Around 450 people from across Scotland travelled to Perth to attend REVIVE's largest ever conference and event (on November 14th).
CHRIS PACKHAM hosted an entire day of fantastic speakers and experts who showed that by transforming our moors away from grouse shooting would benefit our people, our wildlife and the environment. You can READ THE PROGRAMME HERE.
Before conference began, a minute silence was observed at 11am to remember the fallen of the World Wars and other conflicts. REVIVE's Campaign Manager then reflected that the number of people in the hall represented the same number of people who owned over half of Scotland's private land. Our host was then introduced to begin the conference.
*A special thanks to Jacklyn Calvard for all the photos in this article. You can find Jacklyn's other work HERE
Chris Packham welcomed everyone to the conference at the day's beginning and offered reflections on COP26 which took place in Glasgow. He then linked the climate and biodiversity crisis to the circle of destruction that surrounds grouse shooting and argued that while change needs to happen, we need to take people along with us, to that better future, while emphasising that there was no time to lose. If decision-makers were not going to do what needs to be done, it is down to us.
Chris then introduced the panel which discussed how we can get More Wildlife on Our Moors by ending the unnecessary killing while improving biodiversity instead.
MORE WILDLIFE ON OUR MOORS
Dr Ruth Tingay (Raptor Persecution UK) started by reflecting on the long and grim history of illegal raptor persecution by the grouse shooting industry. As she noted, Scotland's first, First Minister Donald Dewar called raptor persecution a 'National Disgrace' and it still goes on today. She highlighted that political action, while very slow, is finally coming with grouse moor licencing. But will it be enough?
It's not just illegal persecution which takes place on grouse moors as Chris Packham said as he introduced Robbie Marsland (Director of League Against Cruel Sports Scotland) to the podium. Robbie asked the audience if any one knew how many grouse were killed a year before revealing that nobody knows as records aren't kept. He then revealed that League Against Cruel Sports funded research for REVIVE estimated around 900,000 foxes, stoats, weasels, crows, hedgehogs and other animals are snared, trapped and killed every 5 years - so more grouse can be shot for entertainment - with gasps from the audience.
Kirsty Jenkins, Policy Officer for OneKind, discussed a legislative way forward. Grouse moors currently do not adhere to any of the seven international principles of ethical wildlife control and she showed that an evidence based approach must be implemented - compared to the free for all we have now. Moreover, she showed that our language about wildlife is important. The words 'pest' and 'vermin' for example are often used to justify terrible treatment of some animals compared to others and this needs to challenged and changed.
Colin Smyth MSP for the South Of Scotland then concluded the speeches with a commitment to doing everything he can to end the suffering of wildlife on our moors - whether through a members bill or amending Government legislation. This legislation is coming and together we'll get a chance to define and shape it.
After lunch, Chris Packham introduced the in-person premier of Government's Den. This parody of Dragon's Den looks at a world in which grouse moors didn't exist: would we let them start up today?
Find out how the grouse moor lobbyists get on below:
Following this, polling and public attitudes expert Mark Diffley showed his company's scientific research into Scottish opinion of grouse shooting. He found that a clear and large majority of Scots are opposed to grouse shooting (around 2 thirds) and that a majority think it should be illegal. Interestingly, a majority of people in rural areas are also opposed to grouse shooting going against claims often made by the shooting industry, that they represent rural Scotland. Following on from the previous session on grouse moor's cruelty to wildlife, he explained that a large majority (around 2 thirds again) are against the killing of animals, so that more grouse can be shot for sport. Finally, he showed that while many more people are against muirburn on grouse moors than are for it, there is a larger gap of undecided and uncommitted opinions on the matter, possibly due to a lack of public knowledge about the process.
ENERGISING OUR ENVIRONMENT
Following on from COP26, the REVIVE conference discussed how we can Energise our Environment by ending environmental destruction on grouse moors and by finding better alternatives for biodiversity - as well as how to get there.
