‘PACK IT in Packham you are destroying our jobs’ was one of many messages delivered to BBC presenter Chris Packham during a protest in Harrogate on Saturday, October 19.

The presenter has come under criticism for his outspoken comments against driven grouse shooting, which many of the protesters feel is threatening their livelihoods and whole communities by what they have claimed to be misleading statements.

Over 100 demonstrators from Yorkshire Moorland Communities who depend on Moorland activities for their livelihoods gathered outside the Royal Hall where Mr Packham was due to give a talk that evening, to voice their frustrations.

They held placards reading ‘Chris Packham – ignoring science since 04.05.1961’ and another large banner declared ‘Moorlands are our lives, our livelihood and our community. We stand in unity to protect them.’

Estate manager Roy Burrows of a nearby Moorland said: “Chris Packham and his followers are wilfully misrepresenting facts and distorting clear scientific evidence. These are large communities who live and work in these uplands, and rely on the moorland for their livelihoods. The simple fact is that stopping grouse shooting, or rewilding the moor, could destroy many local businesses, local livelihoods and the very social fabric that makes the moorlands such a wonderful place to live in and to visit.”

Packham makes no secret of his dislike for grouse shooting, frequently posting about it on social media, and at last month’s Green Party conference he spoke about his campaign to ban driven grouse shooting. However, many argue that the BBC should not allow him to use his platform to promote his personal agenda when there is extensive scientific evidence available to show the environmental and conservational benefits brought from well managed moorlands.

The protestors sang chants including: ‘From bus drivers to gamekeepers, together we thrive, we need to protect, moorland community lives.’

A spokesperson for The Campaign for the Protection of Moorland Communities, said: “The moorland management system which grouse shooting sustains creates a unique landscape that encourages rare and endangered wildlife, as well as being the foundation of the moorland area’s rural economy. This is reinforced by clear scientific evidence, which is too often wilfully ignored by our opponents. The facts are very clear: without grouse shooting these areas would lose millions of pounds in investment each year causing lives and livelihoods would be destroyed, alongside one of Britain’s most unique habitats. It is disgraceful that a rich celebrity from Hampshire thinks it is okay to dictate to the hard-working people of Yorkshire how we should live our lives. Moorland and other rural communities seem to be the only cultural minority Chris Packham and others think it is okay to abuse. Enough is enough.”