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GROUSE shooting is contributing to the flooding which has devastated dozens of communities across Britain, the Green Party warned yesterday.
Landowners’ cultivation of moorland to suit grouse breeding — instead of managing it to prevent flooding — allows water to pour off moorlands instead of being absorbed.
Green leader Natalie Bennett reiterated a call for a ban on the “sport” after visiting flood-hit communities in Yorkshire.
“Management of moors for intensive shooting is simply incompatible with 21st-century needs — which is why the
Green Party is backing the call to ban driven grouse shooting in the UK,” she said.
She said 30,000 people have signed a petition calling for a ban.
Landowners regularly set fire to moorlands to create new growth compatible with grouse breeding.
The burning destroys a water-holding moss known as sphagnum.
As reported in the Morning Star, in August 2012 campaigners in the Yorkshire Pennine town of Hebden Bridge launched a “Ban the Burn” campaign and marched to Walshaw Moor above the town.
The town was flooded in June and July 2012, and suffered its worst-ever floods three weeks ago.
Campaigners say that not only do landowners benefit financially from grouse shooting, they also receive millions of pounds in government grants to “manage” the moorland.
In 2012 the owners of Walshaw Moor were granted £2.5m over 10 years by government-backed Natural England for “environmental stewardship” of its land.
Walshaw Moor has been regularly burned by its owners to create good breeding conditions for grouse shooting.