The talks started with Dr Helen Armstrong who was commissioned by REVIVE to write an independent report called A Better Way: how an alternative to grouse moors could help tackle climate change, increase biodiversity and help Scotland's people. Helen provided a history of our uplands and why they are in the state they are in and showed that a transition away from grouse shooting (to a mosaic of alternative uses) would help tackle two of our greatest crisis - catastrophic loss of biodiversity and the loss of carbon currently emitted instead of sequestered by our land.
Duncan Orr-Ewing, Head of Species and Land Management at RSPB Scotland followed with a presentation which highlighted the importance of preserving our peatlands, and of protecting them from unnecessary muirburn. He also highlighted the positive conservation work of RSPB Scotland of which its land managed for wildlife and biodiversity as opposed to areas where shooting is priority - in collaboration with local communities - and how this can be highly beneficial for those areas.
Duncan was followed by Nikki Gordon, the first ever Carbon Officer for John Muir Trust. Nikki discussed a possible solution for ending the environmental damage caused by large landowners by suggesting that a carbon tax should be imposed on the worst offenders. A lesser tax would be imposed on land managers who did more for the environment according to the proposals. Meanwhile, land owning organisations like John Muir Trust would not be exempt from this and would be happy to do their bit. This is certainly an environmental lever worth exploring.
Finishing the session with a parliamentary and political perspective of the opportunities was Mark Ruskell MSP. He discussed current pledges to protect Scotland's peatland and an increased commitment of £55 million for nature recovery. As part of the Scottish Green's Government deal with the Scottish National Party he outlined that grouse moors will be tackled and that Greens will be a strong voice in Parliament for delivering grouse moor reform - as well as a support of land taxes, needed to make change happen.
PEOPLE, LAND REFORM AND POWER
This final session concentrated on the social injustice that grouse moors represent - very few people who own a lot of land at the expense of our wildlife, environment and crucially for this segment, our people.
Duncan McCann, an economist and the author of Our Land: a vision for land reform in Scotland and how we get there started the session by showing that land reform - being crucial to a just transition and fighting the climate crisis - could be done with the powers the Scottish Parliament has now. He highlighted the links between land issues and the lack of local democracy in Scotland compared to other countries. He also talked about the upcoming land reform act which should spur us all to action.
Robin McAlpine, Head of Strategic Development for Common Weal (a REVIVE coalition member) spoke passionately about the drastic need for immediate and real land reform instead of tinkering around the edges. He spoke of the real and corrupting power of vested interests that slow and water down decisions that need to be taken. He suggested that Scotland be bolder and braver with land reform, land taxes and that alternative land uses and more diverse land ownership would lead to tens of thousands more jobs in rural Scotland.
Renowned and award winning broadcaster, journalist and land reform campaigner Lesley Riddoch followed with an equally passionate speech about not leaving people behind. As opposed to trusting a few 'Green Lairds' to get on with things (as good as it is, what some of them do) she argued that more people need more power and control of our resources. Citing the Isle of Eigg, the famous community island buyout she was heavily involved with, she showed that when people have control they can do far more for nature, wildlife and the environment. It benefits them as well and will have positive ripple effects on others economically.
Ending the session was SNP MSP Paul McLennan who reflected on the political opportunities, including the upcoming land reform bill. Moreover, he restated the Government's commitment to licence grouse moors and said this would include provisions for muirburn, medicated grit and animal welfare issues. It's great to hear that as a new MSP Paul is interested in working on these issues with REVIVE going forward and we look forward to doing so.
With Andy Wightman unable to make the conference for personal reasons Chris Packham then introduced REVIVE Campaign Manager Max Wiszniewski to close the conference. Max reflected on the day and stated that with such amazing support from those attending, and the expertise of all those contributing, the future could be bright for our moors. He articulated REVIVE's aims to end/transition away from driven grouse shooting towards better alternatives for our people, our wildlife and the environment and he will let supporters know what they can do to help in due course.
Chris Packham received a large and well deserved ovation - not just for his excellent chairing of the conference - but for his inspirational work for wildlife and the environment. His support of REVIVE is massively appreciated and he has our thanks.
