This following section is an extract from the Land Reform Consultation.
"Proposal 10: Wild Deer
Wild deer are a key part of Scotland’s natural heritage, bringing benefits in terms of tourism, sport and food. However, their distribution and numbers have the potential to have an adverse impact on the regeneration of woodlands, on fragile habitats, on agricultural crops and on road traffic safety. Wild deer therefore need to be managed to control their impacts on the environment and on land use objectives.
Wild deer in Scotland are not owned, but the right to take or kill deer rests with the owner or occupier of the land. There is no legal obligation on landowners or occupiers to manage deer. However the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 contains powers for Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to intervene and impose management measures where SNH considers that deer management is detrimental to the public interest, and there is also a Code of Practice on Deer Management that sets out the responsibilities of landowners.
This voluntary approach to deer management in Scotland has been criticised for failing to address over-population of deer in some areas of Scotland, in particular where there are conflicts in land use objectives between those who wish to manage deer to maintain sporting interests and those who are seeking to restore or protect designated sites.
The Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Climate Change (RACCE) Committee carried out an enquiry into deer management in early 2014 and while noting that the Parliament had confirmed support for the voluntary approach through the passing of the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act in 2011, concluded that Deer Management Groups (DMGs) need to make progress on developing and implementing deer management plans. The Committee recommended that the end of 2016 would be a suitable juncture to review progress.
In responding to the Committee, the Minister for Environment and Climate Change recognised that the pace of progress has been too slow and agreed that the end of 2016 would be a suitable juncture to consider progress and look to take action if the current voluntary system has not produced a step change in the delivery of effective deer management.
We propose therefore to bring forward provisions in the Land Reform Bill that will give further powers to SNH to act in areas of the country where they judge that insufficient progress is being made to protect the public interest. The powers would build on those already available through the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996. The aim of the powers would be to ensure that SNH can require that landowners have in place detailed sustainable deer management plans that protect the public interest and that the plans are fully carried out.
The new powers would not be intended as a replacement for the voluntary system of deer management, but as a backstop to be brought into play where the voluntary system was not delivering the public interest in certain areas. If Scottish Ministers decided on the basis of the review at the end of 2016 that there was a requirement to replace the voluntary arrangements with a statutory system, then this would be developed at that point. However, we consider it important that the proposed additional measures are in place - to ensure that deer management plays its part in delivering the 2020 Biodiversity targets - which could be implemented without delay if it is concluded that the current arrangements need strengthening."