Contrary to what RSPB and English Nature would have us believe, curlews are doing fine on upland moors managed for grouse shooting

James Irvine

Editor, www.land-care.org.uk

Filed 24th Aug 05
©www.land-care.org.uk

Under the heading of curlew, the RSPB website states (1):

"There has been a major decline in their numbers in some areas. For example, there was a major decline of some 53% in the moorlands of north Staffordshire between 1986 and 1996.

Such a reduction was probably due to a combination of drainage of farmland and moorland, improvement of grasslands, and predation, particularly by mammals"

That is all I could get the RSPB search facility to reveal about the population of curlews as far as the UK is concerned.

But is this a true picture, or only part of it? Is the RSPB resorting to presenting highly biased data in order to scare the public into supporting the RSPB with even more funds? It does seem strange that the RSPB should have chosen the dates 1986 to 1996, and in one geographical area only. Sadly it would not be the first time that the integrity of statements made by the RSPB - and other bodies that are members of the group organisation, Environment LINK - has been called into question (2, 3).

However, the good news is that Dr Stephen Tapper has written a well constructed, well referenced and beautifully presented report, published July 2005 for the Game Conservancy Trust, entitled "Nature's gain" (4). He reports that the management of upland moors for grouse has not only helped to retain upland heather habitat, but has provided the most important stronghold for upland waders in England. The curlew is Britain's biggest wader.

Figure 1: Curlew,
easily recognisable with its evocative
ringing 'cour-li' call and long down-curved bill.
They are thriving on upland moors managed for grouse shooting
Photo Alexis de la Serre, courtesy of Game Conservancy Trust
(To enlarge: Click Here)

For example, the North Pennines Special Protection Area, which is almost entirely managed for grouse shooting, hosts 3,930 pairs of curlew, whilst by contrast, Dartmoor National Park, which no longer holds grouse, now only has 1 - 3 pairs of curlew.

Likewise, the report finds that curlews are about 18 times more abundant in the North Pennine Special Protection Area which is managed for grouse shooting, than they are in the Berwyn Special Protection Area, a large part of which is managed as a bird reserve.

The findings documented in "Nature's gain" emphasises the dangers of concentrating conservation on single species, such as raptors - or more specifically - the hen harrier.

This topic was also well discussed at the Scottish Countryside Alliance conference held in Edinburgh in April of this year, entitled "Getting the balance right: rural Scotland 2005". In the session entitled "Enhancing our environment: holistic management vs single species priorities" Alex Hogg, Chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association debated with Professor Roger Wheater, previously of Scottish Natural Heritage and currently chairman of The National Trust for Scotland (5, 6). The striking contrast between the common sense, practical approach of the gamekeeper and the precious, esoteric stance of the politically compliant academic illustrates much that is wrong with today's political management of the rural economy (7).

There are those who insist that everything has to be "scientifically proven" before recommending action, even although the practicalities may be clear to those who are professionally concerned in the day to day management of the enterprise in question. While appearing superficially attractive, the disadvantage of paying too much cognisance to the demands of academics is that serious delays and much damage may occur while the so-called scientists devise and try to implement one kind of trial after another, sometimes (as with bovine TB) endlessly failing to achieve the perfect conditions that they demand. All the while, as with bovine TB, the problem escalates while the remedy remains as obvious as it has been for the past two decades (8).

As so often happens, the trouble arises when those involved in the practical management of running a business conflict with the single interest focus of "conservation" groups.

In the case of bovine TB, the interests of farmers (in terms of the health and welfare of their cattle and the survival of their farming businesses) conflict with the obsessional interest of the "conservation" groups devoted to protecting badgers with their cute coats.

In the case of grouse moors, the interests of landowners (with their wide ranging concerns for conservation and for the business of running their estates and for the tourist industry) conflict with the narrow focus of the RSPB, English Nature (EN) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) with their concern to promote the raptor section of the bird population - especially the hen harrier.

It has been obvious to gamekeepers for generations that raptors need to be controlled if moorland grouse are to prosper. But that was not good enough for the self-styled "conservationists" who claim that conservation is their prerogative. So between 1992 and 1997 the Joint Raptor Study Group was set up. It carried out the notorious trials on Langholm Moor, allowing raptors to flourish. Surprise, surprise the raptors devastated the grouse moor. Many gamekeepers lost their jobs as a result, and the moor has never recovered as a grouse moor (9, 10). May be the scientists were happy that they had proved an obvious, but the cost was massive. Yet the lessons do not appear to have been learned by the "conservationist" lobby groups, and they continue with their misguided crusade to promote ever more raptors, disrupting balanced managment and people's livelihoods as they do so .

Thus to this day the so-called "conservationists" continue to obstruct wider conservation through the political lobbying power they have been able to muster. Distributing a few unbalanced statistics to further their cause seems to be par for the course.

©www.land-care.org.uk

References

1. http://www.rspb.org.uk/countryside/farming/advice/birdsonfarms/curlew/index.asp

2. Editorial (2004). RSPB-backed 'green' electricity marketing scheme censured by Advertising Standards Agency.
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 11 Dec 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

3. Irvine, James (2004). Concerns about the validity of statements on the condition of SSSIs in Scotland made by members of Environment LINK. Review and comment on a case study presented by Kirsty Macleod at People Too conference, "Who governs rural Scotland?" October 2004, Perth.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 17 Nov 04, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

4. Tapper, Stephen (2005). Nature's gain. How gamebird management has influenced wildlife conservation.
A report from The Game Conservation Trust, July 2005.
The full report is available from the Game Conservation Trust, see www.gct.org.uk

5. Wheater, Roger (2005). "Enhancing our environment; holistic management Vs single species priorities." Part 3: Session 2b SCA conference "Getting the balance right: rural Scotland 2005"
12th April, Edinburgh.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 20 Apr 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

6. Hogg, Alex (2005). "Enhancing our environment; holistic management Vs single species priorities." Part 3: Session 2b SCA conference "Getting the balance right: rural Scotland 2005"
12th April, Edinburgh.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 21 Apr 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

7. Irvine, James (2005). Comment on Roger Wheater/Alex Hogg session "Enhancing our environment; holistic management Vs single species priorities." SCA conference "Getting the balance right: rural Scotland 2005" 12th April, Edinburgh.
See SOCIAL/ECONOMIC/POLITICAL Homepage, filed 27 Apr 05, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

8. Editorial (2003). Tuberculosis in cattle: DEFRA in no hurry to review strategy.
See TUBERCULOSIS HOMEPAGE, filed 10 Mar 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

9. Editorial (2003). RSPB falls foul of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) over the management of raptors. SGA case study: Langholm Moor.
See ENVIRONMENT Homepage, filed 25 Mar 03, www.land-care.org.uk Click Here to View

10. Thirgood, S.J., Redpath, S.M., Haydon, T.J., Rothery, P., Newton, I. & Hudson, P.J. (2000). Habitat loss and raptor predation: disentabgling long- and short-term causes of red grouse declines.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 267, 651-656

Finis