THE UK’s largest shooting and conservation organisation is looking to lobby the government on proposals to introduce further licensing of gamebird releasing and shooting above and beyond the current legal frameworks, which it says is a “ban by the back door” with “serious consequences” for rural communities.  
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) has pledged to challenge government proposals to introduce further licensing as it would threaten the future of shooting and the irreplaceable conservation work which comes with it.  

BASC has already called on Defra to rethink the proposals, which would introduce additional licensing requirements for gamebird release and shooting in England. The organisation warns an additional layer of regulation is unnecessary and will undermine vital conservation work already delivered by the sector and impact rural communities and businesses.  

Duncan Thomas, BASC regional director for the North, said:- “The Land Use Framework, is a plan to get nature, biodiversity and infrastructure working in harmony together. However, within that is what seems to be the latest in a long line of deliberate attacks by this government on the countryside and rural life. By introducing further licensing for game shooting, the activity has to 1st be made unlawful. This is a de facto ban. Shooting, which has taken place since the 1600s will then be at the mercy of extended restrictions which, as we already observe, are not always applied proportionately or fairly. On the face of it, it is hard to argue with the overall aims of the Land Use Framework:- improving the environment, boosting biodiversity, and restoring habitats. Who wouldn’t support those goals? However, on closer inspection, another agenda appears to be at work.”  

BASC has previously highlighted how sustainable shooting has large-scale positive environmental, social and economic outcomes on the landscape, carried out mostly by volunteers and often funded by the private sector.  

These efforts range from tree planting and hedgerow protection, re-wetting peatlands, control of deer, squirrel as well as generalist predators, and creation of habitats for other species such as songbirds, butterflies, beetles and other insects.  

Shooting is worth £3.3bn to the UK economy every year. It sees £500m worth of conservation work carried out across 7.6m hectares of land each year, generates the equivalent of 67,000 full time jobs and is a major factor in tackling social isolation in rural areas.  

BASC is calling on Defra to recognise this and to liaise with land managers, shoots and gamekeepers to continue this work rather than add unnecessary regulatory burdens which would have a negative impact on the benefits.  

Mr Thomas added:- “Shooting, the work and people which go with it make a major contribution to conservation and rural livelihoods across the UK. Imposing additional, unnecessary licensing upon the sector will undermine this work and have a serious impact on the environment and the lives of everyday people.”