Planting goals could be helped by fencing

Gamekeepers have warned that ambitious tree-planting goals could falter unless investment in deer fencing is maintained in Scotland.

Fencing can be controversial, with some believing they are an aesthetic impairment on the landscape and can lead to bird strikes, although this is not currently measured in Scotland.

Others regard them as financially costly to erect and maintain and believe more deer should be culled to minimise browsing on young trees.

But gamekeepers believe fences are an effective shortterm mitigation tool to allow trees to establish in the environment, and feel they will become more necessary as new planting targets are set in response to climate fears.

Without continuing investment in fencing, they say more deer will have to be shot year-round and in darkness, using licences from SNH, something they feel will have increasing implications for animal welfare.

At the launch of their new report on deer and the environment, SGA Deer Vision, The 10 Years Ahead, Scottish Gamekeepers Association chairman Alex Hogg said: “Fencing is not right in every situation, for example when creating green space for the public in urban areas, but there is an increasing move to phase fencing out in the main deer range, mostly to cut costs, and we question that.

“Fencing is a short-term tool to help trees get going. Scotland is seeking to afforest in response to climate change and, to achieve that, cutting investment in fencing would be counterproductive.

“It must be maintained as a management tool. There has been significant progress in deer management, with habitat response likely to be seen in the coming years, but fencing must still be a valued part of the armoury.”