Wildlife tourism in Scotland - the example of grouse shooting.

Abstract

Wildlife tourism in Scotland has seen a recent increase in profile, with two reports providing new figures on the economic value of the activity. The reports, by the Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), seem likely to generate policy responses to further develop the sector. For example, the Tourism Minister noted that wildlife tourism is a growing sector in Scotland, and the ministerial statement following the publication of the SNH study concluded that:
'Nature based tourism generates significant benefits for the economy, including thousands of jobs. It's vital that work on the conservation and enhancement of our natural environment continues to ensure we can deliver these benefits for generations to come.'
Both reports estimated the economic contribution arising from tourism activities that rely on Scotland's countryside. The SNH study examined a wide range of activities, including field sports, adventure activities such as mountain biking, surfing and sailing and walking, climbing and mountaineering. Using a very wide definition of wildlife tourism, it argued that spending on nature activities accounted for nearly 40% of all tourism spending. However, the study did not include any assessment of the environmental impact of these activities.
The study by Bournemouth University¹ used a much tighter definition of wildlife tourism and provides a more direct assessment of its impact. The major difference from the SNH study is that it considered only the activity created by those for whom the prime purpose of their trip was to view or study wildlife and it assessed that wildlife tourism accounted for 5.2% of domestic and 3.1% of overseas tourist trips. However, while it is a carefully researched study of part of the overall sector, it specifically excluded a number of other important wildlife activities such as hunting or fishing².
Despite their superficial similarities these studies produced dissimilar estimates of contributions to Scotland's economy from countryside-based tourism activities. In addition, neither considered any inter-relationship between wildlife tourism and the wider management of the environment that they rely on. This paper reports on a study that adds to both aspects of wildlife tourism in Scotland by examining in detail one area of this, grouse shooting on Scottish moors.