29
May 2003
Biodiversity: The hunt is on
The argument that the field sports of hunting, shooting and fishing are good for the countryside and good for biodiversity has often been heard in the past few years as the UK parliament has flirted with bills to abolish hunting with hounds on the grounds of cruelty. A survey of three fox hunting areas in the shires of central England now provides some support for the idea that field sports bring biodiversity benefits. Landowners who take part in hunting or game-bird shooting tend to maintain more woodland and hedgerows than those who do not, despite the availability of subsidies to pay for environmental management. Those opposed to hunting can also take a cue from these results, and argue that when hunting is banned, subsidies for habitat conservation might need to be increased to pay for the land management needed to maintain biodiversity.
Field sports and conservation in the United Kingdom
T. E. E. OLDFIELD, R. J. SMITH, S. R. HARROP & N. LEADER-WILLIAMS
Nature 423, 531–533 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01678
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