Debate on an e-petition relating to driven grouse shooting

A petition calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting has received 104,342 signatures and will be debated in Westminster Hall on 30 June 2025.

Driven grouse shooting involves the birds being flushed by beaters walking towards shooters standing in a line, who shoot the grouse as they fly overhead.

Petitions

The petition calls for all driven grouse shooting in England to be banned:

Chris Packham, Ruth Tingay and Mark Avery (Wild Justice) believe that driven grouse shooting is bad for people, the environment and wildlife.

People; we think grouse shooting is economically insignificant when contrasted with other real and potential uses of the UK’s extensive uplands.

Environment; muirburn contributes to climate breakdown and drainage leads to flooding and erosion.

Wildlife; the wholesale extermination of predators has a disastrous impact on the ecology of these areas and the criminal practice of raptor persecution has taken place. We believe it's time to provide an opportunity to implement immediate and meaningful measures to address what we see as an abhorrently destructive practice so that recovery of moorlands can progress.

Wild Justice sets out further details of its concerns about driven grouse shooting on its website. These include the number of grouse killed every year; the legal and illegal killing of native species that predate or compete with grouse; the use of medicated feed to protect artificially high grouse densities from disease; the burning of heather growing on peat moors (or muirburn) to provide new growth for grouse to feed on, and the impacts of this on habitats, wildlife and carbon storage.

The government published a response to the petition on 16 January 2025 stated that “the government has no plans to ban driven grouse shooting” and went on to say:

"The Government appreciates that many people hold strong views on the issue of driven grouse shooting. The Government considers that well-managed shooting activities can bring benefits to the rural economy and can be beneficial for wildlife and habitat conservation. We will continue work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation. The Government has no plans to ban grouse shooting.”

The response also highlighted concerns about illegal killings of birds of prey (raptor persecution) together with the importance of protecting and enhancing upland peat moors.

A similar petition on banning driven grouse shooting received 111,965 signatures and a debate took place in Westminster Hall on 21 June 2021. At the time the Labour Party policy was in support of introducing a licencing scheme for grouse shooting. The Conservative Government did not support a licencing scheme or a ban, stating instead:

It is about close working between land managers and stakeholders to ensure that the landscapes in those areas are protected both for conservation and for shooting, and that they can work together for a sustainable outcome.

One of the ways in which moorlands have been managed for grouse shooting is by burning vegetation, which has been touched on by many Members. The Government have always been clear about the need to phase out rotational burning on protected blanket bog and to move to a regime of cutting.

The Library briefing on banning driven grouse shooting for this debate was published in June 2021. That debate pack contains background on grouse shooting and moor management, muirburn and peat conservation, predator culling and raptor persecution.

Scottish licencing scheme

A licencing scheme for grouse shoots has been in operation in Scotland since June 2024 following the introduction of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024.

Licensees must comply with a Code of Practice for Grouse Moor Management, covering a range of land management practices on grouse moors, as a condition of the licence. The licence conditions were updated in November 2024 to make clear applicants must clearly mark the area over which they may kill or take red grouse. NatureScot has since introduced a new condition to licences which will allows it to revoke a licence if raptor persecution which is connected to a grouse moor takes place outside of its licensed area.

Further information about the review that led to the introduction of the licencing scheme can be found in the Library’s debate pack on the 2021 petition.

Killing of birds of prey

The latest annual Birdcrime report for 2023 was published by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in November 2024. Technology such as bird collars, which allow birds prey to be tracked, has resulted increased confirmed cases of raptor persecution in England. The 2023 report was summarised as follows on an RSPB blog:

Rare and highly protected species, including the Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon and Hen Harrier, were shot, poisoned or trapped. Astonishingly, 46 of those incidents happened in England, with 12 taking place in North Yorkshire.

The RPSB concluded that raptor persecution is “significantly linked to land managed for gamebirds, where birds of prey are often deliberately targeted to reduce potential predation on gamebird stocks and limit disturbance to quarry species on shoot days”.

