Shooting & Tourism.

Shooting activities directly contribute to the equivalent of 5,200 full-time jobs in the food and accommodation sector. This support plays a crucial role in sustaining rural communities, especially during the autumn and winter months when income from alternative forms of tourism significantly declines. For some rural services, this support can be the determining factor between achieving profit or facing a loss.

There is ample evidence indicating that when land is managed for the well-being of game, other species naturally thrive, and many shooting enterprises actively engage in conservation efforts for its intrinsic value. In the UK, shooting providers invest nearly £250 million annually in conservation work, surpassing the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) expenditure on reserves in 2013 (£29.6 million) by over eight times.

Conservation spending constitutes a significant portion, representing 21% of all costs incurred by shooting providers. The commitment to conservation on shooting lands translates into 3.9 million work days, equivalent to 16,000 full-time conservation jobs. Moreover, 29% of shooting providers report having a conservation designation on a part of their site.

With farmers facing increasing pressure to manage their land to enhance biodiversity, shooting presents exceptional opportunities. Improving habitat not only allows landowners to augment their income through shooting rents but also reaps financial benefits from environmental stewardship schemes. The necessity to maintain and enhance habitat for game provides an avenue for farmers and landowners to bring more land into conservation, aligning with agri-environment schemes. Additionally, shooting rents can make a substantial contribution to the costs of conservation work.

This integrated approach, aligning recreational use with agri-environmental policy, yields an immediate economic return on enhancing wildlife and is capable of doing so on a landscape scale.