RSPB Conservation Awards for Shooting?

Well if hen harriers are back in the press grouse shooting must have begun. The hen harrier numbers for England are shocking. Bricks are being thrown; talk of hen harrier extinction etc. In the 15 years since the GWCT published a scientific paper that stated that “In the UK, a full recovery of hen harriers Circus cyaneus breeding numbers is prevented by illegal culling by some gamekeepers who fear the species threatens the future of grouse moors”. It is hard to see exactly what has changed other than perhaps the population range of hen harriers has contacted to grouse moors alone. No hen harriers are breeding on RSPB managed moors for example; they used to.

What does this tell us? For me it is two things. Firstly the slow but constant blaming of hill keepers with negative press messages has not worked. It was never likely to work. I can think of no conflict resolution example where his has been the solution. Indeed it was not until the RSPB stopped blaming farmers, for the declines in farmland birds, that the farmers began to hear what they had to say. This was achieved in part by positioning themselves as the ‘farmers friend’ and listening to them. The second point is that the very conditions that the hill keepers put in place to help grouse (and as a result many other wildlife populations) appear to be exactly what the hen harrier needs to thrive.

So if  keepers hold the keys I believe we should, as with farmers, engage positively with them. Rather than run yet more stories about how evil keepers are; how about what they have achieved for conservation. Perhaps more importantly we should listen to the keepers concerns. Is their fear that the loss of their productive moor would result in the loss of their job? If so I can understand that. Surely it is time to listen and understand what these key holders what to say? Why not offer them some quota agreement (with the relocation of surplus hen harriers) so we can all move forward? To those on both sides that say this is heresy – I say other ideas have not worked well enough. Worse, if the moors should become unproductive; the keepers will leave and so will the conditions that the hen harriers (among others) need to thrive.

I was inspired by Martin Harper (RSPB Conservation Director) words at the CLA Game Fair. He mentioned that the RSPB approach to shooting is “no different” from farming or any other land use. So there has never been a better time for the RSPB to link up and run a conservation award scheme for the shooting community; just like it does for farmers. I am sure there will be problems but surely in the interest of maximising the benefits to wildlife and positively moving forward – this is exactly what is needed. Perhaps, an award of the best run grouse moor too. It is most certainly a time for an approach that works much better.