Scotland's National Deer Management Plan

Tripling woodland expansion targets while saving £900 million in taxpayer money: the National Deer Management Plan

The John Muir Trust publishes a groundbreaking sustainable deer management plan developed in collaboration with Trees for Life and the RSPB.

Supported by the nation's coalitions for nature (Scottish Environment LINK), climate (Stop Climate Chaos Scotland), and rewilding (the Scottish Rewilding Alliance), alongside all major landonwing environmental charities in Scotland as well as the Scottish Tenant Farmers Association, Community Land Scotland, Rewilding Britain and others, the plan builds a clear pathway to reduce deer densities nation-wide to enable nature restoration across entire landscapes.

The national effort would be funded by the Scottish Government using exisiting subsidies currently allocated to large-scale industrial connifer plantations. In the long-term, it would enable Scotland to triple its woodland creation targets while saving hundreds of millions in taxpayer money.