New report underlines importance of shooting and conservation to Scottish economy – Scottish Business News

WITH the main political parties having fired the starter pistol on their general election campaigns, rural organisations are set to publish today (Tuesday 4 June) the latest ‘Value of Shooting’ report which will set out in detail the benefits the shooting sector brings to the economy and the conservation of the countryside in Scotland.

The key findings will play an important role in shaping the debate around shooting in the run up to the general election and beyond.

Shooting is a key component of the rural economy and goes hand-in-hand with the conservation of the countryside, as well as bringing both mental and physical health benefits to participants and providing a healthy and sustainable food source.

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

• Shooting in Scotland isworth £340m (GVA) to the UK economy every year, and the equivalent of 5,600 jobs.
• £780m of wider economic activity is generated for the UK economy.
• Shooting providers and volunteers carry out £20m worth of conservation work in Scotland per annum.
• Approximately 68,000 individuals in Scotland are actively involved in shooting-related activities.

Across the UK economy as a whole, shooting is worth £3.3bn (GVA) to the UK economy every year, and participants spend £4.4bn on their UK-based supply chain each year.

BASC’s Scotland director Peter Clark said:

“Shooting and conservation is vital to Scotland’s economy, to the tune of £340 million GVA.

“Shooting has so many spin-off advantages too, such as the work that goes into important conservation projects.

“We must also remember shooting employs people in remote and rural areas, where there is no other viable alternative employment.

“From positive mental health benefits right through to habitat management, shooting in Scotland provides benefits in abundance”.

Ross Ewing, Director of Moorland at Scottish Land & Estates, said:

“The research underlines the significant value of shooting and country sports for people, jobs and nature in rural Scotland.

“Scotland is a world-class destination for shooting and the work of estates, land managers and gamekeepers in sustaining those activities should be widely celebrated.

“Land managed for shooting is vital for addressing biodiversity loss and is also hugely important in combatting for climate change, particularly in the uplands through projects to restore peatland and create landscape-scale resilience to wildfire.

“Much of this activity – and the downstream benefits to hoteliers, retailers, garages and other businesses – would not be possible without the value that shooting brings to the economy. Our desire is to work in partnership with other stakeholders to deliver a sustained contribution long into the future.”