Tackling Deer Pressure - New Measures

Addressing deer pressure is a core concern for anyone managing woodlands and the government has just unveiled a 10-year plan to help. In England, land use change, introduction of non-native species and a lack of natural predators have contributed to increased deer impacts. Without action, excessive deer pressure prevents young trees from establishing, degrades habitats (for example, undergrowth habitat loss has contributed to over 90% increase in nightingale numbers since the 1960s), has a negative impact on carbon sequestration and undermines nationwide tree-planting and nature recovery goals.

About a third of England’s woodlands are negatively impacted by deer.

New government measures for deer management in England

Announced on the 20th February, the new strategy acknowledges that current deer management has not kept pace with rising deer numbers and impacts; it introduces a package of measures designed to make active deer management easier and more effective:

• Dedicated Forestry Commission deer officers to provide advice and coordination

• Maintaining grant funding for deer management and seeking to improve offers, where required

• Streamlining Natural England licensing processes, including potential changes to night shooting and close season licensing. One notable change is the introduction of a new Class Licence (CL55), allowing qualified practitioners to control deer at night during the open season under defined conditions. Registrations for the new license are now open

• Supporting the wild venison market, including British Quality Wild Venison Standard to boost consumer confidence in wild venison as a healthy, sustainable product

• Supporting research and innovation, including use of drone surveys to identify national priority areas and target action at a landscape scale

These, and other, new measures are detailed in Defra’s Deer Impacts Policy Statement for England. Ultimately, the goal is to keep deer impacts at sustainable levels so that existing woodlands and new tree plantings can thrive.

Given the links between deer management, biodiversity and peatland condition, Scotland is also pursuing a deer management strategy and has established a Deer Management Strategic Board under the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy Programme. The aim is to see sustainable deer management across Scotland by 2045.