The emergence of snowdrops denotes the closing curtain on the sporting shoot season. I hope that those who have a day or two in hand find the finale to be just that.

Thereafter we enter a period of navel gazing, not just the tasks postponed and faithfully promised to be completed as a matter of priority ‘at the end of the season’ but, perhaps I should whisper, also a period of thought and planning for next season.

Tim Main

Most landowners are able to take a significantly longer-term view than one season – and while a 10 to 20-year plan can begin with a 12-month trial, the real rewards are well down the line.

You only have to check out the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust research projects to know that time is an essential ingredient.

What is encouraging in the current economy is that game crops can be used to huge advantage – and if the system is deemed to work well then it can be progressed to something more permanent, whether that is a short- rotation crop such as miscanthus, or a new plantation of woodland.

My colleague Stephen Habershon, whose specialism is forestry, frequently advocates ‘managing what we have’. So many woodlands and coppices have been neglected, but now the relentless drive to maximise greener energy and minimise carbon footprint ticks boxes for getting stuck in and sorting out unruly woodlands, not to mention the grants.

The fact that in the process and through careful design, the pheasant and small bird habitat is significantly improved, is a happy coincidence your accountant need never know.

It has also been demonstrated that managing woodlands to produce wood fuel could revive declining species of flowers. It has recently been claimed that one in six woodland flower species risks extinction because of under-managed woods, rising deer populations and too many nutrients in the environment.

This summer the Shropshire branch has a programme of farm walks and visits which are now being finalised. It is at these meetings that much of the above discussion will be demonstrated with the virtues, pitfalls and caveats all duly debated.

For more information, go to www.gwct.org.uk/support_us/join_the_trust/

Tim Main is chairman of Shropshire branch of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust