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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

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Question reference: S6W-34630

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many deer have been culled on land that it owns in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) species and (b) location.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is the executive agency which manages Scotland’s national forests and land. The majority of deer management on land owned by the Scottish Government is undertaken by FLS. Alongside land owned by the Scottish Government, public bodies also manage deer on public land they are responsible for. This includes NatureScot and Scottish Water. Further detail on the deer management activities of these organisations is set as follows.

Forestry and Land Scotland

The number of deer culled on Scotland’s National Forests and Land (SNFL) 640,000 hectares in each of the last five complete culling seasons is as follows:-

Cull Season	Roe	Red	Sika	Fallow	Total	Location
2019-20	16550	12640	3200	460	32850	SNFL
2020-21*	15000	11410	3180	410	30000	SNFL
2021-22	18980	13280	3730	480	36460	SNFL
2022-23	20100	13110	3830	450	37490	SNFL
2023-24	21960	15110	4000	460	41540	SNFL
Percent	52%	37%	10%	1%
2024-25**	22320	15800	4330	550	43000	SNFL

*(reduced culling activity due to Covid-19)

**(cull forecast, to be delivered by 31/03/2025)

NatureScot

2019-20	Species				Total
Location	Red	Roe	Sika	Fallow
Ariundle	0	0	0	0	0
Beinn Eighe	98	5	12	0	115
Ben Lui	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Wyvis	0	0	0	0	0
Claish Moss	0	0	0	0	0
Corrie Fee	48	10	0	0	58
Craigellachie	0	0	0	0	0
Creag Meagaidh	0	0	0	0	0
Dell Woods	15	5	0	0	20
Flanders Moss	9	2	0	0	11
Glasdrum Wood	7	9	0	0	16
Glen Roy	0	0	0	0	0
Invereshie & Inshriach	0	0	0	0	0
Moine Mhor	0	0	0	0	0
Rum	0	0	0	0	0
Taynish	0	31	0	0	31
Loch Lomond	0	0	0	0	0
Total	177	62	12	0	251

2020-21	Species				Total
Location	Red	Roe	Sika	Fallow
Ariundle	0	0	0	0	0
Beinn Eighe	172	3	5	0	180
Ben Lui	35	0	0	0	35
Ben Wyvis	11	0	0	0	11
Claish Moss	9	0	0	0	9
Corrie Fee	51	12	0	0	63
Craigellachie	13	0	0	0	13
Creag Meagaidh	283	0	0	0	283
Dell Woods	6	2	0	0	8
Flanders Moss	12	0	0	0	12
Glasdrum Wood	17	0	0	0	17
Glen Roy	9	0	0	0	9
Invereshie & Inshriach	16	0	0	0	16
Moine Mhor	5	0	0	0	5
Rum	150	0	0	0	150
Taynish	0	9	0	0	9
Loch Lomond	0	0	0	1
Total	789	26	5	1	821

2021-22	Species				Total
Location	Red	Roe	Sika	Fallow
Ariundle	0	0	0	0	0
Beinn Eighe	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Lui	35	0	0	0	35
Ben Wyvis	8	0	0	0	8
Claish Moss	19	0	0	0	19
Corrie Fee	6	4	0	0	10
Craigellachie	12	0	0	0	12
Creag Meagaidh	165	0	0	0	165
Dell Woods	3	5	0	0	8
Flanders Moss	4	10	0	0	14
Glasdrum Wood	10	11	0	0	21
Glen Roy	6	0	0	0	6
Invereshie & Inshriach	34	0	0	0	34
Moine Mhor	10	0	0	0	10
Rum	152	0	0	0	152
Taynish	0	23	0	0	23
Loch Lomond	0	0	0	3	3
Total	464	53	0	3	520

2022-23	Species				Total
Location	Red	Roe	Sika	Fallow
Ariundle	0	0	0	0	0
Beinn Eighe	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Lui	35	0	0	0	35
Ben Wyvis	15	0	0	0	15
Claish Moss	15	0	0	0	15
Corrie Fee	11	4	0	0	15
Craigellachie	9	0	0	0	9
Creag Meagaidh	185	0	0	0	185
Dell Woods	3	1	0	0	4
Flanders Moss	9	12	0	0	21
Glasdrum Wood	9	12	0	0	21
Glen Roy	8	0	0	0	8
Invereshie & Inshriach	28	0	0	0	28
Moine Mhor	4	0	0	0	4
Rum	286	0	0	0	286
Taynish	0	23	0	0	23
Loch Lomond	0	0	0	1	1
Total	617	52	0	1	670

