Why we should salute a great Scottish rural industry Robert Rattray reports on the investment needed on sporting estates.
Field sports contribute some £185 million to the Scottish economy, of which between £30 million and £45 million is derived almost directly from grouse shooting. These are the stark numbers, but when they are applied to the areas that generate these figures they take on critical importance. Grouse moors are a labour of love and require relentless optimism, hard work and dedication. In a good year they might break even. Irrespective, owners the length of the country consistently invest in their staff and high ground which in turn creates jobs and tightly woven communities essential for the longevity of these fragile areas. This hard work creates an environment in which an array of wildlife flourishes and, together with our internationally acclaimed grouse shooting, draws visitors from around the globe who stay and spend generously in local hotels, restaurants, shops and visitor attractions and who return home and spread the word of Scotland’s wild places. It’s imperative that the positive work and stewardship of our moorlands is highlighted as the vociferous, outspoken and often ill-informed opinions of opponents of grouse shooting will be taken as accepted opinion if they are not consistently and reasonably challenged. It’s something we should all feel very proud of and that should be championed to a wider audience. The heightened efforts made by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), Scotland’s
Regional Moorland Groups and The Gift of Grouse campaign are all very encouraging. The success or failure of a season is almost directly linked to the weather and the 2016 season was very much at the mercy of our changeable weather patterns. Early predictions this year indicated a warmer and more settled spring than 2015, but unseasonal snow, particularly on high ground in late April and early May, was followed by heavy and often localised rain and violent hail storms throughout May and into June. Certain parts of Scotland suffered more than others, including Angus and Aberdeenshire where breeding conditions were less than ideal. As is always the way, some parts of the country have fared better than others and the GWCT has identified a remarkable variation in the pattern of grouse productivity this year, with a distinct east–west split. Its data concludes that although the counts in Scotland this season (2016) show an average density of 151 birds per 100 hectares of land, almost exactly the average density for the 2011 – 2015 period, this is down by 17 birds per hectare on last year’s counts. Furthermore, the 2016 counts are worryingly made up of larger numbers of old grouse. Brood success was significantly better in the west than the east. In eastern Scotland 45% of the moors counted struggled to better a young to old ratio, while 86% of western moors
Page 12 | Rural Matters Autumn/Winter 2016 | www.ckdgalbraith.co.uk | Twitter: @CKDGRural