Pheasant shooting is set to be banned on public land in Wales following sustained campaigning by animal welfare organisations who consider the practice to be cruel.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said it would not be renewing leases to shoot the gamebirds from March 2019 and that it would also not support the breeding of pheasants on government-owned estates.

The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS), which had campaigned for the ban along with other wildlife protection organisations, welcomed the move and cited the support of 74% of the public who oppose shooting birds for sport.

“This is as much a victory for [the public] as it is for the wildlife which has now been spared the gun,” said Bethan Collins, senior public affairs officer for Wales at LACS.

It follows the collection of more than 12,700 signatures in a petition calling on NRW to ban shooting on the public land it manages.

Campaigners claim that pheasants, many of which are factory-farmed and released into woodland for shooting events, often survive being shot and are only killed by having their necks broken or being hit over the head.

Managing woodland for pheasant shooting also affects local biodiversity since native predators such as foxes are killed to preserve pheasants for sport, according to the LACS.

NRW acting chair Madeleine Havard said: “We want to make the most of the land we manage for the people, economy and environment in Wales. As a land manager, this means considering how best to make sure that we tackle the ongoing decline in our wildlife, while conserving rare animals and habitats.”

Havard added that the Welsh government, which owns the land, had “given a clear steer” on the course of action it wanted NRW to take. The environment minister wrote to the NRW in July to say the Welsh government was against the practice.

The Countryside Alliance, which campaigns in favour of various forms of hunting and shooting, said the decision would lead to job losses and criticised campaigners for having “consistently called for science and evidence to be sidelined in favour of opinion polling”.

“The actions by NRW board today will inevitably mean the loss of jobs in some of the most rural part of Wales who are dependent on shooting,” said Countryside Alliance Wales director Rachel Evans.

Applications for firearms licences for other sports such as clay pigeon shooting will now be considered on a “case-by-case basis”, the Welsh government body also announced following the review.