The infrastructure of the assurance scheme built by British Game Assurance (BGA) will be transferred to Aim to Sustain (A2S), it was announced on Monday 16th October.
The transfer should be completed later in the Autumn and in the meantime, the scheme remains unchanged and open to new members. Following completion, Aim to Sustain will take over and lead the next evolution of game assurance.
As a partnership of eight different organisations with an interest in game management and shooting, and a dedication to high standards and self-regulation, Aim to Sustain is uniquely placed to expand and build on the invaluable work of the BGA since it launched in 2018.
The Aim to Sustain Game Assurance Scheme will allow game farms, game shoots and estates to demonstrate publicly that they operate to the highest standards, which has been independently verified by an accredited external auditor.
These standards include assessment of animal health and welfare, food quality, environmental enhancement and protection, appropriate stocking levels, staff training and health and safety.
The scheme guarantees the quality of game meat for consumers through the Aim to Sustain assurance stamp, so they know that their game comes from an audited, high-quality source.
Aim to Sustain’s operations director Spike Butcher said:
“Everybody involved in Aim to Sustain appreciates the significant amount of work that BGA has put into developing the scheme, with an impressive reputation fostered in the sustainable game management sector. Having such a strong platform in place will give the scheme the best possible chance of succeeding under the new management of Aim to Sustain.
“All eight partner organisations and our scientific advisor, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, now have ‘skin in the game’. With investment in the scheme through commitment of time, effort and resource, the game shooting community will strengthen collaboration further to ensure that effective self-regulation is in place and visibly doing its job. All major organisations in the sustainable game management sector now have direct responsibility for self-assurance - this is a major step in the right direction.”
GWCT Advisory and Education director Dr Roger Draycott said:
“The transfer of the assurance scheme to A2S is a very significant move towards ensuring shoots achieve the huge conservation benefits we know game management can deliver. As A2S’s independent scientific advisor we would encourage shoots to join the assurance scheme, which is in line with GWCT’s science-based Guidelines for Sustainable Gamebird Releasing. When game managers apply best practice measures, they can double the wildlife in the farmed environment and demonstrate their vital role in national nature recovery.”
BASC chief executive Ian Bell said:
“BASC has helped to nurture the BGA since its beginning and we look forward to seeing game assurance grow as the Aim to Sustain partners take on the responsibility for game assurance from the BGA
“With all the Aim to Sustain partners fully committed to self-regulation and best practice within our sector, together we are in a strong position to take the assurance scheme and develop and grow it.
“Assurance is a critical element of self-regulation. It allows shoots, estates and game farms to provide evidence of their high welfare standards, safe wild harvest and food production and positive environmental effects. This evidence is important to help us tell the good news stories about game shooting and game management.”
Country Land and Business Association President Mark Tufnell said:
“The launch of the Aim to Sustain Game Assurance Scheme is a vital next step in continuing to demonstrate effective self-regulation, and we encourage everyone involved in the sector to get behind it and be part of assurance.
“Game meat is a healthy, nutritious and sustainably-produced option, and this scheme can help consumers and the public be confident that meat has been produced to the highest standards.”
Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner said:
“The future of game shooting is reliant on public and political perception and shoot assurance and wider sector self regulation are critical to that perception. It is critical that we can promote all the environmental, economic and social benefits of sustainable game management.”
Louisa Clutterbuck, CEO of Eat Wild and formerly British Game Assurance, said:
“We believe that this transfer to Aim to Sustain will propel assurance adoption to the next level, allowing our team to concentrate on the vital task of promoting game, encompassing both feathered and venison options for the table, to the wider public. We take immense pride in the achievements of the BGA to date. I want to emphasize my personal gratitude to every one of our supporters for their loyal and dedicated assistance over the years".
GFA chairman George Davis said:
“The GFA has been a staunch supporter of assurance since its inception by the BGA and indeed, were instrumental in developing the Game Farm Assurance scheme along side the BGA. We are looking forward to having greater involvement in the promotion of Game Farm Assurance to the game farming community through our partnership in Aim to Sustain. The GFA believe Assurance is vital to help secure the future of our members and the wider shooting sector.”
Moorland Association director Amanda Anderson said:
“Grouse is one of the most delicious and healthy meats available in the UK and is of exceptional seasonal and regional provenance. The development of the assurance scheme over the past five years has proven to be of enormous benefit in documenting how game is sustainably produced, handled and distributed. The sector is under constant scrutiny and so the ability to dispel some of the myths about grouse moors is invaluable. We are excited to see the continued development of national and international markets for game over the coming years.”
