DCS - North Scotland Seminar - Inverness

scotspine

Well-Known Member
Is anyone going to this?

"Increased woodland cover-Impact on Management Techniques"
- 25% of land cover to be woodland - threat or opportunity?
- Increasing woodland cover - to fence or not?
- In the woodland fringe are sika and roe more of a management challenge?

"Increased woodland cover - Challenging Our Perceptions"
- Sika management in Japanese Woodlands - the differences between Hokkaido and Scotland.
- The deer stalking package - is it possible with decreased densities?
- The deer stalking package - must the tradition evolve?


Should be a lively discussion.
 
Drumossie hotel, inverness, 10th june,9.30 start.
I just got my invite in the post....not sure where they got my address from.

regards
 
Well, there's about to be a huge wave of new woodland establishment over the next few years (hurrah!) so I'm going to be there with a colleague as we are both foresters.

We both do plenty of licenced shooting throughout the year so that would explain the invite I suppose.
 
Guys
just wondered what is the over lying problem here
is it the deer or is it the trees???
surely rabbits and sheep cause more damage in the first few years of a trees life than a deer does in it's next 10 years and then squirrells will compliment the kicking :evil:
 
......you forgot weeds,weevils & various bugs,voles,wind,water,fire and on and on...oh, and now we can add beaver to the list!

Nevermind, I will not stop planting them untill 25% of Scotland is covered in woodland
 
good idea...we'll be queing from the crack of dawn to get to the buttie counter first!

If I know you like I do, you'll be there the night before :rolleyes:
 
Quite a good event, it would be good to hear some other views on the speakers.

I'm involved in a lot of this stuff so it's not really new to me however, I think Nial's speel on sustainabilty was excellent[I've been involved in a few projects with him but I thought his delivery was excellent]

It was also good to hear John Milne give his interpretation of the proposed changes.

I'll have a look over my notes and maybe [if time permits] write up a very brief note on the day.
 
I agree with you Bambi,

the best delivery and most thought provoking speech was from Niall, particularly the way to integrate with the crofters and the way that an estate may have to change to a hollistic approach for more revenue. I think his speech deserved some debate, but because it was so well delivered, the silence probably spoke volumes.

I do have a concern that the integration of SNH and DCS will have a regrettable effect on the deer.....this unfortunately, we are all going to have to wait for. I also thought that there was a little skirting around the subject of stag seasons. The ministers that are the decision makers after all will take the advice of the experts.......we will have to wait and see.

J
 
Just back in from having dinner with a few folk , 1 a dcs employee and the other a commissioner and we briefly discussed the proposals , so here is my interpretation so far

Basically the idea is that decisions will be made at local level
i.e DMG's
The DMG will make policy and management descisions, there will not be a "national" stag season but with the proposed change in legistlation the DMG will be able to make close/open seasons at local level as well as cull numbers if it is felt that there is a need.

There will have to be quite a radical legislative change to facilitate these changes, I personaly am heartened that we are actualy starting to think "outside the box" although I don't personaly think we are anywhere near to having the answers.
The idea of localised management decisions does make sense and certainly works well in many other countries such as Norway.

I'm going to have a big dram before bed now as I'm starting to think in "agency" speak, although I've not said "stakeholder " yet , 3 days of "inter agenciy" interfacing and colaberative exchange ****s up your mind!!!!!
Never mind back to tramping the forests looking for caper **** tommorrow.
 
I liked Niall's bit....to the point and if applied elsewhere should at least see a more collaborative approach to deer management and could open up stalking opportunities to a much wider audience. However, I wonder if Niall would see this modus operandi as a means to actually reducing deer numbers or simply a more profitable use of the current stock?

I want to see more woodland cover and a healthier environment and I suspect that we are about to see a significant increase in woodland area combined with an irresistible pressure to cull more deer in sensitive areas. As I’ve said before I think that this can be achieved without detriment to the sport provided that a bit of lateral thinking is applied.

I’m pleased to hear that deer fencing is back on the agenda as this does allow the forester to establish trees without knocking the stuffing out of the deer first. There are very few areas were I would contemplate woodland establishment without fencing, except of course within a 500mile radius of a Japanese venison canning plant!

Regards
 
Just found that I'm out of whisky!!!! heads will roll

So I'll note down a few bits from today, anyone else who was there please feel free to correct anything I put down

Basically there were 5 topics

1.

