Eorpa highlights fears over Hebrides goose control
‘If we have 20,000 geese here there will be no-one left crofting’
Geese have long presented agricultural problems for crofters in the likes of the Western Isles and Orkney and now a new TV documentary is highlighting the issue.
The Eorpa programme, which aired on BBC Alba last week and is available on BBC iPlayer for another 30 days, saw documentary-makers interview a number of crofters and officials.
Greylag geese, particularly, have borne the brunt of complaints from those who feel the birds are threatening their way of life.
Efforts have been made over the past 10 years to keep greylag numbers under control by funding provided by NatureScot.
In 2019, goose management groups were offered up to £5,000 each by NatureScot to contribute towards goose control.
However, with funding stopped last year and proposals to end the lethal control scheme looming, the Scottish Government stepped in to fund new initiatives.
Despite Holyrood intervening in February with £50,000 of funding over two years, crofters have been voicing their worries to Eorpa that the new scheme – which will be rolled out in Orkney, Lewis and Harris, Uist, Tiree and Coll - is not enough.
Gamekeeper Ruairidh MacGillivary, who is from Benbecula, said: ‘Someone worked out that if we stop hunting here, in three to four years’ time there could be 20,000 geese here. If we have 20,000 geese here there will be no-one left crofting.’
Uist crofter Angus Ferguson echoed Mr MacGillivary’s sentiments, adding: ‘The more geese there are the more grass they eat and the more fertiliser we need – and when prices go up it gets very difficult to justify.’
In response, environment and land reform minister Mairi McAllan said: ‘Whilst we are doing everything we can to recognise the importance of crofting, to celebrate crofting, to recognise its cultural importance, its importance to the isles and the people who live there, I don’t think it’s incompatible with geese.
‘I think we need to increase our efforts to get the geese under control so they can be mutually inclusive and live beside one another.’
While the funding has been welcomed by the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF), it is still concerned that the scheme will ‘barely keep numbers static, let alone reduce to a sustainable figure’.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CNES) Councillor Donald Crichton was in agreement regarding the new funding, that it will not be nearly enough.
He said: ‘This isn’t going to be of any use in the months and years ahead in dealing with this pest. More funding is needed to deal with this and £50,000 across all the crofting communities is not going to have any effect.
‘The government has to make an economic assessment of how the geese affect these communities economically – and a plan to protect the crofting way of life in our areas.’