Overview
- Within the new Land Use Framework for England, the government said it will explore licensing game-bird shooting and tighter controls on releasing pheasants and partridges.
- No immediate rule changes have been enacted, with officials describing the proposals as an exploratory review at this stage.
- Conservation groups including the RSPB back licensing, citing ecological damage from high-density releases such as plant browsing, predation on reptiles and invertebrates, and competition with native wildlife.
- Industry bodies pushed back, with the Countryside Alliance calling the plan a declaration of war and citing studies that value shooting at £3.3bn a year and about 67,000 full-time equivalent jobs, while BASC highlights £500m in annual conservation work.
- Official APHA data obtained via FOI shows heavy release concentrations in Norfolk, while reporting cites roughly 50 million pheasants and 10 million partridges released each year with only a minority typically shot.