GWCT News Blog

A letter we received on 1st February 2024 from Steve Barclay MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.

Training courses offered by GWCT Advisory Services are designed to help all land managers, including gamekeepers, understand and observe current legislation and best practice. On completion of each course, participants receive a GWCT certificate, which forms an important paper trail in the documentation of due diligence.

The iDeer project wants to hear your views on wild deer! You are invited to complete our questionnaire, which will take approximately 10-15 minutes.

Over the coming weeks we have three wonderful opportunities for gamekeepers and shoot managers to hone their skills and learn about the latest developments in the game shooting sector.

Finding myself in ownership of four Canada Geese that no one else wanted at a shoot ‘share out’ in SW Scotland a few days ago, I was reminded of this recipe which I wrote back in January 2010. If you read on you will see that I feared I was ‘letting the cat out of the bag’, but clearly, I was wrong

In line with the agricultural transition post-Brexit, the government want to establish a more equitable and transparent regulatory system for farmers. They have published this guidance on the conclusion of cross compliance and its implications for farmers and land managers.

It is widely known that Mycoplasma gallisepticum (Mg) is one of the most prevalent diseases that affects gamebirds. Once a flock is infected, no treatment can free that flock from it completely, and the disease can flare up when birds are stressed. The bacteria therefore causes significant economic loss, and health and welfare issues.

Following the success of the GWCT Game 23 Conference in Shropshire earlier this year, we are delighted to confirm that GWCT’s annual game conference Game 24 which will be held on Tuesday 5th March 2024.

Defra has advised GWCT and other stakeholders that new wild bird control General Licences for England (GL40-42) will come in to force on 1st January 2024. Defra has confirmed that it is not currently planning to make any changes and will replicate the existing GL40-42 conditions in the new licences.

In a recent newsletter, the campaigning group Wild Justice questioned why Defra had sought advice from GWCT in relation to General Licence GL43 - the licensing mechanism for gamebird releasing on or near some protected sites.