As a supporter of the Countryside Alliance, you are already doing your bit to defend the future of shooting. But if you run any sort of game shoot, there is another step you can take: sign your shoot up to the British Game Alliance.
Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Tim Bonner writes: The growth of game shooting is a great British success story, and everyone involved should be very proud. As shooting has grown, it has generated hundreds of millions of pounds for conservation and billions of pounds for the rural economy.
We also need to recognise that as shooting has grown, so has the scrutiny we are under. We need to be confident that everyone who runs a shoot is doing so to the highest standards of welfare and is delivering the conservation benefits associated with good shoot management.
That is why the Countryside Alliance has been instrumental in bringing the shooting community together to create the British Game Alliance (BGA), and why we continue to provide the BGA with the media and political functions that are the Alliance's area of expertise. The BGA has brought credible self-assurance to game shooting, and it is vital that everyone is involved.
We are asking all of our members who run any size of shoot to sign up to the British Game Alliance. If you don't run your own shoot, then this season please ask every shoot you visit when they intend to join.
Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has already welcomed the BGA. He said: "Thoughtful management of game and the habitats it thrives in is crucial to our mission to protect, preserve and enhance our natural environment for future generations. The British Game Alliance does an excellent job in promoting ethically sourced British game and I would like to thank them for the work they do."
This is the moment when credible shoot-assurance is most needed, and we all have a responsibility to make sure it works. Head here to register your shoot.