Campaigners use Glorious 12th to urge Scottish Government to be bold with new legislation.  

As Scotland’s shooting industry prepares for the biggest day in its calendar, REVIVE, the coalition for grouse moor reform says this will be the last season where the industry has carte blanche in the countryside before it is curtailed by significant legislative changes.

Ahead of August 12, campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to be bold with its new Bill despite pressure from large landowners and land managers. 

Sport shooting in Scotland is almost completely unregulated but this lack of regulation is currently being scrutinised by the Scottish Parliament as it progresses the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. 

The start of the grouse shooting season is traditionally marked by the ‘Glorious 12th’ but campaigners say things will be very different once the Bill passes through Parliament. 

Campaign manager for the REVIVE coalition, Max Wiszniewski said: “Until now the shooting industry has enjoyed carte blanche, allowing it to create a monoculture suitable for one species - one species they want to kill for their own entertainment. This lack of regulation, over many decades, has resulted in a circle of destruction around grouse moors which is highly detrimental to our wildlife and our environment.

“Celebrating a day where a very small minority of the public will descend on the countryside to kill wildlife for fun is ludicrous. Grouse moors are a metaphor for Scotland’s major land ownership inequalities where a few individuals own most of Scotland at the expense of our people. The Scottish Government will need to be brave in the face of shooting interests to signal to rural Scotland that it’s serious about land reform.

“New legislation will change the rules around how people can capture and kill certain wild birds and wild animals, significantly curtailing the activities around grouse moors which until now have been woefully unregulated.”