Harvesting Nature: Sustainable Hunting

We recently had the pleasure of hosting Mark from Fire & Wild and Julian from Pursuit International Magazine here at Three Pools. Their mission here was to harvest the ingredients for Fire & Wild's upcoming back-to-nature outdoor dinning experience. Fire & Wild specialise in bringing people into the environment where their food is foraged, hunted and produced - providing the authentic experience that we as a society have become very much detached from.

Sustainable hunting is important to us here at Three Pools for many reasons;

Vermin control

It is fundamental to control the number of 'vermin' on the farm. These are animal species that are currently out of balance in our natural environment, for example rabbits and grey squirrels - both of which have been introduced to Britain and are non-native. The Romans bought over the rabbits for their meat and fur and grey squirrels were bought over as a fashion accessory for country estates in the 19th century.

We now have a lack of natural predators in our current ecosystem, meaning we have to control these animals through sustainable and humane hunting methods. We are not looking to wipe out the entire population of rabbits, squirrels, pigeons or pheasants, but rather to keep the landscape balanced.

Edible landscape

Creating a truly edible landscape is one of our key goals at Three Pools. This means facilitating a habitat that wildlife is attracted to and can breed and flourish in. We are essentially setting the stage for them to live in, and part of this is harvesting in a sustainable way. This concept applies to meat, fruits, vegetables, herbs and mushrooms.

Sustainable meat

If we look at hunting from a sustainability point of view and carbon perspective, the carbon inputs for a wild game are tiny compared to that of any human-raised animal. They do not require us to feed or hydrate them, making them a great meat choice for people who want to still enjoy eating meat but want to lower their personal carbon footprint.

I hope this post has helped some of you understand better the reasons and beliefs we have for sustainable hunting and harvesting nature.

www.fireandwild.co.uk - In the modern world our connection with nature is all too often lost.

www.pursuit-international.com - Honouring The Land - The Animal - The Natural Habitat