Grouse shooting is a major industry in North Yorkshire and its two national parks, providing welcome jobs in some of the most remote areas of the county, but owning and maintaining a grouse shoot can be a financial nightmare.

This is the conclusion reached by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), which carries out detailed research into problems like disease and predation on game birds, and it has now set up a new technical advice service to help shoot owners.

Says the trust: “Owning a grouse moor is a multi-million pound investment, but the benefits in terms of its conservation value and providing a healthy grouse bag in the years when everything goes right makes this valuable asset a joy to behold.

“However, managing a healthy grouse moor is often fraught with uncertainty and if just one simple element is missing in the management regime, then this can amount to a massively expensive and disappointing loss.”

The new Grouse Technical Service (GTS) offers “unparallel access to all the Trust’s latest scientific research developments in order to reduce shoot day uncertainties by addressing the wide-ranging issues affecting grouse productivity, season after season.”

Subjects covered include:

• Advice and recommendations on grouse health
• Ongoing monitoring programmes – particularly in relation to disease
• Advice on habitat management and predator control
• Monitoring of wader and other biodiversity action plan species to help negotiate with statutory bodies on habitat management
• Monitoring of grouse populations to identify optimal harvesting strategies
• Provide written reports with data, maps and analysis.

For further information on the Grouse Technical Service, contact: Craig Jones: 07825 228735 or Henrietta Appleton: 07889 891956 or email: gts@gwct.org.uk