Both the Association of Deer Management Groups (ADMG) and the East Grampian Deer Management Group have said that the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) must be applauded for its openness and willingness to make available the independent report on Mar Lodge Estate.
Richard Cooke, Chairman, ADMG, says:
“This has not been a comfortable examination for the Trust, since the report is highly critical of management at Mar Lodge Estate and of the way the Trust has communicated its land management plans and actions, particularly with its neighbours and with the local community. The Trust has wisely taken the best route in publishing the report both swiftly and fully, and senior management must be applauded for that.”
Mark Nicolson, Chairman, East Grampian Deer Management Group, of which Mar Lodge Estate is a member, says:
“The NTS deserves high praise for publishing such a candid document. The Review Panel also deserves great credit for their understanding of the complex issues of management, delivering the conservation and sporting principles jointly agreed by the NTS and the donor of the bequest which enabled the original purchase.”
The 42-page report is highly critical of past management at Mar Lodge which it describes as a ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of Highland sporting estates. It says that decision making at Mar Lodge was ‘slow, bureaucratic and hierarchical’ when it should have been ‘more focussed, direct, accountable and more rapid.’ The report also says that the National Trust for Scotland has neither the necessary depth nor spread of expertise of land management to deliver fully integrated sporting and conservation objectives, and that there should be change to the ‘structure and competency’ of management within Mar Lodge Estate.
The report states that NTS should consider seeking ‘specific commercial sporting advice’ as required, and that it should co-opt to its Board ‘an individual with experience of running a large Highland estate.’
Mark Nicolson says:
“The Panel has made specific recommendations as to future management. I hope that the NTS embraces these, and develops the necessary skills to deliver the harmony originally envisaged, so that Mar Lodge can become a shining example to the private and public sectors alike that sporting and conservation aims can co-exist, and deliver multiple objectives.”
Richard Cooke says:
“Other deer management groups and upland land managers can gain a great deal from this report – not least the importance of communicating openly in resolving conflicting management objectives at a local level, and the deployment of fencing as a legitimate management tool where major habitat change is being addressed in the presence of deer.”
The report contains a number of other recommendations for addressing the conservation and sporting objectives at Mar Lodge including embracing a fully integrated system of management to achieve a range of objectives, the strategic use of fencing to funnel deer to lower ground outside the regeneration zone, and other fencing elsewhere, plus the provision of alternative winter cover and foraging including the opening of forestry blocks. The report states also that the use of out of season culling and night shooting may be necessary to continue to protect the regeneration zone although ADMG would like a moratorium to be placed on all such activity until the National Trust for Scotland has confirmed which elements of the report it will adopt into its deer management planning going forward.
Further information from:
Richard Cooke
Chairman, ADMG
Tel: 01356 624566
Mark Nicolson
Chairman, East Grampian Deer Management Group
Tel: 01346 513149