England cricket legend Ian Botham highlights the importance of shooting to environment and economy

England cricket legend Ian Botham highlights the importance of shooting to the environment and economy and says ‘haters’ who have tried to ban the sport have ‘lost the battle’

  • The nine organisations , will advocate ‘crucially important’ role of gamekeepers
  • The partnership will promote ‘the many wide-ranging conservation benefits’
  • Lord Botham said it proves ‘haters’ who tried to ban sport have ‘lost the battle’

Rural groups backed by former cricketer Lord Botham have joined forces to highlight the importance of shooting to the environment and economy.

The nine organisations, including the Countryside Alliance, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation and the British Game Alliance, will advocate for the ‘crucially important’ role gamekeepers play in land management.

The partnership, called Aim to Sustain, will protect and promote ‘the many wide-ranging conservation, biodiversity and community benefits that make the countryside the place we love’.

Rural groups backed by former cricketer Lord Botham (pictured on a shoot in 2017) have joined forces to highlight the importance of shooting to the environment and economy

Lord Botham a passionate shooter, said it proves the ‘haters’ who have tried to ban the sport have ‘lost the battle’.

He told The Daily Telegraph: ‘The haters of shooting have made a strategic mistake in thinking they could make the sector into fox-hunting Mark II.

‘With fox-hunting, the Marie Antoinette view of the countryside won the day – the public preferring to pretend that foxes don’t slaughter countless birds day and night.

‘Game shooting is different. It pulls together broad communities to bring in the harvest from the skies.

‘For some, shooting is just a hobby. However, for thousands it is their livelihood – as gamekeepers, hoteliers and taxi drivers.’

Lord Botham (pictured at the cricket last week) a passionate shooter, said it proves the 'haters' who have tried to ban the sport have 'lost the battle'

Lord Botham (pictured at the cricket last week) a passionate shooter, said it proves the ‘haters’ who have tried to ban the sport have ‘lost the battle’

Aim to Sustain is the first collective body for the game industry, which is estimated to be worth £2billion a year to the rural economy.

Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, added: ‘By moving closer together into a formal partnership we can achieve even more and secure greater recognition of the great benefits that come from game management and shooting. This is a critical step for game shooting at a critical time.’

Aim to Sustain said it is ‘dedicated to protecting, preserving and promoting’ the ‘conservation, biodiversity and community benefits that make the countryside the place we love’.

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