Reflections on the Game Fair

I spent last Friday at Ragley Hall at the Game Fair.  It remains a popular event with tens of thousands of people walking through the gates over a three day period.  After last year's washout, organisers (the CLA) were blessed with fine weather all weekend.  We always attend, have a stand, host a reception, talk to people who visit our stand and go and chat with others on their stands.   

I first went in 2004, the year I joined the RSPB and, although not a frequent visitor until recently, it's my impression that things have not changed a great deal.  The majority of people that come to our stand are genuinely interested in what we are up to and keen to hear our views on countryside management.  But there will always be some that pop along, well, to have a pop at us about anything and everything but usually something to do with predation.   These conversations are nearly always good natured and usually end up with people satisfied that they've aired their feelings and although have failed to change RSPB policy, feel content that we've heard them out.

But, this year it did feel a bit different.  A number of people that I spoke to wanted to end what they perceived as a public row between us and the game community.  I spoke to gamekeepers who were privately appalled by continued illegal killing of birds of prey, shooters who felt uncomfortable about the intensity of some lowland pheasant shoots and those who were desperate to see hen harriers recover.  I sensed they were appealing to us to make the first move, celebrate the best in shooting and somehow deal with the laggards in private.

And there are things to celebrate. It was great to see the shooting community so enthusiastically supporting the campaign to improve compliance with laws on lead shot use. This can sometimes be a controversial issue, but the strong and clear call to obey the law is to be commended. I will wear my pin badge with pride!

There were more positive words during the GWCT sponsored debate in which I participated.  In a sweltering marquee, we shared views on whether pheasant shooting could contribute to conservation.  Roger Williams MP, Charles Nodder from the National Gamekeepers' Association, Tom Oliver from GWCT and I all agreed that yes, of course, this form of land use can make a contribution to nature conservation through providing habitat management for game birds which can, in turn, benefit other species.  There also appeared to be agreement that some shooting practices can cause environmental harm although differences in opinion about the best way to address these problems.    That said, I am not sure that I convinced the panel or the audience to work together to answer one of Bill Sutherland's top 100 unanswered questions: what are the ecological consequences of releasing c40 million game birds into the countryside every year.  I argue that it is in everyone’s interest to get to grips with this issue.

This is no different from our approach to farming, forestry, fisheries or indeed any other land use. We need to get the best possible evidence in place, so we can maximise benefits to wildlife, tackle any negative impacts and move forward.

And that’s the key point – moving forward. We're up for working with the shooting community to address the crises facing our wildlife and profile good examples where this occurs.  But in return, we need to see some real progress on the ground to eliminate some of the bad practices that still go on – be it the illegal use of lead shot, or the ever increasing intensity of some driven grouse moors at the apparent expense of almost everything else.

Game Fair 2013 was characterised by lots of fine words. We stand ready to back our words up with action. Here's hoping other will do the same and that we can report on real progress by the time to we go to the Game Fair in 2014.