NGO chairman David Pooler said:
“The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation believes that self-regulation is vital for the future of shooting and game management more widely. This is a view we have been working hard to reinforce among our members. Demonstrating the high welfare standards and the positive conservation benefits of game management is hugely important for all of us.
“Assurance plays a significant role in encouraging self-assurance among the shooting community, and we hope that by working together things will go from strength under the new banner of Aim to Sustain.”
Scottish Land & Estates chairman Dee Ward said:
“SLE has strongly supported the development of a shoot and game farm assurance scheme over the last five years, and believe it is a good move for it now to come under the administrative umbrella of Aim to Sustain. Game shooting is an important rural land use sector in Scotland and a rigorous assurance scheme is the best way to ensure we have a sector that is delivering best practice for nature, biodiversity and climate, and to build confidence with politicians and the public that it is being carried out sustainably. SLE has led the way with the Wildlife Estates Scotland initiative and we hope that A2S Game Assurance will work alongside it, and will help all our members with shooting interests to take advantage of it.”
Aim to Sustain Assurance Briefing
What is Aim to Sustain?
Aim to Sustain was created by eight rural and shooting organisations, with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust acting as scientific advisor, to coordinate these organisations’ collective efforts to protect and promote sustainable shooting, biodiversity and rural communities.
Through Aim to Sustain’s advocacy, self-regulation, scientific research and advisory work we promote a game management and shooting sector which sustains rural communities and landscapes, addresses environmental challenges and delivers economic and social benefits whilst adhering to the highest possible standards.
With only one percent of the UK population still working on the land, Aim to Sustain seeks to highlight the vital contribution game management and shooting already makes to conservation and environmental protection and to ensure it can continue to do so for years to come.
Partners and Scientific Advisor
Partners
The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO)
The Moorland Association (MA)
Scottish Land & Estates (SLE)
Game Farmers’ Association (GFA)
Countryside Alliance (CA)
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA)
British Game Assurance (BGA)
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC)
Scientific Advisor
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT)
What is Assurance?
Assurance schemes allow food producers to demonstrate that their food products have been produced to the highest standards, independently verified by an external body. The Red Tractor is a widely known example of a food assurance scheme.
Accredited members of the scheme are not marking their own homework. They will have shown they meet a broad set of ‘best practice’ standards applicable to their part of the game management and shooting sector. These standards will have been evidenced and inspected through a rigorous audit process. The Aim to Sustain audit partner is Intertek SAI Global – a world-renowned, highly experienced and accredited certification body. We will continue to work with their trained and experienced team to continue to deliver audits to strengthen and secure the game industry.
Through the British Game Assurance (BGA) and now the Aim to Sustain Game Assurance Scheme, consumers and the public can be confident that the game meat has been produced to the highest standards, from breeding and rearing through to the shoot itself.
Why is it important?
The assurance scheme through the BGA/Aim to Sustain connects game farmers, estates and shoots, people who shoot, vendors and consumers in a chain from egg to plate. It guarantees the quality of game meat for consumers through the assured members stamp so they know their game comes from a high-quality source. Assurance allows shoots, estates and game farms to provide evidence of their high welfare standards and to promote safe food production and positive environmental effects. Now that the assurance scheme has been transferred to the Aim to Sustain partnership, we will be able to amplify these positives across the game management and shooting community.
- It demonstrates that the shooting sector is responsible and able to effectively self-regulate.
- Assurance helps raise the environmental and welfare standards across the game management and shooting sector.It is credible to Government and the public because assessments are carried out by independent accredited auditors.
- Assurance builds consumer and business confidence in game produced on assured shoots.
Why Transfer Assurance Now?
British Game Assurance has done an excellent job launching and growing the assurance scheme and now for it to continue to reach further through the game management and shooting community, it is time to pass the baton to Aim to Sustain.
The Aim to Sustain partners and GWCT believe strongly in self-regulation to raise and maintain standards across the sector. With this decision, they are committing to develop game assurance within the broader self-regulation and standards framework. The BGA will now focus on the marketing of game meat under the Eat Wild brand. By placing the assurance scheme at the centre of Aim to Sustain, all partners and the GWCT will play an equal role in self-regulation and promoting the assurance scheme throughout the game shooting community.
Why Self-Regulation?
Aim to Sustain partner organisations and the communities we represent maintain high standards on animal welfare and environmental impact through the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes and the Code of Good Shooting Practice, for example.
Aim to Sustain Standards
The assurance standards cover – breeding, hatching and rearing of pheasant and partridge, running a lowland pheasant and partridge shoot and grouse moor management. The standards are varied, comprehensive, auditable, and focus on high standards and best practice.