Letter: Gamekeepers' role in the not-so-glorious twelfth

Sir: I write to you as director of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), the country's largest shooting organisation with over 111,000 members, over 2,600 of whom are gamekeepers. Oliver Gillie ('A mysterious killer stalks the moors', 6 August) presents a picture of the situation in the Forest of Bowland that is far from objective. All the evidence of damage to birds and nests is circumstantial and the number of nests where problems are occurring is still relatively small. Given this, casting gamekeepers as implied villains is wholly unfair.

Indeed, given the work that the majority of gamekeepers do to preserve habitats which benefit wildlife, it is only right that they should be recognised as collectively condemning illegal raptor practices. Gamekeepers have been described by the RSPB's head of species protection, Richard Porter, as 'the guardians of the moorlands of Britain'.

BASC condemns illegal poisoning and killing of birds of prey. Our organisation is an active member of the Campaign Against Illegal Poisoning, organised by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and is committed to a code of practice which clearly states that 'all who shoot conduct themselves according to the law and to the highest standards of safety, sportsmanship and courtesy, with full respect for their quarry, and a practical interest in wildlife conservation'.

As the grouse-shooting season begins, it is the positive conservation work of Britain's gamekeepers that should be remembered.

Yours sincerely,

JOHN SWIFT

Director, The British Association

for Shooting & Conservation

Rossett, Clwyd

10 August