REVIVE's response to the Cairngorms National Park consultation on its future
AS SCOTLAND's largest National Park the Cairngorms should take every opportunity to lead the way with nature based solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis.
Regarding the objective A5, REVIVE: the coalition for grouse moor reform is supportive of the trajectory by Cairngorms National Park to reduce the intensity of game bird and, in particular, grouse shooting. Restricting gamebird bags per unit area, or perhaps per shooting estate, may be a useful tool for reducing intensive grouse moor management. Driven grouse shooting depends on a circle of destruction – practices which take place to ensure an unnatural surplus of red grouse for sport shooting and for higher bag numbers than, for example, walked up grouse shooting. Besides the moral implications of shooting large numbers of grouse for sport, this circle of destruction is what makes the activity intensive.
In Scotland, driven grouse moor management activities as highlighted by the Werritty Review include muirburn, mass chemical medication of grouse via medicated grit stations, the use of lead shot, unregulated hilltracks that scar the landscape and predator control – the killing of hundreds of thousands of foxes, stoats, weasels, crows and ‘non-target species’ like hedgehogs – so that more grouse can be shot for sport.
We therefore suggest that to achieve your goal of lower density grouse shooting and to take your position as a national leader in environmental issues that you:
- End the mass chemical medication of grouse across the park. Medicated grit contains the drug Flubendazole (and similar), which studies elsewhere have identified as an environmental contaminant with acute and chronic toxicity. The medicated grit can be 10-20 times more than the recommended strength of dosage and research shows that contaminated grit stations are a significant route for rapid disease transmission not just in red grouse but other species of high conservation concern. Ending this will remove a risk to wildlife, the environment and public health.
- Ensure the use of non-lead ammunition within park boundaries. Lead ammunition is poisonous to wildlife, is substantial a risk to public health and non-toxic alternatives should be used instead.
- Off-road hill tracks on shooting estates should be regulated and restricted. Off road ‘hill tracks’ scar entire landscapes to make life easier for shooters and grouse moor managers and can damage sensitive vegetation and large peatland areas. This will help to maintain areas of natural beauty for locals and tourists and protect our vital peatland.
- Ending the cruel killing of animals to increase grouse numbers. In attempt to increase grouse numbers for sport shooting, animals that threaten grouse numbers are ruthlessly targeted in a number of cruel and lethal ways. There should be an end to snares, stink pits, decoy birds as bait, and cage traps across the national park due to the cruelty involved in these methods. The trapping and killing of animals for as frivolous a purpose as increasing gamebird numbers should be treated as cruel and unnecessary and you should use what powers you have to end it or, if not possible limit it as much as you can. If this is achieved it would reflect very positively our largest national park’s reputation.
- Muirburn. Regarding objective A6, REVIVE supports your goal to stop burning on deep peatlands but urges you to go further. The Scottish Government is due to licence muirburn across Scotland but a licence should not be given for muirburn for the purpose of increasing grouse numbers for sport shooting anywhere in Scotland, but especially in our largest national park. Muirburn for grouse shooting takes place over a huge land area in the park so ensuring that all grouse moor managers comply with best practice may be costly and impossible to police properly. Firebreaks to protect against wildfires should be strategically placed across the park with cutting as opposed to muirburn employed where possible. Moreover, rewetting the land that is currently dried up by intensive grouse moor management will be a more effective means to deal with wildfires in the long run. It is known that muirburn can also affect visitor’s and local people’s senses negatively as well as their enjoyment of the park when it takes place. You will have seen many complaints about it on social media which may continue reflect negatively on the parks otherwise good reputation. At a time of climate crisis, due to the risks involved and the limited biodiversity in areas of intensive muirburn – compared to so many other places in our national park – muirburn for grouse moor management needs to end.
Driven grouse shooting depends on these practices to exist so the goal of the park in this regard should effectively be to transition away from driven grouse shooting. A large majority of the Scottish public are against grouse shooting for sport - https://www.diffleypartnership.co.uk/7-in-10-scots-oppose-grouse-shooting-for-sport-mark-diffley-writes-for-the-revive-coalition/ - (rural and urban) so you are likely to find a large amount of support for this move. By tackling the above points in the ways outlined you will achieve the goal of limiting grouse density and game bag numbers while making way for a mosaic of alternative land uses that benefit our people, our wildlife and the environment.
*The consultation proposals can be read here and ended today (17/12/2021)
