Defra announce three-year Gamebird Research Programme

When Defra announced last year that it would be introducing an interim licence regime for the release of pheasant and red-legged partridge on and around English European Protected Sites, the Department also committed to addressing gaps in the existing scientific literature that had been highlighted during the review into the ecological consequences of gamebird releasing and management on lowland Shoots in England undertaken the previous year.

It has now been confirmed that starting this summer, Defra, Natural England and the Animal and Plant Health Agency are beginning a three-year Gamebird Research Project into those knowledge gaps. The project, which will inform its wider work on considering longer term regulatory solutions around gamebird releases on and around European sites, will look at:

• The scale of gamebird releasing on and around European sites in England.
• The dispersal behaviour of gamebirds released on and around European sites.
• The impact of gamebird releasing on soil nutrients and ground flora on and around European sites.
• The extent of gamebirds' predation on reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
• Interactions between released gamebirds, wildlife within European sites and pathogens/parasites.
• The influence of released gamebirds on local predator populations

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