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Game releasing conserves wildlife

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust says that pheasant releasing is one of the main incentives for managing and planting hedgerows

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By Will Finch

Thursday, 01 December 2011

New GWCT research confirms the hedgerow habitats of gameshooting estates enhance wildlife biodiversity

Releasing game is one of the main incentives for managing and planting hedgerows in England, thereby conserving a wide range of wildlife, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research.

The study shows that game estates have 65 per cent more hedgerow per km2 than farms with no gameshooting.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Dr Roger Draycott, one of the study’s authors, said: “This confirms that game management plays an important role in helping to retain hedgerow habitats in the UK and thus offers potential for much wider biodiversity benefits to wildlife recovery as a whole.”

Conservationists have long been concerned about the disappearance of UK hedgerows, recognised as being vitally important habitats for a range of birds and other wildlife. Since the 1950s, as many as 300,000 miles have been lost.

The rest of this article appears in the 30th November issue of Shooting Times.

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