12/08/20 - Office for Environmental Protection, Grouse shooting season begins, Scottish farm tour

Farming Today

• Episode: 12/08/20 - Office for Environmental Protection, Grouse shooting season begins, Scottish farm tour
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:13:41
• Published: 2020-08-12 07:00

The government has launched the recruitment campaign for the inaugural Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection. Caz Graham is joined by Ruth Chambers from Greener UK and Martin Lines from the Nature Friendly Farming Network. Together they discuss the new role, what their chief priorities might be, and what changes might be made by the successful candidate. It’s the twelfth of August, sometimes knows as the Glorious 12th, which means it's the start of the red grouse shooting season. It's always a contentious time - estate owners say grouse shoots are a vital part of the rural economy and that new methods of moorland management encourage wildlife to thrive; while, wildlife campaigners say that instead of setting aside swathes of land for shooting birds, re-wilding moorlands and investing in nature tourism would be a better option for the uplands. We hear from both sides. Angus is the destination for today's rural tourism piece, complete with a popular farm tour and some curious alpacas. Producer: Toby Field