In 2011, the National Gamekeepers' Organisation, in conjunction with the Scottish Gamekeepers' Association, carried out a nationwide survey of gamekeepers and the wildlife on the land they look after. The results were collated and analysed by the independent Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, then published and presented in person by the NGO to the Secretary of State for the Environment.
The results show that gamekeepers look after an area of land many times that of all the national nature reserves and that wildlife thrives on land mamanged by gamekeepers.
Conservation work carried out by gamekeepers as part of game and shoot management plays a crucial role in preserving the habitats and wildlife so important to Britain's biodiversity.
Gamekeepers and Wildlife
Click this link to view the full 30-page NGO report 'Gamekeepers and Wildlife'
Printed copies of the full survey report 'Gamekeepers and Wildlife' are also available to academic and environmental institutions from the NGO. Please email a request to our main office via our contacts page.
Gamekeepered land host a wide variety of Britain's wildlife a lot of it rare or charismatic like this spectacular blackcock
Gamekeepers and landowners make widespread use of Government agri-environment schemes to create habitats for wildlife and for unusual plants like this marsh marigold.
Most gamekeepered estates have several species of raptors present, like this kestrel, even though some species are regarded as detrimental to game.
Full-time gamekeepered estates play an important role in conserving Britain's wildlife. They cover an area many times that of our national nature reserves and designated wildlife sites.
Without the important habitat management and the control of common predators such as rats, crows and foxes that gamekeepers carry out, our spectacular flora and fauna would be far worse off.
National Gamekeepers Organisation PO Box 246 Darlington DL1 9FZ