To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make a comparative assessment of the wider economic benefits on alternative uses of moorland where grouse shooting (a) does and (b) does not take place.
Answered on
15 February 2023
Moorland soils and habitats provide a range of public goods. These include carbon storage, water storage, biodiversity, and heritage.
We introduced the introductory level of the Sustainable Farming Incentive moorland standard in 2022. This focuses on assessing moorland to identify which of these benefits the moorland already provides, and opportunities to maintain or enhance these benefits. ELM is currently developing additional options for moorland that build on the moorland assessment that we launched last year as part of SFI22.