Reaction to Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill

On Tuesday this week, the much anticipated Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill was published.

If passed, this key piece of legislation would have major implications for the licensing of grouse shooting, the use of live animal traps and of course muirburn regulation.

Overall, we’re pleased that the Bill has now been introduced to Scottish Parliament, as a potential landmark intervention in countryside management.

We remain committed to the principle that both killing animals for sport, and breeding animals to be killed for sport, is cruel and counter to our values. Introducing a licensing scheme to manage shooting, whilst falling short of our preferred outcome, should ensure some welcome safeguards for wildlife.

We welcome that the new Bill will criminalise the use of glue traps. It will become an offence to use or even obtain one, and could land you with a prison sentence and/or a £40,000 fine.

Unfortunately, the Bill does not treat “spring traps” in the same way, which includes the use of some snares - another form of live animal trap. It is our long standing view that spring traps should be prohibited. The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission too recently recommended that “the sale of snares and their use by both public and industry are banned in Scotland, on animal welfare grounds”. Both are cruel and indiscriminate types of trap which cause wildlife unnecessary and prolonged suffering before death.

For snares and other spring traps, the Bill in its current form would make it compulsory for anyone using them to apply for a licence. Applications for trap licences, would have to be made to Scottish Ministers or Scottish Natural Heritage, if designated, as the “relevant authority”. Ministers, or the designated body, would also be responsible for approving training courses for different kinds of trap, which would form part of the criteria for a licence application. We will therefore push ministers and MSPs to classify spring traps in exactly the same way as the Bill currently classifies glue traps, and makes the prohibition of both comprehensive.

A Code of Practice relating to land management is also referenced in the Bill, the content of which is to be worked out still. The nature of this will greatly impact the persecution of raptors, the shooting of animals for sport, as well as the indiscriminate use of rodenticides, so we hope to have constructive discussions with ministers about the standards imposed.

There is also mention of adding powers to appoint someone to investigate offences against this and other legislation relating to land management, which will require robust regulation. Again, we hope that any inspectorate is given all resources needed to ensure that the new laws are properly enforced and offenders are held to account.

Regarding muirburn (the controlled burning of land), the Bill would mean that this too would be licensed. The application for a licence would have varying criteria depending on whether the proposed site is peatland or not peatland. There would also be a Muirburn Code for correct practical procedure. One of our concerns with muirburn is its use for the purposes of increasing local grouse populations for recreational shooting. It is unclear at this stage if the Bill would prohibit granting licences under this premise, but we hope to address this with ministers also.

Whilst the Bill doesn’t go as far as we would eventually like to see, this is a positive step in the right direction towards a much better-regulated Scottish countryside which makes landowners far more accountable and shows greater appreciation for our rich wildlife and biodiversity.