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“The Wildlife Estates initiative”
Geva Blackett
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The European Biodiversity Conference
The Engagement of the Private Sector in favour of Biodiversity Conservation
1 December 2009 – European Parliament, Brussels
The birth of the Initiative
How to balance hunting & civilian activities
• 2003 – “Think Tank” at La Converserie, Belgium
(Claude Delbeuk, DG Natural Resources and the Environment for
Wallonia, the Crown Hunting Grounds BE); Francis Forget, National
Estate of Chambord FR and Michel Reffay National Office for Hunting
& Wildlife FR)
• 2004 – 2nd meeting
• 2005 – ELO with DG Environment support
become organisational body and pilot Wildlife
Estates initiative born
Wildlife Estates initiative (WEi)
• The WEi Label has been developed to recognise and
promote the exemplary management of territories in the
EU where there is land managed for hunting and fishing
activities.
How to get the label ?
Evaluation of the management of estates
Application form: a common core, with subsidiarity
 1st level : Charter (10 commitments)
 2nd level : Application forms (by bio-geographical region)
 reference made to “local” codes of good practices
 an organisation at member state level for :
- the selection of the evaluators
- a certain degree of adaptation of the application files
- a part of the communication on the WEi
At what stage are we now ?
• Approaching the end of the “experimental” & testing stage
• Application forms finalised for the following bio geographical
regions :
– Atlantic
– Continental
– Mediterranean
– Boreal
• Work still to be done on Alpine & Pannonic regions
• A booklet describing the WE initiative
• Website (www.wildlife-estates.eu)
• One working session and one plenary
session each year
This initiative needs the support of many European and national
stakeholders in order to establish a credible and sustainable label.
Indeed, European territories are highlighted not only for their
sustainable fishing and hunting management but also as an efficient
tool to preserve biodiversity.
Commissioner Dimas
“I very much welcome independent
initiatives such as ELO’s Wildlife
Estates initiative which promote
such synergies between
conservation and sustainable use
and I hope that many wildlife and
hunting estates will join the
initiative”
Scotland
(Ecosse)
• Land area = 78,800 km2
• 2% of land mass = urban
• 60% of 5.1 million population live in “central belt”
• Population density in Highlands and Island = 9.5 per km2
• Diversity of terrestrial and marine habitats supports some
90,000 species of animals, plants and microbes
• Hunting estates = 43% of privately owned land = largest
concentration of land dedicated to hunting in Europe.
• ½ country owned by 608; 18 own 10% of Scotland
Invercauld Estate – 44,000 hectares
In the heart of the Cairngorms National Park (380,000 hectares),
managed primarily for hunting:
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22 full time employees (14 gamekeepers)
150 kilometres of hill vehicle tracks
56 bridges
100+ species of fungi
120+ species of birds
50 BAP species
Invercauld Estate
Invercauld Estate
13 x SSSI
4 x SPA
5 x SAC
2 x NSA
1 x Core Capercaillie Area
Invercauld and Wei
Atlantic AND Boreal
• Natura 2000 designations plus others
• Red deer, golden eagles, Scottish
crossbill, black grouse, Atlantic salmon,
Burnet moth etc, etc
Moorland birds
A specific example of the benefits
• Moorland is an important breeding or feeding
habitat for 57 bird species, of which eight occur
in internationally important numbers in the UK
and 12 are listed in Annex 1 of the EC Birds
Directive 1979
• The most protected moorland specialist birds
are: Red list: Hen Harrier, Black grouse (also a
Biodiversity Action Plan species), and Ring
Ouzel. Amber list: Golden eagle, Merlin, Red
grouse, Dotterel, Lapwing, Dunlin, Snipe,
Curlew, Redshank, Short eared owl,
• Grouse moors typically have five times as many
golden plover and lapwing and about twice as
many curlews as unmanaged moors.
Heather moorland is rarer than rainforest and
75% of it is found in Northern Britain.
Invasive species
The estate controls invasive species
Game and fish population census
• Detailed records of game, fish and other species are kept
– stakeholders such as RSPB regularly perform counts too
Grouse Shooting:
Overheads 2008:
2,595 brace
1978
3,485 brace
1988
3,842 brace
1998
200 brace
2008
Stalking/Grouse
Income 2008:
£760,000
£200,000
Deficit:
£560,000
Invercauld and WEi
• Castles and folklore
The sum total
Every job in the Braemar area (pop = c450) is
dependant on the management of local estates.
Direct employment: estate staff
(office, gamekeepers, forestry,
maintenance)
Indirect employment: shops,
accommodation providers, wildlife
tourism operators
The future
‘The wildlife of today is not ours to dispose of as we please, we have it
in trust, we must account for it for those that come after.‘
King George VI
Thank you