Written evidence submitted by The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) (FLO0021)
BASC
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) is the largest shooting organisation in the UK with over 155,000 members. Our vision is to ensure a guaranteed future for sustainable shooting sports in all their diversity as a widely enjoyed and important part of the environment, economy and culture.
A core element of BASC’s work in the UK and overseas is to work closely with governments, NGOs and people that shoot to ensure that the benefits of well-managed shooting for conservation are maximised and recognised.
BASC is a key stakeholder in flood risk management. It is a member of the Eurosite Care-Peat Restoration and Management group and its staff work closely with Natural England, Yorkshire Water and United Utilities.
BASC represents a wide range of shooting activities and this evidence will focus on the impact of grouse moor management on flooding.
The role of grouse moors in flood risk management
Shooting and conservation are inextricable. Shooting activities influence over 14 million hectares of land in the UK and shooters invest 3.9 million workdays on conservation annually.
The shooting community plays a key role in flood risk management across the UK.
Grouse moors are located across the uplands and there have been suggestions in the media that grouse moor management contributes to flood risk. These assertions are misinformed and untrue. Flooding is not caused by grouse moors. Flooding is caused by extreme weather events that can occur anywhere.
The rough and absorbent surface of an effectively managed moor reduces the risk of flooding by slowing the flow of water when compared to pasture and to roads and other urban surfaces.
Grouse moor managers have been carrying out flood alleviation management projects for decades in partnership with other upland stakeholders.
Grouse moor management is a cost-effective nature-based solution to flooding and the broader climate change emergency.
BASC’s response in relation to the flooding inquiry terms of reference is as follows.
Given the challenge posed by climate change, what should be the Government’s aims and priorities in national flood risk policy, and what level of investment will be required in future in order to achieve this?
There is evidence that climate change is causing more frequent extreme weather events in the UK and this is putting increased pressure on traditional flood defences.
It makes sense for the government to invest some funds where most of the rain falls at the source of the catchments in the uplands. Slowing down the flow from the source will reduce the peak flow of any potential flood event.
Flood risk policies must not be solely focused on the uplands or grouse moors. Even when moors are stabilised, and re-vegetated Defra’s data shows that flood attenuation achieved is less than 10%, equating to a holding back of the water by 20 minutes. (Making Space for Water). The peat in the uplands will eventually reach saturation point and then runoff will be inevitable.
Flood risk policies need to be implemented at catchment level. Each catchment needs to be considered on a case by case basis with specific solutions found for its communities.
Practical solutions for blanket bog
The Moorland Association is supporting its members with the management of areas of deep peat for a range of benefits including carbon storage and capture, improved biodiversity, improved water quality, slowed water run-off, wildfire mitigation, grouse shooting and economic stock grazing. By ‘fixing the peat’ moorland management can deliver these benefits on peat soils greater than 40cm in depth, known as blanket bog.
Fixing the peat requires three management techniques. Firstly, re-wetting the moors by blocking historical drainage ditches and thereby raising the water table. Secondly, by re-vegetating bare peat. Thirdly, by re-introducing peat forming Sphagnum mosses through innovative techniques where they have been lost.
These practical solutions are achievable at much less cost than more traditional hard flood defence engineering and can complement existing flood defences whilst also delivering benefits for biodiversity.
Research and practical solutions for blanket bog management are being led by Defra’s Upland Stakeholder Forum and Uplands Management Group through a Blanket Bog Restoration Strategy.
Nature-based projects
Nature-based projects can have an impact on reducing flood risk with community support and funding.
The ‘Slowing the Flow’ project in the uplands surrounding Pickering in the North York Moors is a collaborative nature-based project involving grouse moor managers, farmers and the local community. This project uses bales to block moorland grips and leaky wooden dams along streams and ditches. The cumulative efforts of the project to date is estimated to have reduced the potential flood risk to the town of Pickering from 25% to 4% annually.
