What makes an award winning shoot?

Last month we reported on the 2020 Purdey Awards, an annual ceremony that aims to reward excellence in shoot management with a particular reference to conservation. At the awards evening we heard about some remarkable shoots carrying out some seriously impressive work to improve biodiversity and promote sustainable ecosystems. Some of the shoots focussed on promoting a single species, others took a more holistic approach, seeking to create a healthy environment and reaping the all-round benefits. But what does it take to be an award winning shoot? To find out we’ve taken a closer look at the winners.

There are some common themes among the shoots and projects recognised in this year’s awards. One that shines through each of them is the level of collaboration and engagement of external stakeholders. Take, for example, this year’s Gold Award winning shoot, the Irish Grouse Conservation Trust. The Trust, which aims to reverse the decline in Irish grouse numbers, has needed to work with a wide variety of partners, including the RSPB, Queen’s University, Belfast and the Police Service of Northern Ireland in order to progress towards this goal. This fact was cited by the judges who noted that this collaboration has enabled the Trust to demonstrate the benefits of carefully managed predator control and to secure the backing of other conservation bodies to carry out this work.

 

 

Peter Mackie, explained to me that collaboration was vital to getting the whole project off the gound: “The first challenge was persuading a critical number of subscribers who agreed with the objectives of the charity. This was only possible with the support of Lord Dunluce and the Antrim Estate who owned much of the moor, together with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The next hurdle was forming the Glenwherry Heathland Regeneration Partnership together with DARD, the RSPB, The Northern Ireland Environmental Agency and local farmers and stakeholders.” He went on to tell me that among all the groundbreaking work carried out by the Trust, it was the collaborative nature of it that made it so special. “This project is all about collaboration,” he says. “From the local landowners and farmers, the owners of the sporting rights, the various government departments, the RSPB and the Northern Ireland Raptor group and managing the altruistic motives of some very supportive and generous subscribers, all of whom have their own objectives and solutions.” He also cites the partnership with the RSPB as the single most innovative aspect of the project.

Similarly the Roxburgh Estate, which took home the Silver Award for their grey partridge restoration work, required the buy-in of the estate’s tenant farmers in managing hedgerows and field margins, adjusting cropping practices to promote partridge numbers, and in signing up for environmental stewardship schemes, aspects of the landscape that are vital to grey partridge success.

 

Another theme is the importance of community engagement. Iford Downs, where our MD Chris Horne enjoyed a day last season, was one shoot singled out for a Special Commendation, and the judges specifically mentioned his work with the RSPB and the wider local community to engage and educate the public as to the role that shooting plays in the environment.

 

 

If it is not obtuse to say so, the other thing that links the shoots that were recognised is their diversity, that is to say, how different they are from one-another. The Gold Award winning Irish Grouse Conservation Trust is a registered charity; the Roxburgh Estate is a privately owned - if relatively large - estate, while the bronze-winning Fridlington Farm Shoot is a smaller privately owned estate. Iford Downs shoot is located on a private estate, but is operated under a let agreement. Some have a fair bit of cash behind them, some have relatively little, but all focus on using what resources they have to the fullest.

The other common factor is that the projects, whether looking to focus on a particular species or not, have a landscape-level approach to conservation, and the knock-on benefits that this has to the local environment and species. The work of the IGCT has benefitted breeding waders and improved the local biodiversity, as well as encouraged good moorland management. The Roxburgh grey partridge efforts have benefited species such as skylark, meadow pipit, linnet, curlew and oyster catcher. The Fridlington Farm Shoot’s innovative use of old marl pits to create habitat not only for teal - the focus of the project - but for a wide variety of other wildfowl and waterbirds, not to mention amphibians, reptiles and insects. Iford Downs has recorded 80 different species, as sure an indicator of a well-managed shoot as you could wish to find.

 

 

These award-winning conservation focussed shoots show that there is no single formula to creating a sustainable ecosystem through shooting. Each of them takes a slightly different approach, but each of them also shows that taking a wide view of conservation delivers.