Shooting body raises ‘significant concerns’ over Natural Environment Bill

Britain’s largest shooting body insists it has “significant concerns” about the impact new legislation that aims to protect Scotland’s natural environment will have on deer management.

The Scottish Government insists the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill is needed to help prevent species decline and deliver “lasting outcomes for nature”.

But with the legislation also proposing reforms to the way that deer are managed the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) warned of “increasing pressure to deliver higher culls”.

The Scottish Government wants to see an additional 50,000 deer a year being culled – representing a 25% increase on current levels – in order to deliver what it describes as a “clear and sustained reduction in Scotland’s deer population from the current one million deer”.

BASC Scotland director Peter Clark said: “The Scottish Government claims the Bill will modernise deer management to tackle the climate and nature crises.

“However, we have significant concerns that the Bill adds unnecessary bureaucracy without clear criteria for measuring success and without significant financial incentivisation.”

Mr Clark added: “Our members risk being placed under increasing pressure to deliver higher culls without clear criteria of what the expected outcome should be.”

However, Climate Action Secretary Gillian Martin warned that without “urgent action” nature in Scotland could “continue to decline”.

And she vowed to work with all relevant bodies to ensure this “vital piece of legislation succeeds in achieving its ambition to protect Scotland’s natural environment”.

Her comments came before the first Holyrood vote on the legislation, which would place a new duty on Scottish ministers to set legally binding targets for nature restoration.

In addition it also aims to modernise the powers of the authorities in charge of Scotland’s national parks.

Speaking before Thursday’s debate in Parliament, Ms Martin said: “In Scotland one in nine species is threatened with extinction and there has been an average 15% decline in species abundance since 1994.

“If we don’t take urgent action nature in Scotland will continue to decline and important species will be lost forever.

“That’s why this Bill is necessary to ensure that we continue to develop, support and deliver the lasting outcomes for nature that we need to see, if we are to meet our ambition to restore and regenerate biodiversity across the country by 2045.”