Natural England has been involved in work to increase numbers of hen harriers through brood management between 2019 and 2023. It announced the end of the project in April 2025, among concerns that issues with grouse management practices continued to impact hen harrier populations:

The experimental trial of hen harrier ‘brood management’ has ended, concluding that this activity has contributed to increased numbers of nesting hen harriers on some grouse moors. However, illegal killing of hen harriers has continued, and a range of approaches may continue to be required to maintain and build on the progress we have seen in recent years.

Hen harriers are rare birds of prey, and their numbers have long been suppressed by illegal killing and nest disturbance associated with grouse moor management.

Government policy

A response from the government on 24 April 2025 to a question asking if it would make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a licensing system for grouse shooting in England stated:

The Government recognises well-managed grouse shooting can be an important part of a local rural economy, providing direct and indirect employment. It also appreciates that many people hold strong views on the issue of grouse shooting and there is evidence to suggest a link between it and crimes against birds of prey. While Defra has not yet made any formal assessment of the potential merits of the licensing of grouse shooting in England, it will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between grouse shooting and conservation.

A written response from the government on 13 September 2024 to a question asking if the government will make an assessment of the environmental impact of grouse moor management said that “there are no current plans to undertake an assessment”.

The government did announce in March 2025 that it would extend the ban on heather burning on deep peat “to protect air, water and wildlife”. The new rules will define deep peat as peat as anything deeper than 30cm, rather than 40cm as is currently the case. This would mean an extra 146,000 hectares would be covered by the restrictions.

Stakeholder views

The RSPB is not opposed to all game shooting but instead calls for a licencing system to be introduced. It has raised concerns about driven grouse shooting, and some of the practices associated with it. Specifically, the illegal killing of birds of prey, the impacts on the environment and wildlife of the of lead ammunition used, and the burning of peatland habitats to support grouse populations.

Wild Moors campaigns to improve upland moors for climate change and biodiversity on land that is intensively managed for grouse shooting. It calls for a licencing scheme for shoots which “can be restricted or withdrawn in the event of wildlife persecution or environmental harm”.

The National Trust has banned grouse management practices on some of its estates. For example, in 2022 introduced restrictions on land in the High Peak District:

Trapping and snaring of wild mammals and birds to artificially drive up numbers of grouse for shooting will no longer be permitted.

Shooting tenants were formerly permitted to kill native stoats, weasels, foxes and corvids where they interfered with shooting operations by predating on game birds.

It has also halted the use of non-therapeutic medicated grit which is deployed to sustain unnaturally high populations of game birds despite being an environmental pollutant. A ban on burning on peatlands, a harmful practice used to provide young heather for grouse to eat, will also be enforced to ensure the carbon-rich habitats can be fully protected and restored.

The Moorland Association (which has 190 member grouse moors in England and Wales) does not support a ban as set out in its briefing for the debate, rejecting the concerns raised about grouse shooting:

Driven grouse shooting is a significant conservation success story, sustaining most of the world's heather moorland. It contributes to peat restoration, carbon storage, and wildfire mitigation, while supporting remote rural economies. Banning it would undermine the UK's ability to meet its environmental targets under the Environment Act 2021.

Crucially, driven grouse shooting is funded privately, unlike other conservation efforts that would require public money if shooting ceased. Critics have yet to propose a clear alternative land use that could replace its benefits or explain who would pay for conservation without it. Existing regulations already govern upland management extensively, making calls for more red tape redundant and potentially disruptive.

The Countryside Alliance has also published a brief in advance of the debate. It opposes a ban and states that “those calling for a ban on driven grouse shooting need to set out a viable, alternative vision for our uplands”.

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, previously the Game Conservancy Trust, also opposes a ban, setting out the reasons for this on its website:

• The habitat management undertaken on grouse moors preserves and enhances heather-dominated habitats.
• The package of management, notably habitat enhancement along with predator control, contributes to the conservation of a suite of upland bird species including upland waders. This preservation of habitat and its wildlife thus stems national declines which have been driven by land-use change, predation pressure and climate change.
• This is a land use which delivers high nature conservation value but is funded primarily by private investment and supports local communities economically, socially and culturally

Further Reading

• Sustainable Driven Grouse Shooting? A summary of the evidence, Denny et al, July 2021
• Driven grouse moors - socioeconomic and biodiversity impacts: summary report, Scottish Government 4 November 2020