Barnacle geese cull - WWT takes action
Until recently, a long-running Local Goose Management Scheme on the Hebridean island of Islay was based largely on management payments and goose scaring, with a small amount of lethal control for the purposes of scaring large numbers of birds. This appears to have been effective and widely accepted.
However recent proposals by the Scottish authorities to alter the scheme and instead cull more than a quarter of the barnacle geese on Islay have led to a joint complaint by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and RSPB Scotland to Brussels.
There are around 80,000 Greenland barnacle geese in the world, making them a relatively uncommon bird. Around 40,000 of these overwinter in one place – Islay.
While the flocks are a great sight for nature tourists, the geese can cause significant damage to grass crops. This can threaten the livelihoods of landowners who need to protect their produce in order to support their families as well as the local economy.
Historically WWT and RSPB Scotland have been closely involved in trying to come up with solutions on Islay, and these appeared to work. However, there has recently been a move on the part of the Scottish authorities to look at other ways of dealing with this issue and instead of working with us to research the effectiveness of bird scaring, or resourcing farmers to look after this wildlife, in this case they have drawn up a plan to begin widespread culling in November 2015.
WWT Director of Conservation Dr Debbie Pain said:
"This is about finding a fair solution that works for farmers and for wildlife. It’s about resourcing farmers to be custodians of the countryside, and about finding out what works best in everyone’s interests, rather than shooting a significant portion of a species without finding out first if other methods are just as or more effective."
Our complaint to the European Commission in Brussels is based on our opinion that the Scottish authorities have not met all the necessary conditions, nor have a sufficient evidence base, in order to justify this large cull of a European protected species.
In a parallel situation, WWT has worked for more than 20 years in partnership with farmers on the Solway to secure a properly funded Goose Management Scheme that allows the barnacle geese and other species to feed undisturbed throughout the winter and provide a significant ecotourism resource for the local area.
Read the Goose complaint in full.
