Here we go again. The opening of the grouse shooting season is upon us. It used to be called the "Glorious Twelfth". More often than not, the name is now preceded by the word ‘controversial’.

Why the controversy? For decades the shooting of wild grouse for entertainment flew under the radar. But now, there's much better public understanding about what's going on in our uplands.

No matter what your views are about killing an animal for fun, recent research has revealed the circle of destruction that surrounds grouse shooting in Scotland.

This circle of destruction isn't just a catchy phrase, it's a systematic assault on natural ecosystems where each destructive practice enables the next, creating an interconnected web of environmental damage that stretches across the grouse moors that, in total, comprise around 12% of Scotland's land.

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On this land, hundreds of thousands of grouse are shot in a ‘good year’. A good year means there’s a high density of grouse on the moor, allowing substantial numbers of birds to be shot while still ensuring a sustainable breeding stock. To achieve a ‘good year’ then, that population of grouse needs to be ‘managed’ by the shooting estates to be unnaturally high.

Population sizes are naturally increased by access to food and shelter and are decreased by exposure to disease and predators, what is commonly understood to be ‘the balance of nature’. The balance of nature ensures a sustainable ecosystem that looks after itself. But a balanced ecosystem obviously doesn’t produce an........

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