Monday 22 December 2014

Well-managed shoots a force for good: our letter to The Independent published

Simon Barnes ("Conservation begins at home", 14 December) comments that if Prince William wants to be a conservationist then he must stop shooting. Unfortunately, this might not have the desired effect. Our research shows that well-managed shoots (including grouse moors) are a force for good.

A study of an abandoned grouse moor recorded that, in less than 20 years, lapwing became extinct, golden plover declined from 10 birds to one and curlew declined by 79 per cent.

Andrew Gilruth
Director of communications
GWCT

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Friday 19 December 2014

20 years at Langholm – what have we learnt?

Image: Laurie Campbell
by Andrew Gilruth - @AndrewGilruth

The early years: revealing the genuine conservation conflict

It was on Langholm Moor (1992-1997) that the GWCT and partners1 demonstrated that hen harrier populations can render grouse shooting uneconomic. In six years, harrier numbers rose from two to 20 pairs. Shooting was abandoned because the hen harriers ate over a third of all grouse chicks that hatched.

With no grouse shooting, the local culture, economy and employment suffered and the control of generalist predators ceased. By 2003, 20 harrier nests were back down to two and numbers of breeding grouse and waders had more than halved2. Predation was identified as the most likely cause of the declines. Grouse moor managers felt their worst fears had just been proven – this was a real lose-lose situation.

Today the moor is home to a second vital study: searching for a win-win situation

For the last seven years, the GWCT and partners3 have put huge energy into achieving Langholm’s core objective: an economic driven grouse moor that hits all its conservation targets…

…and thereby demonstrates how to resolve the conflicts between raptors and red grouse.

How is it going? How easy is it to run a grouse moor? There is, now, a much better understanding of the challenges – but Langholm has not yet resolved its core objective.

To avoid any ambiguity, five conservation ‘tests’ were set in advance. The new seven-year interim report predicts (there are three more years to go) that if we stick to the existing conservation methods this second study will:

Habitat improvement – Pass
Raptor recovery – Pass
Red grouse recovery – Fail
Other wildlife recovery – Might pass
Resolve wildlife conflict – Fail

Why have the grouse not recovered?

The quality of keepering and legal predator control is good, as is grouse health, but grouse mortality all year round is high and 78% of adult grouse found dead were identified as having been predated by raptors.

If we adopt new conservation methods, we could pass them all

It would be easy to give up now, but the partners at Langholm believe they can pass all five conservation tests – if new conservation ideas are used. The fact that all sides continue to work together in search of a solution is what makes Langholm unique. It remains the only place in the UK that can not only test, but also monitor, new ideas to resolve the conflict between raptors and grouse.

What new conservation ideas?

The Langholm project hopes to publish its plans in early 2015. These are likely to focus on raptor predation because existing monitoring indicates that grouse recovery is not being restricted by habitat, disease, lack of food, weather or other mortality.

Langholm has inspired change – and it’s about to do that again 


FREE Hen Harrier Recovery Plan guide

Download your FREE guide to the hen harrier & grouse shooting issue >

What's inside your FREE guide

✓ essential hen harrier facts
✓ details of the hen harrier recovery plan
✓ summary of the issues and arguments surrounding a proposed ban on driven grouse shooting
✓ key figures and scientific findings

Download your FREE guide >

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1 The Joint Raptor Study (JRS) was a collaborative research venture, undertaken jointly by the GWCT and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), but funded and guided throughout by a consortium of interest groups that included the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Game Conservancy Scottish Research Trust, Buccleuch Estate and Peter Buckley of Westerhall Estate.

2 Baines, D., Redpath, S.M., Richardson, M., & Thirgood, S.J. (2008). The direct and indirect effects of predation by Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus on trends in breeding birds on a Scottish grouse moor. Ibis (Supplement 1), 150: 27-36.

3 The Langholm Moor Demonstration Project (LMDP) is a partnership between Scottish Natural Heritage, the Buccleuch Estate, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Natural England.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Top 10 GWCT blog posts of 2014

We launched this blog at the start of 2014 in an attempt to share more news and insight with GWCT members and non-members alike. By promoting our blogs posts through our free weekly newsletter, Twitter and Facebook we have been able to reach an ever-growing audience and look forward to publishing more informative blog posts from across the Trust in 2015.

As you will see from the list of our 10 most-read blog posts below, one issue in particular has dominated this year...

1. Mark Avery calls for grouse shooting ban...
2. The selfish, stupid actions of one man
3. Hen Harrier Recovery Plan - the RSPB's fears allayed
4. Defra led Joint Action Plan for Hen Harriers - what the GWCT thinks
5. Chris Packham - "So grouse moors are good for ecology?"
6. Defra about to save hen harriers?
7. Has the RSPB found a silver bullet?
8. Pine Martens and Capercaillie
9. What the GWCT thinks of Defra's statement on their hen harrier recovery plan
10. GWCT letter to The Times on grouse moor management


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Friday 5 December 2014

This week's blogs: Pine martens, Big Farmland Bird Count launch, Moths

Take a look at what we've been writing about this week:

RSPB delighted to support Big Farmland Bird Count

Guest blog: Richard Winspear of the RSPB discusses the Big Farmland Bird Count.
Read more >

Owls soar again after mild winter: Our letter to The Times

As well as being a good year for voles, it has also been a good year for some insects...
Read more >

Pine Marten study - our letter to The Herald

Our response to piece about proposed Pine Marten trial in Scotland.
Read more >

Seminar on Agroecology and Sustainable Intensification

An invite to a one-day seminar designed to explore the potential for agro-ecological approaches to contribute to the sustainable intensification of agriculture.
Read more >

Pine Martens: our letter to Scottish Daily Mail published

Our response to piece about proposed Pine Marten trial in Scotland.
Read more >

Pine Martens and Capercaillie

Andrew Gilruth discusses a proposed study involving removal of pine martens and the effects on capercaillie numbers.
Read more >

If you can't measure it - you can't manage it

Guy Smith, Vice President of NFU writes a guest blog championing the Big Farmland Bird Count.
Read more >

Smartly dressed for long December nights!

