NGO Responds to NRW Firearms Consultation

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The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation has responded in writing to a Natural Resources Wales consultation that set out a series of draft proposals for the future use of firearms on NRW managed land.

Firearms are employed for three broad purposes on NRW land:

1. NRW uses firearms to manage wild species that impact on its objectives.

2. Others use firearms to manage wild species that impact on the land management objectives of NRW’s neighbours.

• 3. NRW leases land for gameshooting and other pursuits using firearms.
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The consultation follows a review run by NRW that considered if firearms are used for the right reasons, in the right circumstances and in the most sustainable way possible. The NRW review – which the NGO also responded to – included a look at how others use NRW-managed land, including some pheasant shoots.

NRW has said: “The review was created due to implications from the new Environment (Wales) Act and following concerns raised by stakeholders”. 

The Board of NRW will now agree its approach to the use of firearms on its land in the future after considering the responses to the consultation, which closed on 25 April. The NRW draft proposals can be read here

A spokesman for the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation said: “The NGO has reminded Natural Resources Wales that the legal and responsible use of firearms delivers economic, environmental, social and cultural benefits to Wales as a whole. The same public goods will apply where firearms are used on NRW managed land.

“There is a watertight case for the continued use of firearms on NRW land, and the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation trusts that this overwhelming weight of evidence in favour of firearms’ use for wildlife management and sporting purposes will be reflected in the approach adopted by the Board of NRW.”

To read the NGO’s submission, please click NRWShootingReviewResponse.pdf

Notes to Editors

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation represents the gamekeepers of England and Wales, defending and promoting gamekeeping, gamekeepers and ensuring high standards throughout the profession. The NGO was founded in 1997 by a group of gamekeepers who felt that their profession was threatened by public misunderstanding and poor representation. Today, there are around 13,000 members of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation.

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