Is conservation at odds with modern agriculture and land management?
This is the proposition that will be argued in the headline debate on the first day of this year’s CLA Game Fair at Harewood House in Yorkshire, on Friday 31 July.
Last year more than 140,000 people attended the CLA Game Fair to celebrate the countryside, rural businesses and country sports. This year’s event will again provide a platform for leading voices to spar on some of the countryside’s most controversial and pressing issues.
‘Landowners and Wildlife: Friends or Foes?’, chaired by CLA Vice President Tim Breitmeyer, the debate will take place between:
- Owen Paterson MP – Member of Parliament for North Shropshire and former Defra Secretary of State;
- Mark Avery – leading naturalist, writer and former RSPB Conservation Director;
- Philip Merricks – farmer and owner of Natural England approved Elmley National Nature Reserve
- Ian Coghill – Chairman of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
Each speaker will set out their views on the issue before the discussion is opened up to the floor.
CLA Vice President Tim Breitmeyer said: “This event comes at a time of heated debate over the proposed rewilding of a number of species and when public interest in conservation of wildlife is high. Protecting and conserving the countryside for all who live and work there is a high priority for many landowners and farmers but they come under constant fire from various conservationist groups, and at times from Government. This debate provides the opportunity for leading opinion formers to set out their stalls and respond to each other’s points of view.
“The headline debate in the CLA Game Fair Theatre is known for being lively, entertaining and informative, and I am certain that this discussion will prove no exception.”