For more information on the ‘Slowing the Flow’ project visit: www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/slowing-the-flow-at-pickering/
The ‘Pontbren Project’ was set up by a group of neighbouring upland farmers in Wales. Supported by the Woodland Trust, farmers have been introducing woodland management and tree planting on their livestock farms and this has reduced water run-off from improved grassland. This nature-based project is providing important new evidence on the role of trees in flood control.
For more information on the ‘Pontbren Project’ visit:
www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/publications/2013/02/pontbren-project-sustainable-uplands-management/
Reducing the costs by involving local communities, landowners and the shooting community.
Local communities can play a key role in reducing flood risk with training and funding. Many local people have the skills and equipment to carry out work such as grip blocking, re-vegetating bare peat and regenerating Sphagnum mosses.
The short film ‘High Water Common Ground’ (funded and supported by NGOs and agencies, including BASC) focuses on several flood management projects involving communities and land managers. The film explains why and how community groups can become involved with flood risk management.
To watch the short film ‘High Water Common Ground’ visit:
www.highwaterfilm.co.uk/common-ground
Investing in research
Studies that focus on the impacts of management on blanket bogs in the uplands are currently limited and BASC fully supports research in this area to help ensure policy decisions are evidence-led.
The Peatland Study at York University (part funded by Defra) is researching the pros and cons of various forms of land management on upland blanket bog. Eleven organisations, including BASC have invested over £2 million in the research to help enable land managers to make informed decisions based on science.
For more information on the Peatland Study visit:
http://peatland-es-uk.york.ac.uk/
How can communities most effectively be involved, and supported, in the policies and decisions that affect them?
Communities that have been impacted by flood events are vulnerable to misinformation on the causes of flooding.
In the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire animal rights extremists have misinformed local press and used social media to wrongly blame grouse moors for floods.
The Calder Valley has experienced over 100 flood incidents in a 400-year period, and these floods often come in clusters during wet years when the saturated ground is vulnerable to more rainfall.
There has been a multi-agency approach to quantifying the flood risk in the Calderdale catchment and then implementing flood risk measures.
Flood reports covering the 2015 boxing day flood illustrated a complex system that will always be vulnerable to flooding due to the geography of the area and tacking these risks requires a holistic catchment approach.
Grouse moors in the Calderdale catchment are playing a positive role as part of the larger flood risk picture with ongoing grip blocking, sphagnum and tree planting. Therefore, it is important that they are seen as part of the solution and not the cause of the Calderdale floods.
For more information on flood risk management in the Calderdale catchment visit:
Education
Flood risk and flood management is a challenging topic and the sooner communities are aware of flood risks in their area the more likely they will support projects and make informed future decisions about flood risk policies.
Since 2017, BASC has been coordinating an upland education project called “Let’s Learn Moor” involving over 2,000 children and 30 organisations across Northern England. The project provides free site visits to the uplands for children to learn more about their catchments and the journey of water from a droplet of rain in the uplands to the tap at home.
The “Let’s Learn Moor” project is supported by Yorkshire Water, United Utilities, Yorkshire Peat Partnership and Moors for the Future. Government support for more educational projects would ensure key messages and involvement of communities on flooding issues can occur from an early age.
For more information on the ‘Lets Learn Moor’ project visit:
www.basc.org.uk/the-importance-of-education-lets-learn-moor/
With increasing focus on natural flood management measures, how should future agricultural and environmental policies be focused and integrated with the Government’s wider approach to flood risk?
When the government gives clear guidance and support landowners change their practices and management to suit. The UK’s moors were drained due to post-war government policy and funding. Over the last few decades the UK’s moors are being re-wetted following revised government policy and supported with public and private funding.
Nature-based flood management measures should broadly complement environmental and agricultural policies.
In the uplands well planned re-wetting of moors through nature-based flood management and shooting priorities can easily be aligned as ‘wetter is better’ for grouse moor management. This is because a healthy sphagnum moss layer holds water and the resulting diverse plant assemblage boosts the insect population. Those insects support grouse chicks.