Hunting shown to help conserve natural habitats
Date: 30-May-03
Country: UK
An independent study by researchers at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent has shown that landowners involved in hunting and shooting conserved about 7.2 percent of their farm area as woodland cover, compared to only 0.6 percent among other landowners.
"The study suggests that landowners may conserve important habitats if they are involved in hunting and shooting," said Thomasina Oldfield, who worked on the research which is reported in the science journal Nature.
"Therefore, our study implies that the role of landowners in voluntary habitat conservation should also be considered in current debates on field sports," she added in a statement.
The future of fox hunting with hounds is threatened by government plans to curtail the sport in England and Wales.
The House of Commons has passed a bill that would place strict restrictions on fox hunting and a ban on hare coursing, in which dogs pursue a hare across open ground. The bill must still be passed by parliament's upper chamber, the House of Lords.
"Much of the debate over country sports centres around animal welfare concerns," said Professor Stuart Harrop, of DICE and a co-author of the report. "While the legislation proposed in the Hunting Bill seeks to balance cruelty against utility of control, our results suggest another valid test of utility could focus on the role of landowners in voluntary habitat conservation."
The researchers, who focused on three sites in central England, said landowners involved in field sports were also more likely to plant new woodland.
