Grazing • Access and amenity • Pollution • Coastal defence maintenance • Alternative uses

Access and amenity (cont)

Bird-watching and walking • Wildfowling • Other activities

Wildfowling

Wildfowling has a direct impact on the quarry species and an indirect impact on others through disturbance and damage to habitat. However, despite the fact that over a million birds are shot annually in Britain as a whole, there is no real evidence of long term losses to the population of those species which can be shot legally. The most vulnerable are protected by the various forms of legislation; in addition, voluntary bans come into force during prolonged spells of hard weather.

Access onto the marsh itself for wildfowling is not considered to represent a problem. However, the desire to improve the availability of habitat for some species (such as Wigeon) in some areas, has lead to the mowing of saltmarsh vegetation, as happens on the Dee, or the digging of scrapes to increase the area of pools on the marsh. Both activities are likely to have a deleterious impact on the richer higher saltmarshes.