Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- PART I FACTORS DRIVING CHANGES IN WILDLIFE
- 2 Climate change
- 3 Agriculture, woodland and semi-natural habitats
- 4 Vertebrate animal introductions
- 5 Plant introductions
- 6 Urbanisation and development
- 7 The Great Game: the interaction of field sports and conservation in Britain from the 1950s to 2008
- 8 Going fishing: recent trends in recreational angling
- 9 Impacts of hormone-disrupting chemicals on wildlife
- 10 Water pollution: other aspects
- 11 Twenty-five key questions in ecology
- PART II CONSERVATION IN ACTION
- PART III THE CASE HISTORIES
- Glossary
- Name index
- Subject index
- Plate section
- References
7 - The Great Game: the interaction of field sports and conservation in Britain from the 1950s to 2008
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
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Edited by
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- PART I FACTORS DRIVING CHANGES IN WILDLIFE
- 2 Climate change
- 3 Agriculture, woodland and semi-natural habitats
- 4 Vertebrate animal introductions
- 5 Plant introductions
- 6 Urbanisation and development
- 7 The Great Game: the interaction of field sports and conservation in Britain from the 1950s to 2008
- 8 Going fishing: recent trends in recreational angling
- 9 Impacts of hormone-disrupting chemicals on wildlife
- 10 Water pollution: other aspects
- 11 Twenty-five key questions in ecology
- PART II CONSERVATION IN ACTION
- PART III THE CASE HISTORIES
- Glossary
- Name index
- Subject index
- Plate section
- References
Summary
Summary
Field sports have shaped and been shaped by the countryside over hundreds of years, reaching a peak around 1900. In spite of the decline of some species and the number of gamekeepers since WW II, game bags remain substantial, partly due to release of large numbers of reared pheasants and partridges. Habitat managed for shooting and hunting foxes is beneficial for other species of fauna and flora, but the interaction of Grouse, Hen Harriers and keepers remains unresolved. Numbers of wintering wildfowl have increased by c. 40%, partly due to collaboration between shooters and conservationists following post-WW II conflicts. Deer populations are large and expanding and require management strategies. Shooters are spending c. £2 billion annually, including £250 million on habitat conservation. A new European Charter on Hunting and Biodiversity provides a framework for enhanced co-operation between field sports and conservation interests.
Introduction
Over a long historical perspective, hunting, shooting and fishing have been deeply rooted in British culture as admired pursuits, while conservation is a relative newcomer. Superficially, field sports and conservation of wildlife appear to be in direct conflict and the story of the last 50 years is not without its record of clashes between the two interests. Yet it may come as a surprise to those whose understanding of wildlife conservation is shaped by beguiling television images of ‘wild nature’ that field sports, as practised over the last 50 years, have been almost universally good for the hunted species and the non-hunted, non-predators that thrive in the same habitat.
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- Silent SummerThe State of Wildlife in Britain and Ireland, pp. 84 - 106Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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