogs

It would be fair to say 2022 was a year of challenge but also a year of notable success for GWCT Scotland. During the year, we faced an unprecedented tsunami of government policy developments, impacting virtually every area of our work. This requires a huge resource commitment but is imperative to represent the best interests of the countryside – both its biodiversity and its communities.

Are you a keen game shot looking to do your bit for wildlife conservation? Then look no further than our stunning selection of Shoot Raffles, where you can win amazing shooting experiences at some of the country's best shoots for you and your friends, all while supporting the important work of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust.

As we approach the start of another Game rearing Season, the months ahead are full of uncertainty and speculation, with plenty of potential hazards and obstacles.

In the 33 years since joining the Trust in 1989, Andrew Hoodless has worked on key GWCT research projects which have gone on to influence policy and best practice. 

As you may already be aware, 2023 is an important year for woodcock research. For the third time since its inception in 2003, GWCT and BTO are running the national Breeding Woodcock Survey to provide a snapshot of our resident woodcock population’s size and status. 

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series of blogs, working as a research assistant at the GWCT gives me the opportunity to work on some incredibly exciting research. In early 2022 I joined the Trust’s Predation Control Studies team, where I am learning new skills from a range of new research challenges.

On-going research led by Associate Professor Andreas Heinemeyer at York University into upland management systems is beginning to show that the results of earlier research based on pre- and immediately post-burning evidence are too simplified; and even wrong when it comes to judging the carbon consequences of managed burning.

We have been waiting with increasing frustration for the publication of a draft Soil Health Action Plan for England (SHAPE) – a policy document that was promised in early 2021 during the debates over putting soil on the face of the Environment Bill (now Act).

The 2023 Big Farmland Bird Count is now underway and runs from 3-19 February 2023.

The GWCT advises all those who wish to shoot woodcock to exercise particular care and improve their knowledge of local populations, thus enabling the shoot to minimise their impact on resident birds.