Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

£10k wild goose management plan renewed

Post Thumbnail

A £10,000 wild goose management scheme, designed to help cover the cost of farmland damaged by migrating geese, is about to be renewed for 2018.

The annual payment applies to the Loch of Strathbeg Special Protection Area, near Crimond in Aberdeenshire, where geese numbers can reach 50,000 as they head between breeding grounds in Iceland and Scotland.

“We’re grateful to the scheme participants for their help in both conserving this internationally important species and the success of the scheme over the years,” said Russell Hooper from Scottish Natural Heritage’s Tayside & Grampian office, speaking on behalf of the Local Goose Management Group.

“There has been a really good level of participation by local farmers, and last year the proportion of the roost supported by the scheme was the highest since 2012.

“We encourage all landowners within the scheme boundary to apply to take part in the scheme.”

Despite the financial value of the 2018 programme, the cost burden on local farmers remains high with one annual ‘goose host’ complaining to the Press & Journal that he would much rather his gazing land was left for his sheep to enjoy than for up to 20,000 geese at a time.

He also said they hit his farm in both the spring and autumn and do enormous damage on each visit.


>> Keep up to date with the latest farming news with The P&J Farming newsletter


Reacting to the 50,000 goose figure linked to the new scheme, NFU Scotland policy manager Andrew Midgely said: “The fact that goose numbers have increased massively will come as no surprise to our members, many of whom are tearing their hair out trying to deal with the impact on their farming businesses.

“On Islay for example, damage by barnacle geese is continuing at a level which causes serious agricultural damage.

“The island’s goose management strategy clearly states that the on-going high levels of damage threaten the viability of farming on Islay, which underpins economic and social viability as well as the provision of wider biodiversity benefits.

“With growing goose numbers across many parts of Scotland, such conflicts are only going to increase.”

NFU Scotland wants to see funding for existing goose management safeguarded, alongside the provision of additional funding for new goose management on Tiree and the Western Isles, as well as the full delivery of the Islay Sustainable Goose Management Strategy.