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Pheasant shooting helps save Scotland’s hedges

Rural shoots stem loss of vital habitat

The loss of precious hedgerow habitats in Scotland would have worsened at a much faster rate had it not been for the popularity of pheasant shooting.

That is the view of Scotland’s professional Gamekeeping body as the nation celebrates National Hedgerow Week, which begins on Monday 10th.

Fruit and blossom-rich hedges are a treasured part of Britain’s landscape, demarcating field boundaries and acting as vital ecosystems in their own right.

However, changes to postwar farming incentives, to boost food production, led to 50% of the UK’s hedges being torn up or lost due to lack of management.

Refuges for wildlife, today they are being re-assessed as vital to Net Zero plans, given their ability to sequester carbon and to reduce air pollution.

And gamekeepers in Scotland say the loss would have been accelerated had it not been for game shoots planting new hedges to provide cover for pheasant and partridge shooting. “Had it not been for shoots, more hedges would have gone from Scotland’s landscape by now. Unless there has been a reason or an incentive to plant or manage hedges, they have tended to be ripped up, which is really sad, given their huge value,” said Scottish Gamekeepers Association