Association History
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It is said that wildfowling has taken place on Montrose Basin since as early as the 13th century. The King, at this time, had his own “fowler” based less than a mile from the basin at what is now known as Fullerton Farm
The Basin itself is a result of the South Esk being constricted at its mouth by the broad sand and clay spit of the Burgh of Montrose. The restriction creates a near circular tidal area of around 800 hectares of tidal mud and sand flats.
This large area is an ideal roosting ground for the large numbers of transiting pinkfoot geese (and other wildfowl) who are en route from their breeding grounds in Iceland / Greenland to their final destination on the Wash.
During the 1950’s and 60’s, wildfowling, for want of a better phrase, had turned into something of a free for all on the basin, with recorded levels of wildfowl at an all-time low.
Not unlike similar situations elsewhere on the UK Eastern seaboard, a group of like-minded wildfowlers, with the foresight to conserve the basin as a home for wildfowl and control the overshooting, formed Montrose and District Wildfowlers Association (MDWA) in 1959. Those original gentlemen are shown in the photo below.
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Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s many informal discussions between MDWA, Angus District Council (ADC), Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) and the Nature Conservancy took place in an attempt to improve the situation. MDWA pressed for the formation of a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) to be formed with a permit system for wildfowling and a no shooting zone where the geese could peacefully roost. Due to the complexity of the land-owning arrangement on and around the basin, agreement on way forward could never be reached.
In 1976, this situation changed, when the Erskine family offered their holding of basin land to SWT for the creation of a nature reserve. With the assistance of a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) grant £5000 the land was purchased and SWT became the major land owner on the basin. In the May of 1976 SWT wrote to ADC asking that it use its powers to declare Montrose Basin a LNR. After much negotiation, the LNR was statutorily declared in the June of 1981.
MDWA took a place on the Reserve Management Committee and working with partners on that committee sought about controlling the shooting taking place on the basin.
In season 1982 based on recommendations from the committee, a set of by-laws were enacted, based on those used to good effect on the Solway to control shooting activities.
Those bylaws are still in place today and in short allow for a no shooting zone, limited access points, a permit system for people local to the area and for visitors and restricting wildfowling to 6 hours each day.
The reserve management committee and the way in which wildfowling is responsibly managed is often described as the gold standard as to how an LNR can work together to achieve excellence through common purpose and understanding the other’s needs.
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