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With increased debate on how the countryside is managed, the impact of releasing gamebirds on local habitats and wildlife has been in the spotlight. A new paper by Dr Rufus Sage, head of lowland research at the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) provides a summary review of the available evidence and concludes that, in general, the ecological positives and negatives of gamebird releasing are approximately balanced. Click here to read the full story

What the Science Says has checked out another claim from the newspapers - Are released pheasants driving adders to extinction? Read the response on the GWCT What the Science Says website here: https://www.whatthesciencesays.org/are-released-pheasants-driving-adders-to-extinction/

Late autumn heralds the arrival of many species of wintering birds to UK shores, including our smallest migratory goose, the brent goose (Branta bernicla). Some 100,000 brents will spend the milder winter here. Weighing little more than a bag of sugar and no bigger than a mallard, they can be spotted on saltmarshes, rocky coastlines, sheltered bays and beaches between now and February. Unlike many other resident or migratory geese, they don’t tend to range inland very far and prefer to stay on the coast. Read the full article on the GWCT site here

What The Science Says website checks out another claim: Claim: 75% of the world's heather moorland is in the UK This figure is widely quoted by many interested parties, holding different views about the management of such environments: Ecologist: Grouse Shooters Thrive on Heather Moorlands Climate News Network: ‘Amazon of UK’ being destroyed for grouse shooting The Moorland Association Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust: How much upland heather moorland is in the UK? BASC: Grouse Moor Landscape The assertion was recently challenged by Dr Steve Carver on his blog. Read the answer here

Tipping the balance: The effects of released gamebirds and their management A new scientific paper in the journal Wildlife Biology came out this week (12 October), led by GWCT Head of Lowland Research Dr Rufus Sage, which delves into the effects of released pheasants and red-legged partridges on wildlife and the environment. Click here to read the full article

Latest call from RSPB seems to confuse controlled and uncontrolled burning - GWCT Chief Executive Teresa Dent suggests that the recent call from RSPB to ‘stop burning the peat’ seems to deliberately confuse controlled and uncontrolled burning. Read the full article here: https://www.gwct.org.uk/blogs/news/2020/october/latest-call-from-rspb-seems-to-confuse-controlled-and-uncontrolled-burning

Just spotted on the GWCT site: Jess Brooks tells us about Devil's Fingers (Clathrus archeri). Found between July and October, this spectacular species can be found in just a few southern localities in the UK and favours moist, shaded areas of wood chips, leaf litter and rough grassland. Click Here to read all about it

Biodiversity net gain is a concept that is embedded in Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan and is an approach to land use that leads to an increase in biodiversity. The GWCT has released it's Principles of Good Gamebird Management in the UK policy which promotes best practice game management as a force for good for nature conservation and environmental improvement on farmland, woodland, moorland and wetland. By establishing principles, we want to promote best practice and sustainable game management that aim to deliver a net gain for biodiversity. Read it here

GWCT's Jess Brooks tells us about this fascinating fish. The bullhead is the only freshwater-dwelling species of sculpin in the UK. A widely distributed and versatile fish, it is found across Europe in watercourses ranging from chalk streams to lakes and moor becks. Read all about it here

What The Science Says website checks out the following statement made on Countryfile on 22nd March 2020, where the episode featured the conservation work occurring at Lake Vyrnwy, Wales. Claim: Outside of Scotland, Lake Vrynwy, part of upland Wales, is one of the few places the endangered black grouse is found in the UK. Find out the answer here

Meadowsweet is a tall, robust herb from the rose family that grows in damp soil on grassland and river banks where the water levels fluctuate. It’s not difficult to find – look for a big spray of frothy white flowers from June to September, atop green-to-reddish stems with paired, serrated leaflets. The little individual flowers grow in dense clusters and have very long stamens, giving the flowerheads a fuzzy candy-floss appearance. They have a wonderful fragrance somewhere between wild privet, musk and almond. Read the full article here

Anyone in doubt about how important England’s peatlands are would soon see from the recent Defra consultation, which opens by asking about peatland’s role in ‘the needs of wildlife, people and the planet’. As an organisation, we [GWCT] welcome the opportunity to engage with the policymakers, other organisations and those directly involved in managing our landscape in shaping the future – a better future – for England’s peatlands. Read the full article here