“Revive is a proper partnership between intelligent groups that has immediately delivered a vision for a better Scottish landscape"
A campaign for grouse moor reform is celebrating a year of success.
TV presenter and naturalist Chris Packham addressed the Scottish Parliament on behalf of the Revive coalition.
It has brought together charities across the social, environmental and animal welfare sectors, working together to reform Scotland’s grouse moors.
Almost a fifth of Scotland’s entire land mass is a grouse moor, and despite popular perception these moors are not natural.
The land is intensively managed to create a habitat suitable for one species, the red grouse, which is farmed to be shot for entertainment, with birds of prey routinely killed over grouse moors.
The coalition includes OneKind, Friends of the Earth Scotland, League Against Cruel Sports, Raptor Persecution UK and CommonWeal.
Revive was formed a year ago, has notched up a number of successes including the creation of a catalogue of independent, evidence-based reports to support the campaign’s asks.
It has also brought the issue to the forefront of public debate.
Packham, speaking at an event at Holyrood to mark a year of campaigning, said: “Revive is a proper partnership between intelligent groups that has immediately delivered a vision for a better Scottish landscape, a better future for Scotland.
“Everyone is sick of the illegal killing, the mass legal killing, the slaughter of mountain hares, the burning, the draining, the poisoning, and Revive has coolly and calmly exposed and explained these horrors at the same time as developing a viable alternative to the misery of driven grouse shooting.
“A healthy, sustainable and productive landscape that will offer people and wildlife a harmonious future. All in one year! Top work I’d say!”
Revive campaign manager Max Wiszniewski added: “The Revive coalition was launched with one clear aim - significant reform of Scotland’s grouse moors to benefit our environment, our communities and our wildlife.
“Over the last twelve months we have been overwhelmed with the support for Revive with thousands of people joining our movement to campaign to take back ownership of Scotland’s uplands and end the circle of destruction that surrounds grouse moors.”
The coalition is calling for the protection of peatland on Scotland’s moors, ending muirburn for grouse moor management, a ban the use of medicated grit, a change to non-lead ammunition, regulation of off-road hill tracks, transformational land reform, an end to the killing of animals on grouse moors and an end to driven grouse shooting.
