CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT |


The Westminster Petitions Committee chose to have a debate in Westminster Hall, and commissioned the protagonists to give oral evidence in advance to its committee members. GWCT submitted detailed written evidence (see www.gwct.org.uk/ petitionevidence). Ironically, the Hen Harrier Joint Action Plan is designed to remedy the main issue that prompted the concern over grouse shooting – the persecution of hen harriers. The many speakers in the debate underlined that while grouse shooting ticks many boxes for biodiversity and its contribution to both the social fabric and rural economy in the uplands, we must get more hen harriers nesting in the English uplands. A Farmer Cluster is a group of neighbouring farmers working together, voluntarily,


to improve the conservation of wildlife on their farms. This concept grew out of a belief held, not just by the GWCT, but also by LEAF and FWAG, that farmland conserva- tion schemes would deliver better outcomes if they were less ‘top-down’. We called for schemes to be four things: bottom-up, farmer-led, landscape-scale and outcome- orientated. GWCT initiated a pilot (kindly funded by Natural England) in 2013 with five groups of farmers. It was immediately successful (we only had to make six phone calls to get five farmers to lead five separate Clusters). The Cluster concept moved rapidly into policy, with funding being provided from July 2015; the Facilitation Fund provides a Farmer Cluster with a wildlife advisor (chosen by the farmers), and funding for the conservation measures comes through Mid- and Higher-Level Agri-environment Schemes. Two application ‘rounds’ later, and there are 49 Farmer Clusters in England, involving nearly 2,000 farmers and covering over 200,000 hectares of farmland. This approach is set to become mainstream post-Brexit; we are proud of the role GWCT has played in its genesis. In Wales there is a similar focus on landscape-scale, collaborative conservation with the launch of the Sustainable Management Scheme; it was great to see some of our members succeed in the first round. In Scotland our new research and demonstration farm has ‘found its feet’ in its second year (see page 70). There are so many things happening and so much hard work; some of it set out in the pages that follow. We hope you enjoy our 2016 journey and we would like to warmly thank the trustees, every single member of staff, and our generous members and supporters for making it possible.


Our baseline monitoring work at Auchnerran is covered on page 70. © Marlies Nicolai/GWCT


Auchnerran, our new research and demonstration farm. © Marlies Nicolai/GWCT


www.gwct.org.uk


GAME & WILDLIFE REVIEW 2016 | 7


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