Woodland expansion/reforestation

The SG want 25% forest cover in Scotland we are presently at about 17% which is approx. 14% more than we had in 1900.
The push for this increase is driven by the need for timber, carbon storage and the fact that we can't be lecturing other counties about deforestation if our own woodlands are not in order.
Also we must also look at the public benefit of woodlands both social and economic.

One point Hugh made about global warming was quite good, basically

"if we are wrong about global warming and act on it then in 50yrs a few folk will be emdarrassed, but if we are right and we do nothing then we're f***'d [not the language he used but you get the drift]
2.

Deer Fencing

Basically SNH were flying the flag to say[cynicaly I think it was just a way for SNH to "break" the ice pre DCS merger] we are happy to support deer fencing if praticle in certain areas.

3

Sika Control

Willie Lamont gave a brief account of sika management in N. Scotland, basically you need to put in more unsocial hours and night/out of season shooting to effectively manage woodland sika than you do hill reds.

4.

Sika management in Japan

I had to take a call so missed half of this talk so maybe someone could fill this slot.

5. Sustainable deer management

Niall Rowantree gave a quick insight into some of the ways that he thinks that we should market our sporting resource, many of you on this site will probably not like the idea that Hill stalking is being under sold at the moment and that we should be remarketing our stalking at higher prices [something I totally agree with and have worked with Niall on ] but also improving the whole package such as improved accomodation and facilities and a lot more emphasis on customer care .

John Milne [dcs chairman] gave a quick break down of the proposed changes to legistlation and the forthcoming SNH/DCS merger.


Ok , bed now
 
The push for this increase is driven by the need for timber, carbon storage ....


One point Hugh made about global warming was quite good, basically

"if we are wrong about global warming and act on it then in 50yrs a few folk will be emdarrassed, but if we are right and we do nothing then we're f***'d

That is where science meets politics and results in b*****t.

Just a thought. You cannot discuss about anything nowadays without mentioning "co2 emission" or "global worming"...
 
glogin said:
The push for this increase is driven by the need for timber, carbon storage ....


One point Hugh made about global warming was quite good, basically

"if we are wrong about global warming and act on it then in 50yrs a few folk will be emdarrassed, but if we are right and we do nothing then we're f***'d

That is where science meets politics and results in b*****t.

Just a thought. You cannot discuss about anything nowadays without mentioning "co2 emission" or "global worming"...

Very true, I don't really go with the whole "global warming" thing but I do think that we have to address many problems such as our dependance on fossil fuel [they are running out] so the answers to combat the "warming" effect are actually beneficial to the environment whether "warming is happening or not.

We have destroyed our forests in the UK, as well as our woodland culture I think we should do somrehing about it , 25% of woodland cover is not a lot and as long as a well thought out stratedgy is put in place then it should be good for everyone
 
I'm not sure about the whole CO2/global warming thing either but the net result is that the government now want more (high spec) woodlands. This also coincides with an overabundance of deer in many areas. As a forester I will be asked to produce a deer management plan to support any new woodland proposal. The usual requirement is to increase the cull on the open hill to ensure “displaced” deer do not cause overgrazing elsewhere. Similarly, there is now a requirement to cull deer in SSSI’s where overgrazing is a problem.
I hope that this push to redress the balance results in more opportunities for the average stalker and a widespread recognition of the job they do….
 
I think we are loosing the plot here lads.
SSSI's - what was that a few years ago - Ordinary countryside
More and more areas of land are being designated as this. This will only limit what can be done there - And eventually have an effect on stalking ie there wont be any as all our land will be SSSI's!
I am for having tree's but not at the expense of slaughtering the deer to get them. Put up deer fences until the forrests are established.
DCS/SNH one and the same no matter what they say. There policy on deer is a bloody disgrace. Take up mandatory powers to cull deer whether the landowner wants to or not and justify it by saying its for regeneration or to protect SSSIs. Yet in another breath they say Red Deer are a national Icon - Why then do they do nothing to stop the slaughter on area's of ground that are bringing the deer numbers down to zero or as close as they can get to it. I'm sorry, yes trees are bonny and there is the Co2 issue. But we also have 75% of the WORLDs total of heather moorland, it seems some want it covered in trees and whether they admit it or not with far fewer deer than there has ever been.
Its amazing to think that we still have SSSIs, to listen to some the deer should have grazed it to death years ago. They havent!
 
Back
Top