GWCT News Blog

The proposal in the government’s recently published Land Use Framework to license gamebird management suggests a worrying lack of understanding of the fundamental connection between shooting and conservation in some of our most well-loved landscapes.

"Many GWCT members are landowners, farmers, and estate holders who quietly manage complex assets over the long term — often balancing stewardship, legacy, and commercial reality."

This year’s Game Shooting Conference was, for the first time in six years, held in association with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and kindly hosted by Holland & Holland shooting ground. The event was attended by almost 100 individuals representing porting agents, cartridge manufacturers, countryside organisations, shoot managers and gamekeepers from across the UK.

Allerton Farm Manager, Ben Jones shares his latest update, using Farm Yard Manure (FYM) and a cab mounted Nitrogen (N) sensor to reduce synthetic fertiliser use.

Many of us have heard of the cuckoo bird – famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other bird species so that its young are raised by an unsuspecting host. But fewer people realise that the world of bees contains its own lesser‑known cuckoos.

Yesterday marks a year since the announcement of the consultation on extending the area covered by the heather and grass burning regulations.

Defra has launched a consultation on its proposals to amend the list of birds that can be legally shot outside of a closed season. The proposals include extending the closed season for woodcock and snipe in England and Scotland and removing snipe from the quarry list in Wales.

It’s hard to believe how quickly the last six months have passed. The placement has flown by in a busy whirl of tubing samples, identification, data entry and analysis, and the occasional bits of fieldwork. Since September, much of our time has been concentrated in the lab, learning key invertebrate identification skills whilst working through samples collected during last summer.

So many staff across our field teams, advisors and scientists are dedicated to understanding and supporting farmland bird communities, sparrows included!

The government has used the publication of the latest iteration of the Land Use Framework report to announce it is exploring “wider measures such as licensing and any associated conditions for recreational gamebird shooting and release”.