Land transformed


of deer needs to strike the right balance


says Maggie Keegan, the Trust’s Head of Policy. “We know from native woodland


surveys that, in many places, this has led to a serious decline in woodland due to a lack of natural regeneration. Deer management needs to strike a balance between the private interests of sporting estates and the public interest – namely biodiversity, woodland regeneration, climate change and minimising erosion. “ Doug McAdam of SLE, who sits


on the Board of the Association of Deer Management Groups (ADMG),


argues: “In Scotland we have a system of voluntary deer management that has developed over the decades and provides a firm basis for managing Scotland’s red deer population at very little cost to the public purse. While not perfect, it is continually improving and has made big strides in recent years, not least in being the driving force to also develop coherent deer management in the lowlands. There is already a planned Review of Deer Management by SNH in 2016 and to legislate in advance of that Review is to prejudge its outcome and is just not right.”


The statutory powers in the new Bill


are pending the outcome of a Rural Affairs Committee review reporting in 2016, so might only be introduced in 2017. Keegan fears that this is too late if Scotland is to try and meet its biodiversity targets for 2020. “We feel there is no reason to delay bringing in these statutory powers – the clock is ticking on the 2020 target and some of our internationally important sites are failing because of grazing by deer.” Nevertheless, the provision in the Bill is “a small step on the journey to better deer management”.


NOVEMBER 2015 SCOTTISH WILDLIFE 17


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