NEW RESEARCH has suggested that game shooting brings £200million a year to the Scottish economy and provides the equivalent of 8800 full-time jobs.

The 'Value of Shooting' report - commissioned by 16 shooting and countryside organisations - also asserts that sporting cash and management input boosts conservation.

The report, carried out by Cambridge-based Public and Corporate Economic Consultants, claims that the money attracted by UK shooting each year equals almost 10% of the total amount spent annually on outdoor recreation, which has been measured at £27billion by the Sport and Recreation Alliance.

At least 600,000 people shoot in the UK - 120,000 in Scotland - and between them they spend £2.5bn each year on goods and services, bringing income into rural areas, particularly in the low-season for tourism, and supporting the equivalent of 74,000 full-time jobs. The research concludes that an established shoot generates local economic benefits for businesses in a radius of up to fifteen miles.

Following the report, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation called for shooting's contribution to be better recognised by policy makers and politicians. In particular, the BASC said the industry should be enhanced with supportive government polices, forging greater links to business, tourism, environmental and sporting programmes, rather than being held back and marginalised by 'poor regulation and unnecessary red tape'.

BASC Scotland director Dr Colin Shedden said: "These figures show that shooting is good for the economy, good for jobs and good for the countryside - and we're good at it, as Olympic gold medals show.

"The contribution of shooting to the UK is clear. This should be recognised and greater effort should be made to ensure the good which shooting does is supported and encouraged with support from existing programmes and policies designed to promote business development, tourism, conservation and competitive sport.

"Effort should also be made to ensure shooting and all it encompasses are enhanced by better regulation and not restricted by unnecessary red-tape."

Scottish Countryside Alliance director Jamie Stewart added: "The message of this research is clear - shooting is a crucial part of our rural economy and plays an essential part in managing and conserving the countryside for the millions of people who enjoy it each year."

Mr Stewart noted that almost two million hectares of UK rural land is actively managed for conservation as a result of shooting, including the management of heather moorland, and the planting of trees and hedgerows.

Some 16,000 full time jobs are involved in this conservation work, and the cost of that management in the year to the end of the 2013 season was estimated to have been almost £250 million.

This was a significant amount, said Mr Stewart, especially when compared with the £29.6 million that the RSPB spent on conservation on all its nature reserves.