It is high time to end grouse shooting estates
This industrialized grouse slaughter-pastime needs to end: because it is intolerably cruel; because it destroys, systematically and regularly, flora and fauna; because those moors could and should be biodiversity havens; because those moors are needed with healthy peat to fight climate change (carbon sequestration); and because none of any of that is even remotely what a good steward of the land would even think of doing.
The Glorious Twelfth
'The Glorious Twelfth' is the 12th day of August and it marks the beginning of the grouse shooting season. This date goes back to the Game Act of 1831, you see, it's all very much steeped in tradition ... but don't let that fool you, that doesn't make what happens before and after the 12th any better. As I've just seen, the grouse slaughter (please, there's no hunting involved) season has ended just yesterday, the 10th of December. So, over the course of the past four months, eager grouse shooters converged on grouse moor estates ... and slaughtered an estimated 600'000 grouse. Bravo.
Before the slaughter, a series of other abominations
What you see above is the systemic burning of moor landscapes. Essentially this keeps the land in a way that maximizes grouse, so that people with guns can be assured that they walk away with a few kills during slaughter season. Estate owners, defenders of all of these practices, will always highlight that the curlew also benefits from this practice ... they conveniently leave out everything else.
Game keepers have, for generations now, been tasked with killing any and all critters that could prey on grouse (because that grouse needs to live so that those fine humans can slaughter it). Foxes, protected birds of prey, stoats, you name it. They have no right to trespass on shooting estates. Don't they know that nature is only what landowners say it is? Predator traps and snares catch non-predators, too, of course (such as hares and badgers). But never mind that, right? Oh and by the way, a great deal more flora and fauna dies every year during those controlled fires, of course - but that doesn't matter, as long as there'll be lots and lots of grouse on the 12th!
Climate change, for God's sake!
The new government has a tremendous opportunity to make good on the 30x30 targets. Pass the law, end grouse shooting estates now - and that will mean that moors across the country could be restored and returned to their original function as biodiversity havens - and carbon storage wonders! Annually burning those peatlands sends carbon into our skies, it degrades the soil, increases flood risks and pollutes water.
So instead of a niche-group of gun-toting grouse killers, England could have carbon sinks that would be the envy of any country - England could draw wealth of fully-functioning moors - in terms of climate change mitigation, carbon financing, biodiversity restoration, ecotourism, you name it. We all know about the power of a walk in nature on our mental health - so there's another major benefit for the English people. Make all of those moors, on day one of the new law, open to everyone. Allow people to walk the land - oh, and as former shooting estate owners found those lands no longer profit-making - the government should buy them - every single one of them.
Oh, but the money
According to Guy Shrubsole's 'The Lie of the Land', "... grouse moors dominate our uplands, covering over half a million acres of England: that's the size of Greater London ... we have handed over this crucial resource to around 150 aristocrats, oligarchs and City bankers to use for sport (his word, not mine, I'd never call it a sport). Despite their wealth, and despite the millions of pounds of public money they have swallowed in the name of environmental stewardship, they have wrecked this land. It has been turned from a carbon sink into a huge carbon source, emitting millions of tonnes of CO2 every year."
You read that right ... the government actually pays these rich landowners 'to be good stewards' - they are not. They can spin their propaganda and point to the curlew as much as they want - all of the burning and slaughter of flora and fauna (let alone the active destruction of our climate) tell a very different story. Oh, and if you think 150 grouse estates covering half a million acres is a lot, there are 300 more such estates in Scotland, covering about 2.5 million acres ... the potential for a better path forward couldn't be more clear.
You could argue that money and politics have always been closely tied. It is no different with these estates. Whether ancient nobility or newly rich, the ties into government are never difficult to spot - and thus most legislation trying to put even mild restraints on wealthy landowners has always met with stiff opposition. May the new government break the deadlock in 2025, make all of those estate public land and nature reserves and get on track with 30x30 - it is entirely possible - but the stranglehold by monied interests needs to go.
End it now
The League Against Cruel Sports says it clearly: "Grouse shooting is not a harmless tradition – it is a practice rooted in cruelty, environmental degradation, and greed ... It’s time to put the environment, wildlife, and the public good ahead of profits. Peatlands should be protected, wildlife persecution must end, and landowners must be held accountable for the harm caused by this outdated industry. Together, we can push for a future where our uplands are celebrated for their natural beauty and biodiversity – not for the blood spilled in the name of so-called sport."
To that, I say 'Amen' - and to all owners of grouse shooting estates and all those enjoying the slaughter of grouse from the 12th of August to the 10th of December I say, 'Shame on you.' Give it some thought, please, and stop being part of a cruel and deeply destructive mass-slaughter pastime.
Further reading
Last July I came across the British Association for Shooting and Conservation's "The Value of Shooting" report - it was and remains a 28-page high-gloss marketing mess that conflates and confuscates. The economic value is not nearly as large as claimed and the focus on conservation and mental and physical wellbeing frankly drove me up the wall. Shooting estates are not necessary. They are no boon to the economy, they are simply what is. And what is could be put so ever so much better use.
