Designed to inform and promote good game management, Game 2024 is aimed at everyone involved in the sector and will be of interest to landowners, sporting agents, game managers, gamekeepers, game farmers, fieldsports enthusiasts and everyone in between, all are welcome.
Lunch is provided and there will be plenty of opportunity to catch up with friends and peers from the shooting and game management community.
Programme
09:00 Coffee and registration
09.20 Welcome/introduction: Sir Jim Paice, GWCT Chairman
09.30 Self-regulation and Trusted Game: Dan King, Sandhill Vets
09:55 Defra and General Licence 43: Dr Roger Draycott, GWCT
10.20 How Avian Influenza affects the gamebird sector: Dominic Boulton, Game Farmers Association
10:45 Morning Break
11:15 Why we need Best Practice: Bernard Moss, Chair NYMSA
11.40 The importance of Humane Cable Restraints: John Clarke, NGO
12.05 Demonstrating the wider benefits – Curlew conservation: Lord Bolton
12.30 Lunch
13.30 Balgonie Grey Partridge Recovery Project: Fiona Torrence, GWCT
13.55 Agri-Environment options for shoots in 2024: Richard Barnes, Kings
14.20 Afternoon Break
14.50 Are gamebird releases fuelling foxes: Dr Maureen Woodburn, GWCT
15:15 How we can evidence good-practice: Marlies Nicolai-Peake, GWCT
15.40 Summing up: Ian Coghill, Aim to Sustain
16:00 Finish
The conference will begin with Dan King from Sandhill vets who will give a vet’s perspective on self-regulation and the Trusted Game initiative. GWCT’s Dr Roger Draycott and the GFA’s Dominic Boulton will then discuss Avian Influenza and GL43, describing what happened in 2023 and advising what to be prepared for in 2024.
Following them will be Bernard Moss, Chairman of the North Yorkshire Moors Shooting Alliance who will discuss the need for, and importance of best practice if the sector is to demonstrate self-regulation. John Clarke from the National Gamekeepers Association will discuss best practice predation management and Humane Cable Restraints and Lord Bolton will speak on the wider benefits of good game management with a motivating curlew conservation success story.
After lunch attendees will hear another motivating game and conservation success story from GWCT’s Fiona Torrence as she gives an update on the Balgonie Grey Partridge Recovery Project in Scotland. Carrying on the discussion of improved habitat for game and wildlife, Richard Barnes from Kings will then advise how shoots can make the most of changes to Agri-environment schemes and make informed decisions in 2024 and onwards.
The conference then highlights the latest essential GWCT research with GWCT’s Dr Maureen Woodburn giving an update on the findings of a key and much-anticipated study which assessed the relationship between foxes, gamebirds and predator control. This research was funded by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation and was commissioned to plug an existing evidence gap. GWCT has always maintained good game management should reduce local fox numbers, whereas those opposed to shooting have suggested gamebird releases fuel high numbers of foxes, increasing predation pressure on threatened species.
Following Dr Woodburn, the GWCT’s Marlies Nicolia-Peake will discuss how the GWCT has been helping shoots collect data to evidence their best practice. Such data has been used effectively to help in license applications. The final talk of the day will be from the new Chair of Aim to Sustain, Ian Coghill to discuss the new Aim to Sustain Game Assurance Scheme which will be a critical element of self-regulation for the sector.
Don’t miss this fantastic informative event and remember, by attending you’ll be supporting the essential work of the GWCT. Tickets are still available and cost £55. You can book your place at the top of this page.
There will be ample free parking available, including disabled spaces.
Lunch and refreshments are provided, with dietary requirements catered for.
For more information, contact Lizzie Herring on 01425 651013 or lherring@gwct.org.uk
The event is kindly sponsored by Perdix, Elanco and Massey Feeds.