We need to look at the bigger picture

Game shooting is under close scrutiny, so it’s vital that management decisions consider the broader environment, writes Mike Swan

- Mike Swan

All wildlife benefits from….” My heart sinks every time I hear those words, because they are invariably wrong. They are usually followed with the word gamekeeping, or shooting, and whichever is chosen the resulting sweeping statement reveals a degree of fundamental ignorance about the impact of game management that our opponents see straight through.

Even taken at its simplest, this concept is clearly untrue. No gamekeeper worth his or her salt will be failing to do their best to control the local populations of common predators like foxes, crows and magpies. These three are native wildlife species, and being killed to  protect game is hardly beneficial to them. But, beneath this obvious simplicity there is a much more subtle picture, in which game management produces both negatives and positives in terms of outcomes for other wildlife.

That said, even after 41 years as part of the GWCT advisory team, I am passionate about the overall conservation benefit that good game management delivers in our wonderful countryside. I may be a keen Shot, but that alone would not have motivated me for all these years; it is the biodiversity benefit that accrues from our activities that keeps me going. But, I am also well aware that if we do it badly, any benefit can be more than outweighed by damage.