2023-24	Species				Total
Location	Red	Roe	Sika	Fallow
Ariundle	5	0	0	0	5
Beinn Eighe	144	4	22	0	170
Ben Lui	35	0	0	0	35
Ben Wyvis	19	0	0	0	19
Claish Moss	9	0	0	0	9
Corrie Fee	51	0	0	0	51
Craigellachie	10	0	0	0	10
Creag Meagaidh	250	0	0	0	250
Dell Woods	4	1	0	0	5
Flanders Moss	8	8	0	0	16
Glasdrum Wood	33	0	0	0	33
Glen Roy	23	0	0	0	23
Invereshie & Inshriach	25	0	0	0	25
Moine Mhor	27	0	0	0	27
Rum	312	0	0	0	312
Taynish	0	19	0	0	19
Loch Lomond	0	0	0	6	6
Total	955	32	22	6	1015

Scottish Water

Scottish Water does not monitor or keep records of deer numbers on their operational property so the data below and relates only to their rural catchment estate in East Grampian. This is broken down further by deer cull rate in specific locations over the last 2 years below:

2022-23	Habitat			Total
Species	Agriculture	Open Range	Woodland
Red Deer	0	64	228	292
Roe Deer	0	4	0	4

2023-24	Habitat			Total
Species	Agriculture	Open Range	Woodland
Red Deer	90	144	0	234
Roe Deer		3		0

Question reference: S6W-34632

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what methods are used for deer culling on land that it owns, and how it ensures humane practices.

Question reference: S6W-34620

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase the number of wind turbines on land that it owns.

Question reference: S6W-34634

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to change its approach to deer management on land that it owns.

The Scottish Government will continue to pursue effective deer management that will help secure our climate and nature objectives, on land owned by the Scottish Government and other land. This includes changes that are being made to deer legislation through the Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, implementing recommendations of the Deer Working Group, and progressing deer management priorities set by the Strategic Deer Board.

Question reference: S6W-34618

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of electricity generated by wind turbines on land that it owns is (a) used directly by its own facilities and (b) supplied to the grid.

Question reference: S6W-34617

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it uses when granting permission for wind turbine developments on land that it owns.

Question reference: S6W-34615

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many wind turbines are currently located on land that it owns, broken down by (a) location and (b) capacity.

Question reference: S6W-34629

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on deer management and culling on land that it owns.

The Scottish Government is committed to modernising deer management to tackle high deer numbers, specifically in order to help us to achieve our biodiversity and carbon objectives. We continue to pursue a range of actions to deliver this commitment.

The Scottish Government’s future legislative programme has been set out as part of the 2024-25 Programme for Government. The Natural Environment Bill was introduced to parliament on 20 February 2025 and will bring forward significant reforms to the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996.

In addition to this we are working on the Deer Working Group recommendations that do not require primary legislation through the Strategic Deer Board.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), is the executive agency which manages Scotland’s national forests and land. The majority of deer management on land owned by the Scottish Government on behalf of the nation is undertaken by FLS. Alongside land owned by the Scottish Government, public bodies also manage deer on public land they are responsible for. A number of these bodies are represented on the Strategic Deer Board.

Question reference: S6W-34631

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the primary reasons are for deer culling on land that it owns, and what proportion of culls are carried out for (a) population control, (b) environmental protection and (c) agricultural purposes.

The primary reasons for the deer management activities on Scottish government-owned land is as follows.

Forestry and Land Scotland

FLS culls deer primarily in order to protect, enhance and restore a wide range of woodland across the 640,000 hectares of public forests and land which it manages which can be damaged by deer overgrazing and trampling vulnerable habitats, preventing young trees from growing. The proportion of the cull carried out for ‘environmental protection’ purposes is 96%-100%. FLS also cull deer to protect grazings and crops as and when required. The proportion of the cull carried out for agricultural purposes is 0%-4%. They do not carry out culling for population control purposes.

NatureScot

The primary reason for deer culling on NatureScot-owned land is environmental protection. This information is not broken down proportionally.

Scottish Water

The primary reasons for deer culling on Scottish Water land include for population control, environmental protection and agricultural purposes. This information is not broken down proportionately.

Question reference: S6W-34622

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the livestock kept on land that it owns is farmed directly by (a) it and (b) under lease or tenancy agreements.