Farming Talk: Conservation move by duke is inspirational

The wild partridge manor can succeed again – that is the inspirational message from Peppering in Sussex.

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust drew to the attention of the Duke of Norfolk that with only three pairs of wild grey partridge left on the 2,500 acre estate, by 2005 there would be none.

The estate had been monitored by the GWCT since the late 1960s; by 1994 the UK had drawn up a 'red list' of endangered farm birds which also included skylark, corn bunting and linnet.

But the list and government did nothing to abate the decline. Then the duke translocated nine wild pairs of partridge and played his trump card, focusing on wildlife management on 2,600 acres known as the 'peppering partridge area'.

By 2007 areas of the estate enlisted on the Entry Level Stewardship. Three years later the estate enlisted in Higher Level Stewardship, which with 18 options is aimed at restoring biodiversity in general and in this instance, wild grey partridges in particular. Management is essentially a three legged approach, underpinned by HLS: food for summer chicks and winter adults; habitat for nesting and winter cover and legal predator control.

To achieve this there has been a reversion to 'patchwork quilt' farming. Conservation headlands are the key to providing the broadleaf weeds which harbour the insects on which partridge chicks depend. Fencing near a busy footpath solves any problems with walkers or dogs.

The results are phenomenal. An arable flora flourishes resulting in many species of insect and most notably those which are vital to farmland birds. Remember 'the red list'. Today some 104 species of bird are seen annually on the estate including 23 of the UK's 52 red-listed species.

Skylarks are up to 400 pairs, corn buntings up to 61 pairs and lapwings to 35 pairs. The latest grey partridge spring count was 367 breeding pairs, with the autumn stubble counting 2,150 birds.

In Shropshire the reared bird shoot will remain the mainstay of game shooting for many years. Recently 100 members of the GWCT Shropshire branch enjoyed a visit to the Willey Estate at Broseley. Here senior GWCT adviser, Ian Lindsay, was 'hatching a new plot', urging us to lessen our dependency on the release/holding pen while raising the stakes on management – food, habitat and predator control.

The Duke of Norfolk's is an inspirational example highlighting the links between successful conservation and a sporting shoot.

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