Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is aware of a paper published in 2018 “Why do many pheasants released in the UK die, and how can we best reduce their natural mortality? Madden JR, Hall A, Whiteside MA. (2018)” which examined the fate of released pheasants in the UK, the different causes of mortality and where management practices may influence this. A copy of the paper can be found at: https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/handle/10871/33794/
10.1007_s10344-018-1199-5.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

There is no statutory requirement for the Scottish Government to monitor activities under S.14(2A) of the Wildlife & Countryside Act and the Scottish Government has not so far carried out any assessment of such activities.

The welfare of any animal under the control of a person is regulated by the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006. Breaches of the Act are a matter for the Police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

The husbandry and management of released birds is covered by industry codes of practice such as The Code of Good Shooting Practice. http://www.codeofgoodshootingpractice.org.uk/pdf/COGSP.pdf

A Journal published in 2018 “Consequences of game bird management for non-game species in Europe” looked at the impact of gamebird release on other species in a wider European context. This work was led by James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen and was part-funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division

http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2164/12034/
Mustin_et_al_2018_Journal_of_Applied_Ecology_1_.pdf;
jsessionid=DB579CA1B6E15BEC63A1986E7B710028?sequence=1

There is no statutory requirement for the Scottish Government to monitor activities under S.14(2A) of the Wildlife & Countryside Act and the Scottish Government has not so far carried out any assessment of such activities.

The majority of terrestrial Special Protection Areas (SPA) and Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in Scotland are co-designated with and underpinned by Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). Where the release of game birds on an SSSI is potentially damaging, it is listed by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) as an operation requiring consent, in considering any application for such consent, SNH must fulfil the requirements of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations as regards the assessment of the implications of plans or projects for European sites.

SNH has advised that to date, two applications for consent to release game birds on an SPA or SAC have been received. The assessments concluded that there would be no adverse effect on the sites’ integrity .

There are offences of intentional or reckless damage to SSSIs, SPAs and SACs. Scottish Ministers can also make Nature Conservation Orders to prohibit the carrying out of operations on or near these sites for the purposes of conserving any natural feature for which such land is designated, or is otherwise considered by the Scottish Ministers to be of special interest.

Consideration of animal welfare is fundamental to Scottish Natural Heritage’s (SNH) wildlife management work. The conditions imposed by their general licences seek to ensure that animal welfare is protected when wildlife management activities are undertaken.

SNH’s full positon on wildlife welfare is published on its website: https://www.nature.scot/sites/default/files/2017-06/A1545530%20-%20SNH%20Position%20Statement%20willdife%20welfare%20-
%202014.pdf

Information on the conservation status of ravens is included within SNH’s consultation. SNH will use the information gathered in their consultation to help assess any conservation impacts, prior to any decision to change the general license conditions, including whether to add ravens to the species covered.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) announced on its website on 21 May 2019 its decision to bring forward from 2020 a planned consultation on general licences. A further statement was made when the consultation formally opened on 17 July 2019. Both announcements were accompanied by media briefing and SNH also contacted its main stakeholders directly to alert them to the consultation.

The current consultation follows previous consultations on licensing, which also contained questions about specific species, including ravens. The consultation is part of SNH’s ongoing process of continuous improvement in delivery of its licencing functions (in-line with a commitment to Better Regulation principles) and follows best practice for public consultations.

Information about the conservation status of all of the species potentially covered by general licenses, including ravens, was included in the consultation document.

I refer the member to the answer to S5W-24152 on 31 July 2019 . All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Given the on-going uncertainty over timing and nature of the UK’s exit from the EU, the timescale for a policy announcement is not clear.

The Scottish Government is carefully considering the results of its consultation on future environmental principles and governance in Scotland, and developing detailed policy proposals which will include consideration of arrangements for a UK exit from the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

The Scottish Government will publish the analysis of responses in autumn 2019.

The Scottish Government is currently developing proposals for proportionate, effective governance arrangements. This is a devolved matter and, ultimately, the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament