The Why Moorland Matters event was hosted by Tarquin Millington-Drake from Conservation Communication. Louisa Clutterbuck, Eat Wild CEO visited two years ago, and realised what a valuable learning experience it could be to so many people and not just people in the food industry. A year later, Leon, our Culinary Director followed in Louisa’s footsteps and joined the Moorland Matters team, a plan was hatched.
Moorland habitats are unique, biodiverse landscapes, and they play a vital role in carbon storage, water regulation, and supporting many rare British species. However, these ecosystems are increasingly under threat due to a range of human and environmental pressures. Unfortunately, one of the most disturbing pressures is lack of appropriate management and policies that reflect a total lack of understanding. The complexity of the relationships between the species on the moors, is a delicate balance, and unfortunately many of the people who are making decisions about how the moors are managed do not have a true understanding of this complexity, leading to degradation, species loss and localised extinction of ground nesting birds in some areas.
They are not ‘barren/industrial wastelands’. If one is to open one’s eyes after placing a foot upon the moorland, it is easy to see the plethora of fascinating and unusual flora beneath your feet.
I knew almost nothing about Grouse or Grouse shooting when I arrived in the Pennines. I didn’t know enough to be for or against it either way. But I have left, with a firm belief that the people who manage the moorlands for the Grouse, have a deep passion and understanding of this landscape which very few others do. They should be listened to and their advice should be heeded.
In managing the moors for the Grouse, so many other species of ground nesting and song birds, in decline in unmanaged areas, are supported and thrive. Curlews, Lapwings, Plovers and Grey Partridge (the Red-Listed English Partridge) are all breeding in areas where predators are controlled for Grouse shooting. Where those predators are left to their own devices, you will not find ground nesting birds managing to even get an egg to the chick stage, where there is no predator control, those bird numbers have dwindled to almost nothing. A recent study by David Baines and published in The Journal for Nature Conservation in March 2025 is compelling reading and highlights the importance of predator control. It looked specifically at the numbers of ground nesting birds in an area where there had been no predator control for ten years. Here are just some of its findings.
“ Increases in non-protected and protected predators were associated with the local extinctions of Black Grouse Lyrurus tetrix and Grey Partridge Perdix perdix, together with significantly reduced Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica (−71 %), Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria (−81 %), Snipe Gallinago gallinago (−76 %), Curlew Numenius arquata (−24 %), and a non-significant reduction in Lapwing Vanellus vanellus (−58 %). These bird declines occurred whilst most habitat measures showed no change. They mirror patterns of decline amongst the same species across the UK. Continued lethal control of predators at landscape scales may be essential to help prevent further declines in birds of conservation concern, pending longer-term restructuring of habitat compositions at landscape scales to render them less predator friendly.” (Baines, March 2025)
Shorteared Owls, Wheatears, Pitpits, Skylarks, Stonechats, Snipe, Woodcock, Warblers, Linnets and Merlins are other species among many which find their homes, be it temporary or permanent in well managed moorlands.
I cannot explain the hope I left with after the Why Moorland Matters event. The Black Grouse were spectacular and we were very lucky. Before dawn of the second day we were up in the Lek (an indistinct area of moor, where the males gather to out-do each other in their dancing and fighting for a mate. This dance is called a Lek). As the sun rose, and the mist rolled across the heather we were treated to the most unusual and extraordinary experience. The strangely relaxing sound of the males with the occasional squelching call was something hard to explain unless you have heard it. The males glided over the ground of their territories with their tails fanned and necks outstretched in the hope of attracting a female or a vicious fight for dominance. The females cruised in about half way through, chose their mate, which happened to be a lucky chap dominating the center of the Lek, and then departed, only to return the next day to do ‘it’ all over again. To be able to watch a relatively healthy population of these magnificent birds, performing their annual mating dance, was something that I shall never forget.
The Eat Wild team invited some of the UK’s leading hospitality Chefs to join us, and the aim was to create an open forum for discussion about Grouse, moorland management, the future of British wildlife, and wild meat on the menu. We were educated on the benefits that grouse shooting brings to these moorlands; it is not just the grouse that benefits from moorland management, as I think we all now understand. It was evident that when good management is in place, bringing wild meat onto your menu, helps to protect and conserve a huge range of British species, which otherwise would be lost to our landscapes, perhaps for good.
I believe that everyone who joined us for the conversations and observations over those two days will have left looking upon moorlands with different eyes and hopefully we can engage with more chefs in this way in the future. It is important to be cognisant of the fact that the only way to make real change in the world is through education, but people need to be open to learning about the things they may have a little or a biased understanding of in the first place.
It is a sad state when those in positions of influence are unwilling to engage or learn more about the industries and livelihoods they are in control of.