Appeal for urgent rethink by government on deer management proposals

Press Release

Land-based businesses, estates, gamekeepers and stalkers across Scotland have appealed to the Scottish Government to reconsider its approach to deer management, warning that proposed policies could jeopardise rural livelihoods, biodiversity, and Scotland’s natural heritage.

Scottish Land & Estates, the rural business organisation, said that an urgent pivot in direction is required for deer management to be more effective. 

Speaking after a parliamentary evidence session before the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, SLE said government should work to enable deer managers through incentives coupled with proportionate regulatory powers and appropriate legal safeguards for landowners. 

The organisation said the forthcoming Natural Environment Bill presented a crucial opportunity to chart this path – but that this would require Scottish Ministers to engage effectively with private deer managers who are responsible for 80% of the annual cull.

Ross Ewing, Director of Moorland at Scottish Land & Estates, said: “Significant progress has already been made in tackling deer impacts through collaboration—particularly via deer management groups and, more recently, through initiatives like the award-winning Common Ground Forum. This progress – predicated on finding consensus - should be acknowledged and built upon, rather than disregarded. 

“A purely regulatory approach to deer reduction could have unintended consequences. Disproportionate regulatory powers may disrupt deer management already taking place, as well as putting at risk other land management practices, and employment in the rural economy.

“Fixating on reducing a contested national population figure of one million deer is, to quote NatureScot, “misleading and unhelpful”. The focus should be on local and regional impacts instead.”

Mr Ewing appealed for the Scottish Government to address lowland deer management and also to work with land managers and utilise their experience in deer management to design policies fit for the future. 

Ross added: “Lowland deer management looks set to be overlooked yet again in the forthcoming Natural Environment Bill, which is a major concern for many within the sector. We need an urgent rethink to enable lowland deer management through improved collaboration, incentives, and investment in community infrastructure such as larders and chillers.

“Any future regulatory powers need to recognise that deer are not the only barriers to nature recovery—all herbivore impacts must be considered. Proposals to compel deer culls on the basis of ‘nature recovery’ alone are likely to be legally and practically flawed.  We would appeal to the Scottish Government to work with those who understand the realities of deer management rather than impose ill-conceived top-down policies.”