Achi news desk-
Ministers are proposing to create new deer management nature restoration orders, which would give nature agency NatureScot extra powers.
These could see “a range of deer management actions required” – including culling – to encourage nature restoration.
Failure to comply with an operating requirement under DMNRO would be an offence, according to a Scottish Government consultation.
The SGA fears that such orders could force gamekeepers to take part in the culling and clawing – or gutting – of heavily pregnant hinds.
The SGA position paper warned that this could be a “wellbeing and mental health issue for the deer manager”.
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He said: “One of our deer managers still remembers, 25 years later, culling a doe in the first week of March and having to kill the calf inside.
“The SGA’s deer group believes that if MSPs are to approve this, they should have to get involved in the work of heavily pregnant doe claws themselves – that’s how strongly this issue resonates.”
With the SGA accusing the Scottish Government of having “controversially advanced” previous changes to deer management “despite almost unilateral opposition from professionals”, it has now made it clear that it will not be taking part in this latest consultation .
Instead, the group said it would “look for other avenues, outside of the Government’s consultation” where the voices of those involved in deer management could be “better reflected”.
The SGA is currently proposing pilot schemes which could help to meet targets for higher culls and improve biodiversity.
However, he made it clear that “having examined the issues, he cannot, in conscience, support measures included in the consultation, or the process behind it”.
Writing in the consultation document, Ms Slater emphasized that she was “aware that there is a wide range of interests in wild deer management”.
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The biodiversity minister said there was a need for “effective control of deer” as part of efforts to restore the natural environment.
He said: “Achieving our ambitious targets for tree planting, woodland regeneration and peatland restoration will have a profound impact on improving our natural environment in the coming years, but we will not achieve those goals without effective deer management.
“That means we need to have the right balance of the right densities of wild deer in the right areas to maximize the environmental benefits they can deliver as part of a healthy, functioning ecosystem.”
Ms Slater continued: “The benefits of carefully managed wild deer populations are not just environmental.
“Deer provide important employment and social opportunities for our rural communities and they form an iconic part of the Scottish landscape.
“This consultation is an opportunity for people across Scotland to have their say on further proposals to improve the management of deer populations and to help shape future legislation.”
