Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust

And, yeah, you talk to DEFRA and they think they've done a tremendous job because it all went so quickly.

And then you talk to people at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust who haven't got any funding.

I mean, just ridiculous stories of people who were at the dentist when the window opened.

Or had cattle that got out, so they had to go and deal with that.

we set out to do it we knew we had to tackle quality we had to make it local and we had to make it have an impact and we launched the first bags back in april with some writing on the back said we support field sports charities we'll give them 12 and in the background we were hassling and lobbying four of them on board so far, of the largest organisations that matter to rural life.

GWCT, the Gamekeepers Welfare Trust, the Air Ambulance and the Moorland Association.

The guys that got it first were the Moorland Association.

They understood that the tea and coffee industry was entirely transferable to any community way beyond hedges and every bag was an opportunity to educate people with a short message and to tell their story so for the moorland association we've launched glorious which is a blend that changes every six months we then had the air ambulance came on board which is where high birds comes in from our coffee We then had the GWCT come on board who are a huge organization working to improve both ground and birds and other habitats.

It's all about the betterment of the countryside for both those that use it every day or maybe enjoy it occasionally.

And then we had finally the Gamekeepers Welfare Trust that have come on board with both barrels.

[laughs]

[laughs] So with no further ado, we are delighted to be joined by the GWCT Science Advisor, Mike Swan.

Hello, Mike.

Hi, team.

Um, mine is on a family farm and, uh, owned by my father, and Avian's is a club shoot on a dairy farm in central Cornwall.

Um, they're similar in many ways, but I guess each of the, each, each of them has their own character and challenges, I think it's probably fair to say.

The GWCT, uh, who Mike works for, and has done for quite some years, have a team of advisors, um, and they provide face-to-face assessments and advisory visits, um, on any game and wildlife issues a shoot may be facing.

Actually, I learned today that it's not just game and wildlife, it's also c- uh, not today, uh, when we had the visit from Mike, that it also, uh, includes rivers and, and, um, fishing as well, which is quite interesting.

Actually learning, yeah.

And the GWCT are the type of people that are doing that, because they are going out and behind the lines.

Mm-hmm.

You know, the, the gamekeepers organizations out there are those types of people, because they're seeing it every day, they're hearing it every day, they're understanding it every day.

It was Sir David Attenborough, who is the voice of wildlife to many people.

From the point of view of, of, you know, your position at the GWCT, were you as cross as me? Would you- how, how do you feel about it?

It was almost the throwaway nature of the comment.

The problem with that sort of comment, um, is that superficially it, it also sounds that it might be right.

You know, you put it in those terms, the way he said it, uh, with the, the visuals that a- a- accompanied it, uh, you know that people will sort of be nodding along at home thinking, "Well, yes, th- that sounds right.

Uh, isn't it awful?" What we know is, is actually, as with so many of the issues that GWCT works on, uh, it's o- often very nuanced.

Um, and actually we shouldn't be afraid of talking to the public about nuance in conservation, in countryside management, in land management, because it's all nuanced.

Um, and, and the public are usually totally fine with that.