Cross Party Group on Shooting and Conservation

Tuesday 23rd July 2024 at 2pm

BASC Stand, Royal Welsh Show 2024

 

1.    Welcome and apologies.

 

The Chairman Samuel Kurtz MS welcomed members and stakeholders to the meeting and thanked all for attending with a special thanks to BASC for hosting the meeting and being the secretaries.

 

Present: Samual Kurtz MS, Joel James MS, Steve Griffiths (BASC), David Boden (BASC), Rachel Evans (CA), Charles DeWinton (CLA), Matthew Goodall (GWCT), Ian Hill-Trevor (CLA), Clare Sadler (BASC), Caroline Bedell (BASC), Mike Bryan, Lee Gonzalez, Amanda Harris-Lea (all MS support staff) Ian Danby (BASC).

 

Apologies:Alun Davies MS, James Evans MS, Llyr Gruffydd MS, Dominic Boulton (GFA), Louisa Clutterbuck (Eat Wild), Spike Butcher (A2S).

 

 

2.     Natural Capital Report – BASC, Ian Danby - Head of Biodiversity.

 

A presentation from BASC Ian Danby on the Natural Capital Report. Natural capital is the sum of the financial and social benefits we derive from our natural environment. 

Understanding that UK shooting is diverse and provides recreation for many people across the country, BASC wanted to determine the other benefits that come from its influence on the environment, and how policymakers, landowners and farmers can use those benefits in the land-management choices they make.

BASC published its inaugural natural capital report in March 2024 to determine the wider impact of shooting. 

 

It provides UK and home country values under four overarching groups of benefits:

 

·         Carbon capture

·         Public health savings

·         Recreation

·         Food and forestry.

The 2024 Natural Capital report in Wales, published that shooting and its associated habitat creation and management provided £26.8 million to carbon sequestration, £1.2 million in public health benefits, £15.1 million in recreational value for those involved in shooting and the wider public and £4.2 million in food, farming and forestry value for the

country.

 

 A copy of the report was circulated.

 

 

3.    Value of Shooting Report 2024 – Delivered by all the organisations present.

 

The Value of Shooting report 2024 sets out the economic, environmental and social benefits of shooting in the UK.

The new Value of Shooting report was commissioned by 24 rural organisations and carried out by Cognisance, a market research and data analytics firm. The report details the following headline figures:

·         Shooting is worth £3.3 billion (GVA) to the UK economy every year.

·         The new report has taken a more comprehensive and detailed approach than previous reports, attaching a value to contribution in kind (CiK) and supply chain value, which shows that £9.3 billion of wider economic activity is generated for the UK economy.

·         620,000 individuals are actively involved in shooting-related activities.

·         Shooting providers and volunteers carry out £500 million worth of conservation work, equivalent to 26,000 full-time jobs and 14 million workdays each year.

·         Habitat management and conservation are carried out on 7.6 million hectares as a result of shooting.

·         Three out of four people who take part in shooting said that it is important to them and their personal wellbeing, with most claiming shooting specifically contributes positively to their physical and mental health.

·         Shooters spend £4.4 billion on their UK-based supply chain each year.

A copy of the report was circulated.

 

The chairman Samual Kurtz MS will write to the Cabinet secretary for Rural Affairs and Climate change and the Cabinet Secretary for Economy to make them aware of both reports after the new First Minister and cabinet has been confirmed in position. The letter will also invite them to our next CPG meeting and for them to attend a conservation walk to discuss the report in more depth with several organisations.

 

 

4.    AOB.

 

Nothing to report.

 

 

5.    Date of next meeting

 

To be confirmed.