In his foreword to our new collection of case studies of pioneering conservationists in the uplands, former Environment Minister Richard Benyon said, “The actions of moorland managers are the last bulwark in what is a crisis of species decline across Britain”.
An example is the black grouse whose numbers dropped from 25,000 breeding pairs in the 1970s to 5,000 in the past decade. In England they are now confined to the North Pennines and rely on landscape-scale expanses of keepered moorland.
Neville Gill, whose case study features in the new publication, looks after one of the last strongholds of black grouse in England on his family’s moor in Northumberland. On the day we visited the 1,000-acre Williamston estate in a short space of time we saw 18 blackcock and three grey hens including a covey of 10.
To find out how Neville is helping bring this once widespread gamebird back from the brink, including planting 1,500 native trees by hand, pre-order your hard copy of Moorland Conservationists here and receive a FREE eBook version today.
In the meantime, we have put together a short film below with footage kindly shared with us by members of the Northern Pennines Regional Moorland Group, all taken in the region by gamekeepers this spring. The clips beautifully illustrate how important grouse management is to the survival some of our most endangered and spectacular wildlife.