{"id":20488,"date":"2020-01-29T14:55:29","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T14:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/?p=20488"},"modified":"2020-01-29T14:55:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T14:55:30","slug":"environmental-groups-welcome-new-deer-working-group-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/environmental-groups-welcome-new-deer-working-group-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental groups welcome new Deer Working Group report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scottish Environment LINK \u2013 a coalition of organisations involved in land and deer management, forestry, wildlife conservation, cultural heritage community, land partnerships, nature education and outdoor recreation \u2013 has welcomed the findings in the report published today by the independent Deer Working Group (DWG).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"508\" src=\"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/DSCF7176-800x508.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/DSCF7176-800x508.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/DSCF7176-390x248.jpg 390w, https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/DSCF7176-200x127.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/DSCF7176.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\nindependent expert body that was appointed by Scottish Ministers in\n2017 has set out nearly a hundred recommendations in its 374-page\nreport which if implemented in full, would go a long way to improving\nthe ecological state of Scotland\u2019s uplands by changing the culture\nof deer management in Scotland.  \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mike\nDaniels Head of Land Management at the John Muir Trust said: \u201cFirst\nwe want to praise the authors of this report \u00ad\u2013 including the\nlate Simon Pepper who chaired the Deer Working Group until his tragic\ndeath last year \u2013 for their thoroughness and professionalism. We\nwelcome the courage and clarity of the report which confirms that\nScotland\u2019s existing deer management procedures and practices need\nmajor reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf\nwe were designing a new system of deer management today in the\ncontext of climate change, biodiversity loss and the depopulation of\nfragile rural areas it would bear little resemblance to the\n\u2018traditional sporting estate\u2019 model found in large parts of the\nHighlands.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Duncan\nOrr-Ewing, Chair of LINK Deer Task Force said \u201cWe welcome the\npublication today of this independent review of deer management in\nScotland. We note and support proposals to update deer legislation to\nensure modern and transparent systems of deer management, and\nproposed improvements to SNH powers to enable changes in practice on\nthe ground. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n\u201cThe\nimperative for transforming of deer management laws and systems has\nbeen given increased impetus following the climate and nature\nemergencies announced recently by Scotland\u2019s First Minister, and in\nthe context that excessive deer densities in many areas are\npreventing significant public policy outcomes from being achieved.\nThese outcomes include woodland expansion; peatland protection and\nrestoration as vital carbon stores; enhancing the condition of\nprotected nature conservation sites; and reducing vehicle collisions\nand the spread of Lyme disease\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Charles Dundas, Chair of Scottish Environment LINK and Public Affairs Manager at Woodland Trust Scotland, said: \u201cThis report is a major step forward. We note especially the proposal to revise the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 which could open the door to transformative change and we would urge the Scottish Government to start working immediately to prepare for new legislation that could be introduced early in the next parliament.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some\nof the key recommendations in the report include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\nAn\n\tupper density limit of 10 red deer per square km over large areas of\n\topen range in the Highlands \u2013 with that figure to be reviewed from\n\ttime to time to help meet public policy objectives including on\n\tclimate change.\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\nThat,\n\tfollowing its series of assessments of Deer Management Groups\n\tbetween 2014 and 2019, SNH should now concentrate on ensuring high\n\tstandards of deer management on the ground to minimise damage to the\n\tpublic interest.\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\nThat\n\tSNH should adopt a more flexible approach to how deer are managed\n\tlocally rather than rely too heavily on existing formal deer\n\tmanagement groups (which tend to be dominated by the landowners\n\twhose prime objectives are sports shooting).\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\nThat,\n\tinstead of prioritising numerical deer counts on the open hill\n\trange, SNH should focus on building information about the impacts of\n\tdeer on woodlands, forestry, agriculture, natural heritage and other\n\tpublic interests.\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li> That SNH should treat as a high priority the challenge of changing deer management in line with climate change mitigation objectives. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li> That the Scottish Government should develop a \u2018cull approval system\u2019 \u00ad \u2013 in other words stronger national regulation of deer numbers \u2013 and revise the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 to allow such a system to be introduced. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scottish\nEnvironment LINK along with several other organisations including the\ncommunity landowning North Harris Trust, the Forest Policy Group and\nNourish Scotland recently published its own proposals to bring deer\nmanagement into the 2020s in the publication<em>\nManaging Deer for Climate, Communities and Conservation.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scottish Environment LINK \u2013 a coalition of organisations involved in land and deer management, forestry, wildlife conservation, cultural heritage community, land partnerships, nature education and outdoor recreation \u2013 has welcomed the findings in the report published today by the independent Deer Working Group (DWG). The independent expert body that was appointed by Scottish Ministers in 2017 has set out nearly a hundred recommendations in its 374-page report which if implemented in full, would go a long way to improving the ecological state of Scotland\u2019s uplands by changing the culture of deer management in Scotland. Mike Daniels Head of Land Management<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/environmental-groups-welcome-new-deer-working-group-report\/\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more &#8250;<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":20489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20490,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20488\/revisions\/20490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.walkhighlands.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}