For over 150 years, moorland in Scotland has been managed for red grouse-shooting. During this period, Scotland’s upland landscapes were transformed by the construction of access infrastructure, burning of heather moorland and the extermination of species such as white-tailed eagle, goshawk and red kites through poisoning, trapping and shooting.
The resultant heather moorlands that are sometimes regarded as an iconic part of the Scottish landscape are, in reality, highly modified habitats managed to encourage high populations of one species, red grouse, so they can be killed for fun in the course of recreational shooting.
The situation today
Overview - Grouse moor management
Driven grouse shooting, where wild red grouse are ‘driven’ (flushed) by beaters towards a static line of shooters, relies upon the availability of high numbers of grouse. To achieve this surplus, grouse moor managers incorporate three core elements of management:
- Habitat manipulation (rotational burning of heather) to produce a mosaic of nutritious young heather for grouse to eat and older heather to provide nesting cover and protection from predators;
- Parasite control, which includes medicating the grouse (a wild bird) with a veterinary drug dispensed via medicated grit and direct dosing, and also the mass culling of mountain hares that host some parasites;
- Lethal predator control – typically of foxes, weasels, stoats, crows but some grouse moor managers are also involved in the illegal persecution of birds of prey.
The aim of Revive
As the debate has intensified over the years, REVIVE has been pursuing a reform agenda to transition away from driven grouse shooting. We have successfully campaigned for licencing and reform of grouse moors as well as playing a key part on making the recently passed Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act as strong as possible.
The new legislation will bring in a licencing scheme for grouse shooting, a licencing scheme for muirburn, a licencing scheme for wildlife traps, a ban on all snares and increased investigatory powers for the Scottish SPCA. While this bill could have gone further, it marks a significant and necessary intervention into land management activities.
There is still a need to tackle the killing to kill on Scotland’s grouse moors, so REVIVE will be continuing it’s work on this as well as tackling other parts of the circle of destruction.
A Revived Scotland would not compromise the welfare of upland animals but would instead result in diverse, regenerated landscapes that benefit local communities, biodiversity and the environment.
