The gift of Grouse to rural sustainability - and your pocket!

To highlight the economic and environmental benefit of the upcoming grouse season, which started on Friday, August 12, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) Scotland and Scotland’s Regional Moorland Groups hosted Angus SNP MP Dave Doogan on an estate within the glens of his constituency.
SGA Chairman Alex Hogg hopes the season can buffer some remote communities and households. Picture: SGA MediaSGA Chairman Alex Hogg hopes the season can buffer some remote communities and households. Picture: SGA Media
SGA Chairman Alex Hogg hopes the season can buffer some remote communities and households. Picture: SGA Media

The Angus Glens are synonymous with grouse shooting and sporting estates provide much-needed revenue and investment in these remote locations.

Mr Doogan met with the head keeper, with the visit culminating in a tour across a managed grouse moor, where he was shown the environmental benefits of muirburn and peatland restoration.

In 2020, the Scottish Government, SRUC and James Hutton Institute published a report demonstrating the importance of grouse shooting.

It found that driven grouse shooting delivered a total combined impact (capital, running and staff costs combined) of £38 per hectare, which was comparable to, or higher than, other moorland land uses, such as deer management.

In terms of jobs, there is a higher per hectare employment impact from grouse moors than sheep farming and forestry.

All of this is achieved without mainstream agri-environmental scheme subsidies or substantial input from government financial support.

Shooting not only supports those directly employed by estates. Notably, 60-80% of direct spending on grouse shooting occurs within the local or regional area.

Mr Doogan was shown recently renovated accommodation on the estate, where local tradesmen had benefited from a substantial project, highlighting just one of the benefits to the local economy of investment from sporting estates.

He said: “It is always a great pleasure when my job as MP for Angus takes me high up into the Angus Glens especially as the weather and welcome during this visit couldn’t have been warmer.

“It’s really good to see the ongoing environmental improvements being made in support wildlife habitats on land and in the watercourses, together with the continued maintenance of walking routes throughout the Glens so people can access our unique landscape and wildlife.

“There was still much work being undertaken following Storm Arwen, so it’s good to see properties being repaired and upgraded with this economic activity benefiting Angus contractors and the local economy.

“I look forward to future visits to see further developments in the outdoor economy across the Angus Glens.”

Peter Clark, Public Affairs Manager for BASC Scotland said: “Friday marked the start of the Glorious Twelfth, but arguably, what is ‘glorious’ about it all, is the wider impact of grouse shooting on the rural economy.

“This season is set to be much more favourable than in previous years, with brood numbers looking healthy, so estates are gearing up for considerably more days.

“Estates provide high quality jobs and expenditure on shooting boosts the profitability and resilience of wider local supply chains, from hotels to country sports retailers.

“I want to thank Dave Doogan MP for joining us at the estate and on the moors, as it is vital parliamentarians see the benefit first-hand of sporting estates, and the immense contribution they make to their constituency.

“The local economy benefits considerably from shoot days, and this results in much-needed community retention, a vital weapon in our armoury in the fight against the omnipresent challenge of rural depopulation”.

Lianne MacLennan, National PR Coordinator of Scotland's Regional Moorland Groups said: “The past two years have been impacted by Covid restrictions and reduced visitor numbers. If this year’s season is more favourable, as it appears, that will be welcomed by a host of rural businesses, which are considerably boosted when there is a good season.

“Estate spending last year actually rose to £15m across Scotland, and we know the majority of this expenditure benefits the immediate local area.

"We are hopeful for a good season and a much-needed boost for rural businesses.”

Meanwhile, Scottish Gamekeepers Association Chair, Alex Hogg MBE, also believes the 2022 season could help buffer some remote rural communities and households from the deepening cost of living crisis.

“In a stable year, grouse shooting brings over £30m to remote communities in a short window, helping a range of spin-off small businesses at a quiet time after the summer holidays. The recent Scottish Government commissioned study indicated just how important that income and household wages can be in these remote areas,” said Mr Hogg.

“We are not looking at consistently good grouse numbers nationally. Red grouse are completely wild.

"There are so many things which can affect breeding success, but, at a time when grouse shoots have been continuing to invest and getting no income back, we should be grateful for the coming season.

"The return of visitors spending money is also equally important for local businesses. Their operational costs are going up all the time, with inflation. The cost of living crisis is affecting everyone in the countryside. We are going to need all areas of the economy firing, if we are to get back to some form of stability.”

Game shooting and angling sustain more full-time direct jobs (4400) than all of Scotland’s large conservation charities combined (2204).