We are thrilled to publish our Listen to the Land line up for the Scottish Game Fair. The talks will be held in the GWCT Advisory marquee, within the Central Exhibit this year. Please check back here in due course for the timings of each talk.

  • Josh Burton – Head keeper sharing his passion for the Grey Partridge
  • Best practise game bird management research and practical advice
  • Landscape scale initiatives protecting the quality of our water bodies
  • Achieving a fair co-existence for Wildcats and all parties

1. Josh Burton

Head Keeper at Abercairney will be joining GWCT’s Farmland Biodiversity Advisor Fiona Torrance to talk about his passion, a Grey Partridge Reintroduction project. A true advocate of working conservation looking at his patch of moorland edge where biodiversity thrives. They will discuss the necessary balance of the “three-legged stool”. Josh can demonstrate that with hard work, sympathetic land management and sound practises great results are possible.

2. Sustainable Game Bird Management

Join speakers from GWCT, RSPB, Nature Scot, BASC and managed estates and hear them discuss Sustainable Game Bird Management and the latest research into the scale of releasing gamebirds and the ecological impact. They will look at practical advice on sustainable releasing in Scotland to ensure management remains practical and ecologically sustainable

Speakers: (tbc) Highland Estate Manager, Ross Orr-Ewing from RSPB, Peter Clark from BASC, and members of the GWCT advisory team

3. Clusters and Catchments Discussion

With ever increasing scrutiny and interest around both sustainable farming approaches and the water quality in our lochs and streams, our Clusters and Catchments discussion will focus on how we can address these challenges through landscape-scale initiatives. Our panel will look at practical examples of land and water management collaboration – and the benefits for key species such as Salmon.

Speakers: (tbc) Deveron, Isla & Bogie Rivers Trust, Atlantic Salmon Trust, Ross Macleod – GWCT

4. A Fair Co-existence For Wildcats

The ambitious initiative to bring the wildcat back from the brink of extinction in Highland Scotland challenges us to balance their recovery as an indication of high-quality biodiversity and ecosystems with human-carnivore conflicts that can impact on farming and gamebird rearing. This discussion will explore how a novel collaborative project aims to achieve fair co-existence for all interests, providing important practical mitigation solutions and ‘safety-valve’ proposals.

Speakers: (tbc) Dr. Helen Senn, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and Saving Wildcats, Louise Hughes – Saving Wildcats, Ross Macleod – GWCT, Alistair Green – GWCT

Thanks to the GWCT Central Exhibit and Area Sponsors 2026