Conservation Evidence Journal

Publishing evidence to improve practice

Introduction

The Conservation Evidence Journal shares the global experience of those on the front line of conservation practice about the effectiveness of conservation actions. All papers include monitoring of the effects of the intervention and are written by, or in partnership with, those who did the conservation work. We encourage articles from anywhere around the world on all aspects of species and habitat management such as habitat creation, habitat restoration, translocations, reintroductions, invasive species control, changing attitudes and education. 

The Conservation Evidence Journal publishes peer-reviewed papers throughout the year collected in an annual Volume. We publish Special Issues and collate Collections on specific topics, such as management of particular groups of species or habitats. To search for papers on a specific topic within the journal select Advanced search, enter your keyword(s) and within the Source box type: "conservation evidence". This will take you to a list of actions that contain Conservation Evidence Journal papers. In order to see the list of individual Conservation Evidence Journal papers on the topic, please click on 'You can also search Individual Studies' at the top of this page.

 Copyright is retained by the author(s). All papers published in the Conservation Evidence Journal are open access and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

The Conservation Evidence Journal is a separate publication within the Conservation Evidence project. Conservation Evidence is a free, authoritative information resource designed to support decisions about how to maintain and restore global biodiversity. You can search for summarised evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of actions for species groups and habitats using our online database

Submit to Conservation Evidence Journal

Volume 18

Effect of a joint policy statement by nine UK shooting and rural organisations on the use of lead shotgun ammunition for hunting common pheasants Phasianus colchicus in Britain

Green R.E., Taggart M.A., Pain D.J., Clark N.A., Clewley L., Cromie R., Elliot B., Green R.M.W., Huntley B., Huntley J., Leslie R., Porter R., Robinson J.A., Smith K.W., Smith L., Spencer J. & Stroud D. (2021), 18, 1-9

Preview

There are significant negative effects of exposure to spent lead ammunition on wildlife and human health. A joint statement was issued by nine UK shooting and rural organisations on 24th February 2020 intended to encourage a voluntary transition to non-lead shotgun ammunition within five years “in consideration of wildlife, the environment and to ensure a market for the healthiest game products”. We dissected carcasses of wild-shot common pheasants Phasianus colchicus sold or offered for human consumption in Britain in the shooting season between 1st October 2020 and 1st February 2021 to recover shotgun pellets. The principal metallic element composing one pellet from each bird was identified using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The results showed that 99% of the 180 pheasants from which shotgun pellets were recovered had been killed using lead shotgun ammunition, compared with 100% in a much smaller study conducted in the 2008/2009 shooting season. We conclude that the shooting and rural organisations’ joint statement, and their subsequent promotional actions, have not yet had a detectable effect on the ammunition types used by shooters supplying pheasants to the British game market.

What Works in Conservation

What Works in Conservation provides expert assessments of the effectiveness of actions, based on summarised evidence, in synopses. Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, terrestrial mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.

More about What Works in Conservation

Download free PDF or purchase

Discover more on our blog

Our blog contains the latest news and updates from the Conservation Evidence team, the Conservation Evidence Journal, and our global partners in evidence-based conservation.


Who uses Conservation Evidence?

Meet some of the evidence champions
{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_4_0": ["To search for papers on a specific topic within the journal select <a href=\"https://www.conservationevidence.com/data/advanced\">Advanced search</a>,\u00a0enter your keyword(s) and within the Source box type: \"conservation evidence\". This will take you to a list of actions that contain Conservation Evidence Journal papers. In order to see the list of individual Conservation Evidence Journal papers on the topic, please click on 'You can also search Individual Studies' at the top of this page.</p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\"><img src=\"https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/80x15.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" /></a>\u00a0Copyright is retained by the author(s). All papers published in the Conservation Evidence Journal are open access and licensed under a <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a></p>\r\n<p>The Conservation Evidence Journal is a separate publication within the <a href=\"https://www.conservationevidence.c", "ation Evidence Journal papers. In order to see the list of individual Conservation Evidence Journal papers on the topic, please click on 'You can also search Individual Studies' at the top of this page.</p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\"><img src=\"https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/80x15.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" /></a>\u00a0Copyright is retained by the author(s). All papers published in the Conservation Evidence Journal are open access and licensed under a <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a></p>\r\n<p>The Conservation Evidence Journal is a separate publication within the <a href=\"https://www.conservationevidence.com\">Conservation Evidence</a>\u00a0project. Conservation Evidence is a free, authoritative information resource designed to support decisions about how to maintain and restore global biodiversity. You can search for summarised evidence from the scientific literature about the effects of actions for species groups and habi"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": [". Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, terrestrial mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.\n\nMore about\u00a0What Works in Conservation\n\nDownload free PDF or purchase\n\nDiscover more on our blog\n\nOur blog contains the latest news and updates from the Conservation Evidence team, the Conservation Evidence Journal, and our global partners in evidence-based conservation.\n\n\nWho uses Conservation Evidence?\n\nMeet some of the evidence champions"]}