Peter Thompson gets his moth trap out.
Read more >


Owls soar again after mild winter: Our letter to The Times

Dear Sir

As well as being a good year for barn owls, it has also been a good year for some insects (report 3rd December).

Insects are a crucial food source for the young of many bird species. This year’s good summer has meant that insects have flourished and so too has the wild grey partridge population. According to the latest figures from our Partridge Count Scheme, we have seen a 42% level of chick survival because the newly hatched birds were able to feed well in their early weeks of life. Below 33% survival, grey partridge populations go into decline. This is extremely good news for this recovering farmland bird, which has suffered an 86% decline over the past 40 years.

Insect numbers are governed by many factors including the weather and farming techniques. It is noticeable that many more farmers are adopting techniques that allow them to produce insect rich covers in and around their arable fields. In a good year, birds such as grey partridges are reaping the benefits of this more wild friendly environment.

Professor Nick Sotherton
Director of Research
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust

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Wednesday 3 December 2014

Pine Marten study - our letter to The Herald

Dear Sir,

The recent article by Rob Edwards (Leaked plan to get rid of pine martens ‘deeply flawed’- Sunday 30 November) had a rather ‘fur better than feather’ feel to it, missing the point of our potential study with its core story of capercaillie decline and the stringent attempt to recover Scottish populations. Indeed the vulnerable, protected capercaillie does not appear in the text until about half way into the article.

Great effort has gone into improving Scottish forest habitat for the ‘horse of the woods’, but the decline still continues. The long-term decline seems to be caused by poor breeding success due to cold, damp weather and high numbers of predators. And studies at RSPB’s Abernethy Forest have shown pine martens to be a significant nest predator.

No one really knows how significant pine marten are in the overall population decline of capercaillie but we, along with partner organisations SNH, FCS and the CNPA, are proposing a project to find out.

There is no plan to lethally control the pine marten population across Scotland. If the research indicates increasing pine martens are a factor in capercaillie declines, translocation efforts may be focussed only on a small area in Strathspey, helping protect 75% of our remaining capercaillie.
This type of intervention is not new to the conservation world.

The pine marten is not in decline in Scotland, it population is in fact increasing. This is good news for the conservation of that species. As with all of nature, fur is no better or worse than feather, balances must be struck and  a multi-agency approach to sensitive wildlife management is what we strive for.

Yours faithfully,
Dr Adam Smith
Director Scotland
GWCT

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Tuesday 2 December 2014

Pine Martens: our letter to Scottish Daily Mail published

Image: Laurie Campbell
Dear Sir,

Your article ‘Facing eviction, the bully boys of our woodland’ (p26, Monday, December 1) unfortunately begins with an inaccuracy in the opening paragraph. The pine marten is not in decline in Scotland, it population is in fact increasing. This is good news for the conservation of that species. With regards to the rest of the article, as with all of nature, balances must be struck and a multi-agency approach to sensitive wildlife management is what we strive for.

Yours faithfully,

Dr Adam Smith
Director Scotland
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust

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Monday 1 December 2014

Pine Martens and Capercaillie

Image - Laurie Campbell
by Andrew Gilruth - @AndrewGilruth

If you walk through a Scottish pine forest and are lucky enough to hear and then see a ‘Horse of the Woods’ you will be amazed. That’s because the sound, like clopping hooves, will likely be coming from a one meter tall bird, a cock capercaillie, trying to attract a mate. Unfortunately this experience is becoming less and less likely. There are just 1,300 male capercaillie left in the UK (a 42% decline in 17 years) and the capercaillie is declining around the world.

Great effort has gone into improving Scottish forest habitat, but the decline still continues - sometimes more, sometimes less rapidly. The long-term decline seems to be caused by poor breeding success; cold, damp weather and high numbers of predators leading to the poorest breeding success. And studies at Abernethy Forest have shown pine martens to be a significant nest predator.

How important are pine martens in causing these declines?
No one knows; but we need to if our conservation efforts are to be best focussed. So there is a proposal to find out. The pine marten population is growing in Scotland and the idea is to study the pine marten population in four forests for six years. In two of the woods martens would be removed for each of three years, perhaps equating to 10 pine martens each year, to see if this will increase capercaillie breeding success. Then the treatment would be reversed and martens would be removed from the other two forests.

Is this a cull?
No. There is no plan to lethally control the pine martin population across Scotland. If the research indicates increasing pine martens are a factor in capercaillie declines, efforts may be focussed only on a small area in Strathspey, helping protect 75% of our remaining capercaillie.

Is this level of intervention new?
No. Predator control for conservation is already undertaken.

Is it true the capercaillie has been extinct before?
Yes. The capercaillie became extinct in the 18th century following extensive felling of pinewood habitats and a run of cold, wet summers in the 'Little Ice Age'. It was re-introduced into Scotland, by landowners with an interest in shooting, in the mid-19th century. By the 1970’s there were 20,000 capercaillie in Scotland.

Are capercaillie still shot?
No. There was a voluntary moratorium on shooting from the late 1980s and full legal protection came in 2001 - but the decline of the capercaillie still continues.

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