Grouse shortage costs rural areas millions – The Telegraph

On Saturday 8th December, The Telegraph published our analysis on the shortage of grouse this year and how it has cost rural areas millions in lost income. The article can be read in full here (please note The Telegraph is behind a paywall).

Adrian Blackmore, Director of Shooting for Countryside Alliance commented: "This has been a hard season for many people who rely on grouse shooting for part of their income. Our figures show its significance to many upland communities, where it can be the main economic driver, and the impact to those communities when shooting cannot take place.

"Grouse are a wild bird, subject to the vagaries of weather and other natural conditions, so the occasional bad year is to be expected.

"Fortunately such years are rare, and it is thanks to the unique motivation of grouse moor owners that their investment into the management of our uplands continues regardless of whether or not shooting can take place.

"This investment means the shooting will be back next year, boosting the rural economy, and the incomes of so many hardworking people, in our remote upland communities."