ANDREW Tyler of Animal Aid's letter on grouse moor management (Wirral Globe, August 3) contains inaccuracies and misinformation.

Grouse moor management has been instrumental in producing a landscape that is both rich in wildlife and biodiversity.

Nesting on the ground, the eggs and chicks of red grouse are vulnerable to a range of predators, so the legal control of common predators such as foxes, stoats, weasels and carrion crows is essential, not only for red grouse, but for species of threatened ground nesting birds that share the same habitat.

When unmanaged, heather grows into a dense mass of long woody stems that support very little wildlife, has no grazing value, and is a serious wildfire risk.

Unlike a wildfire, the controlled cool burning of heather does not harm wildlife; neither does it harm the environment. And the digging of drainage ditches, or grips, has not happened since the 1970s when thousands of acres were drained, with Government grants, in line with agricultural policy of the time.

The subsequent erosion and loss of habitat that occurred has resulted in many thousands of kilometres of those grips now being blocked for the benefit of water quality, wildlife and landscape value. Many more grips are still to be blocked, not dug.

It is because of the habitat that has been produced through careful moorland management that almost half of all grouse moors are designated as EU Special Protection Areas for the rare birds that they support, and as Special Areas of Conservation due to the variety of plant species.

Nationally, 66% of grouse moors are protected as Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and 45% carry all three of the designations.

They are a true conservation success story, and something glorious to be celebrated.

Adrian Blackmore, Moorlands Director, Countryside Alliance.