Concerns about the decline in red deer numbers on the Quantock Hills demonstrate how important it is to properly manage the countryside.

While the great outdoors might seem perfectly capable of looking after itself the truth is rather different. Even the wild places of the South West need intervention by man to keep them in balance and while arguments might rage about the best way to control species like red deer, which have no natural predators, the fact that they need controlling is surely not in doubt.

It may seem illogical to those opposed to country sports, but some of the most dedicated conservationists are the very people who hunt, shoot and fish. Their motives may be linked to the enjoyment they get from their sport but the positive impact of their work on the countryside at large is difficult to deny.

It stands to reason, therefore, that when changes are introduced to the way certain species can be controlled – like the hunt ban, for example – there might be negative consequences for the species involved and even the environment in which it dwells. Another factor to consider, perhaps, as the Government contemplates a vote on reversing the ban?