Countryside Skills Update for Gamekeepers
Agricultural reform will give gamekeepers a huge opportunity to direct policy on their estate for the benefit of wild game and other wildlife. As a reflection of these major changes taking place in the countryside, The Game Conservancy Trust is devoting part of its next Gamekeepers Refresher course, being held in Fordingbridge on 8 -9 March, to the ever-changing world of conservation grants and the latest Entry Level Stewardship Scheme.
The Trust developed this popular two-day course more than 25 years ago, and interestingly, demand for places is as keen as ever. Dr Mike Swan, one of the course tutors said, “This course is always popular as gamekeepers work in relative isolation, and so an opportunity to refresh countryside management skills, as well as an opportunity to network with other colleagues ensures that this course is always well subscribed.”
Mike continued, “With details of the Government’s Entry Level Stewardship Scheme emerging soon, it is imperative that gamekeepers keep abreast of these new schemes so that they can implement them on their own estates, and part of the refresher course will focus heavily on the practical aspects of these new wildlife friendly grants.”
The Gamekeepers Refresher course is practically based and offers wide-ranging advice on many of the topics related to gamekeeping such as the best wildlife crops to grow, legal predator control, woodland planting and health and welfare gamebird issues.
Research carried out by the Trust shows that land managed sympathetically for game is hugely beneficial for other species. The keepers attending the course find it invaluable to up-date their skills on the Trust’s latest research findings so that they can apply this scientifically-based knowledge on their own estates for the benefit of wild game, other wildlife and the environment.
The Gamekeepers Refresher course is being held on 8 – 9 March 2005 at The Game Conservancy Trust’s headquarters in Fordingbridge, Hampshire. For further details or to book a place, please contact Lynda Ferguson on 01425 651013. email: lferguson@gct.org.uk or visit www.gct.org.uk
