Moorland Matters: The Battle for the Uplands against Authoritarian Conservation

With Britain’s islands holding more than three-quarters of the Earth’s stock of heather moorland, it is an extraordinary fact that it stands as one of the world’s rarest habitats.  A landscape beloved by millions, it’s renowned for the tranquillity and solace it provides – however, this tranquillity is an illusion. Britain’s moorlands have, in less than a decade, moved from a position of benign consensus to the epicentre of the bitterest conflict within UK conservation.  This insightful book sets out to examine and expose the hidden issues surrounding UK moorland conservation, giving a voice to the many people who work and live there and who feel that what they have to say is often ignored, if it’s even heard at all.  The fate of our uplands is in our hands, and it is important that an alternative narrative, from the perspective of the practitioners who have cared for these places for generations, are considered. It may be that those with power chose to ignore these facts and sweep them away, but at least now they cannot say they didn’t know.

Table of Contents:
Contents Foreword vi Glossary of abbreviations and acronyms ix Prologue xi Introduction 17 Moorlands matter 23 A burning issue 31 Does grouse shooting cause floods? 55 Never mind the quality, feel the width 67 Curlew calling 77 There must be an alternative 85 Tourism and eco-tourism Energy generation Increased pastoral activity 7. Let’s just leave it to nature 95 8. Predation and its control 103 9. The road to hell is paved with regulation 117 10. A licensing department and how not to run one 129 From simplicity to chaos Gulls and the advantages of countryside living Stoats, just when you thought it couldn’t get worse The end of the road 11. Raptors 151 12. The stoat’s tale 175 13. The tale of two vegetarians 185 The mountain hare The red deer 14. Ticks 195 15. The search for a level playing field 199 16. Grouse shooting and its community 211 17. Economics 223 18. Ethics and politics 227 19. What should happen 235 Epilogue 249 References and further reading 252

About the Author :
Ian Coghill is a life-long conservationist and a keen participant in country sports. Following retirement of a 42 year career as Director of Community Safety and Environmental Services for Birmingham City Council, he became Chairman of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust for over a decade, until his retirement a few years ago. His career and connections have enabled him to observe first-hand the pressures that the countryside and its wildlife are under.

Review :
Tackling the big questions, Moorland Matters is as ambitious as it is entertaining. Although the subject matter is hard-hitting, Ian Coghill’s wonderful turn of phrase and anecdotes would put the best after dinner speakers to shame. One of the most important books to be published on the heated subject of moorland management. This is a powerful book that every MP should read. They're a unique and wonderfully wild part of Britain's landscape. In this cri de coeur, one conservationist blasts back. This is a masterful book and it’s written in such a refreshing way. It offers such pragmatic solutions that the reasonable majority of which Coghill often writes cannot fail to appreciate the nonsense of the position taken by so many bodies and institutions in the current, toxic eco climate. It is without hesitation I recommend this book... it is a volume long overdue and proves to be a wonderful tool in aiding knowledge growth to anyone with even a passing interest in country sports, the environment and ecology. Ecology affects us all, and books such as this should be treasured, for the learning opportunities they provide us with on our wondrous heather moorland. Far more than just an uncontrolled rant - it picks at the fabric of decisions being made about our uplands...I would highly recommend it to people on both sides of the debate