Sportsmen and women have been conserving wildlife since the creation of the Royal Hunting Forests in Norman times. They understood that a healthy quarry population relied upon good quality habitat and this concept remains at the heart of shooting sports today. Shooting sports have been and continue to be a large incentive for the retention of habitat and a driving force in habitat management, restoration and creation.
If you have read the history of BASC page then you will already know that the association originates from the Wildfowlers Association for Great Britain and Ireland or WAGBI. One of main reasons why Stanley Duncan founded WAGBI in 1908 was in response to the threat to wetland habitat that supported waterfowl populations. WAGBI and now BASC have kept this founding concept of conservation at the centre of its activities, from wildfowling to grouse shooting, deer stalking to pest control and gameshooting to clay shooting. We have always strived to secure and responsibly manage habitat for quarry and wildlife.
Conservation, as it is generally understood today, is barely 100 years old and originated due to the alarm caused by the reduction in range and variety of wildlife and habitats. It fostered a strategy of protectionism as changes in agriculture and industry coupled with a rapidly increasing population all put pressure on the countryside. Today, conservation strategy is moving away from protectionism as it is aiming to integrate protecting and enhancing wildlife with sustainable use of its resources. This strategy realises that action at the local level by local people is paramount to its success. This approach is called Biodiversity and is fully supported by BASC.
BASC has many teams through which conservation advice and guidance is disseminated but it has had a dedicated Conservation Department for over 25 years. BASC and the shooting community have put many years of effort and huge resource into being custodians of the countryside. A challenge we rise to.
The list of links below will take you to the main parts of the website that cover BASC's conservation activities. Please click on the green titles for further information.
Green Shoots
BASC launched Green Shoots, BASC's Biodiversity Action Plan for the shooting community in July 2000 and this is the main vehicle for conservation through BASC. The government's statutory nature conservation agencies and the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group have endorsed Green Shoots and support its targets.
Lowland Game Shooting Study
This independent study was undertaken by the Institute for Terrestrial Ecology (now the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) to establish the role that lowland game shooting plays in maintaining biodiversity in the UK.
The Gamekeeper: Professional Countryside Manager
This booklet gives a superb guide to the modern gamekeeper - the professional countryside manager - including their importance for conservation.
Wildlife Habitat Trust
