Forestry and Land Scotland - Deer management in Clashindarroch Forest: EIR release

Information requested

1) How often do NatureScot and Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) monitor the actual deer numbers in and around Clashindarroch Forest (The Clash)? Over-killing in the area over the last two years has literally led to collapse of the population.

2) Do NatureScot and FLS practice deliberate over-killing in the Highlands to compensate for the high number of deer in the Lowlands and paint a false picture of acceptable numbers countrywide? Does NatureScot and FLS agree that deer numbers in the Highlands should be at least double that in the Lowlands? More land for them and more animals relying on them for winter food up north.

3) Isn’t this the main winter food source (dead old deer) for the protected species of the Clash – Scottish Wildcats, raptor birds, pine martens, etc. Could this lead to total collapse of the local ecosystem if the killings continue?

4) Why does nobody know the names, contact details, etc of the deer hunters? Why they are allowed to drive past private properties without prior warning, behave in an aggressive and intimidating manner on the public roads of the Clash (photos) and use firearms any time of the day and night on public roads and next to private land? Killings on public road, leaving empty bullet casing, pools of blood. Who will pay a sick dog’s vet bill when it eats some of these guts and blood? What happens when a child walks past? What if someone comes round a blind corner on these roads after a bullet has been fired?

5) The indiscriminate killing of male animals all year round is hugely dangerous too. Lack of competition among males doesn’t reduce the numbers. It doesn’t matter if you have one or 15 males, come mating season you’ll still get the same number of pregnant females. But this does open the possibility for a weak or sick male to create offspring that will also be weak and/or sick, which could lead to total collapse of the entire population. I guess NatureScot has a way to monitor all that?

6) When was the last time NatureScot or/and FLS synchronised their biodiversity map with the vast local knowledge? Who will know better than people that have lived for 50+ years in the same area what wildlife activity is to be found and exactly where near their homes? Is this blatant refusal to accept the existence of wildlife done deliberately so industrial activities can continue?

7) Who allows people with zero military training to use suppressors and all other manners of military-grade equipment? How many of the deer hunters have military background? Do NatureScot and FLS know how many people have felt threatened and intimidated by their behaviour?

8) Also of the tens of thousands of killed deer every year where does all the meat go? It doesn’t stay where it is killed so wild animals can benefit from it? No local resident, not me anyway, or community food bank has seen any venison delivered? Who profiteers from it? Last time I checked every live deer in Scotland is public property so why all this secrecy about the meat? Who makes money from selling it and how much?

9) How often do FLS and NatureScot check the deer hunters for drug and alcohol use? Empty beer cans and other litter have been discarded next to the spot where the deer management caravan was parked for months last winter, still there in March 2025 and in October 2025. How can NatureScot allow someone that drinks alcohol and litters the forest to use a firearm in public?

10) Can FLS or NatureScot confirm that the thermal scopes the deer hunters are allowed these days are not used to look into local homes at night? How is this monitored?

11) Also, how does NatureScot make sure their guidelines are followed by FLS? According to NatureScot’s own guidelines, no trees within 200 yards of a tree hosting a nest of a raptor bird should be felled for timber. Yet last winter Speyside Harvesting Limited (SHL) and FLS cleared every tree around a buzzard’s nest, leaving it to stand alone (photo). The tree was marked too, with a bright ribbon around the trunk to indicate it has to be left standing, as well as the surrounding trees.

12) Who authorised SHL to do what I believe is illegal driving on public roads of heavy harvesting machinery. Rules are they should stay off the main public forestry roads at all times. Now they have damaged them almost beyond use (photos). Why haven’t NatureScot/FLS checked these sites?

13) Who monitors and checks what SHL does while working on public land? Images show multiple items of plastic garbage left behind by them, some potentially harmful to the environment.

14) And now for the big elephant in the room – VATTENFALL! The Swedish Government-owned company already built a hugely controversial wind farm right in the middle of the Clash 10 years ago for a massive environmental cost. Not allowed by any level of local community or councils, it was forcefully put there by the Scottish Government. This doesn’t seem to be enough as another development, Wind Farm 2 for Vattenfall, is about to start construction right in the middle of the Clash again. This will see hundreds of thousands of mature trees cut down [a bit strange since for the last five years all FLS have been doing is cutting down trees, hardly any new planting has been done], large-scale construction of new industrial roads, a huge amount of harmful gases from peat land released in the atmosphere so thousands of tons of cement foundations can be laid, all so the Scottish and Swedish Governments can share profits. The most interesting thing is why FLS and Vattenfall started building the roads and clearing the forest for this new wind farm in December 2023? Thousands of trees were cut and rough roads built right where it will be. However, the Scottish Government didn’t vote on the development until June 2024. In early 2024 there were still public inquiries, lots of objections and concerns, rejections at every level of local government. Does the Scottish Government take the taxpayers for fools? Why did FLS start preparing the site months before the project was even approved?

15) FLS are getting large sums from Vattenfall regularly. How much money has Vattenfall paid directly to FLS for projects over the last 10 years? Vattenfall also pay £200,000 every year to Foundation Scotland but it gives the residents of the Clash nothing. Why is that? I hear the turning of the existing turbines from my own garden every time there is wind. What plans do FLS and NatureScot have to make sure nearby homes are properly compensated for the proposed Wind Farm 2 development?

Response

We have considered your request for information falls under the definition of environmental information that is found at Regulation 2 of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

Responses to your questions can be found at the attached annex to this response.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500492882 - Information released - Annex

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