Review the use of mechanisms to support effective and safe deer management in new and existing woodlands and neighbouring open habitats.
Objective 1: Accelerate ecosystem restoration and regeneration
Priority Action 5. Substantially reduce deer densities across our landscapes in parallel with ensuring sustainable management of grazing by sheep to improve overall ecosystem health
Deer management mechanisms are currently under review through recent policy and legislative changes. The Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 strengthens NatureScot’s powers to intervene in deer management, including in relation to habitat restoration.
This follows the 2024 consultation on managing deer in Scotland, which considered changes to how deer are managed, including control measures, responsibilities, and regulatory approaches.
While these developments indicate that mechanisms for deer management are being reviewed and updated, there is no single published review specifically focused on deer management in woodlands and neighbouring habitats. Instead, changes are being taken forward through broader legislative reform and policy development.
NatureScot now has strengthened statutory powers under the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026 to intervene in deer management where high densities are preventing woodland and habitat recovery. Recent consultation and legislative reform provide clear intent to modernise deer management mechanisms, including control measures and clearer responsibilities across landholdings and neighbouring habitats. However, there is still no single, dedicated published review specifically focused on how deer management mechanisms operate across woodlands and adjacent open habitats in an integrated way. Current changes are being delivered through broader legislative reform rather than a targeted systems review of operational mechanisms. As a result, delivery tools are improving in principle, but practical application across landscape boundaries remains dependent on how new powers are implemented in practice. More coordinated, cross-boundary deer management mechanisms could significantly improve woodland regeneration outcomes by aligning control efforts across ownerships and linking intervention more directly to habitat recovery objectives.
Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026
Managing deer in Scotland consultation (2024)
Managing deer in Scotland consultation analysis (2024)
The management of wild deer in Scotland: Deer Working Group report
Introduce new deer legislation which will modernise the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 and introduce new powers for intervention for the purposes of enhancing or restoring nature, including preventing biodiversity loss.
Attain deer cull at level at which habitats and ecosystems can recover and regenerate, and where deer densities are maintained at sustainable levels. This is done by increasing the national cull by 25-30% (from 200,000 – 250,000) sustained over several years; achieving densities of 5-8 deer per km² in each of the DMG’s in the Cairngorms National Park; and, low deer densities of around 2 deer per…
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