Gamekeepers Support Shoot Assurance Scheme
NGO welcomes standards for game shooting
The National Gamekeepers Organisation (NGO) has given a wholehearted welcome to the Game Shoot Assurance Standards being launched at this year's CLA Game Fair.
Ken Butler, the NGO Chairman, said:
"This assurance scheme provides the game shooting community with a unique chance to prove that it is well-run, safe and environmentally sustainable. I hope that every shoot in the country will give serious consideration to signing on."
The NGO has played a key role in formulating the Game Shoot Standards, bringing a practical dimension to discussions with all the other shooting and countryside bodies that have combined over the past two years to bring the new assurance standards together.
"Gamekeepers know what is necessary to put on quality shooting in harmony with the environment. Sometimes in the past some of us may have been asked to do more than we know to be correct. This scheme at last provides gamekeepers and their employers with a recognized, independently assessed standard within which all should be able to work," said Ken Butler.
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Further NGO comment for the media is available from the NGO stand at the CLA Game Fair (E745) or by calling 01725 552928.
Game Shoot Standards Assurance is being overseen by a partnership of organisations that support the Code of Good Shooting Practice: The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC); the Country Land and Business Association (CLA); the Countryside Alliance; the Scottish Rural Property & Business Association (SRPBA); the Game Farmers' Association (GFA); the National Gamekeepers' Organisation (NGO ) and the Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA); it is supported by the National Game Dealers Association and sporting agents represented by Strutt & Parker and has been developed with advice from the Game Conservancy Trust (GCT).
The first year of the scheme will be a pilot, but wide take up is nonetheless expected.
Game Shoot Assurance will be monitored and certified by CMi plc, an independent, third party organisation experienced in assurance schemes for the food industry and in agriculture. Shoots wishing to participate can contact CMi direct on 01933 885 610, e-mail: gameshootstandards@cmicertification.com or pick up a leaflet at the CLA Game Fair.