Debates around gamebird management and conservation of recent years have demonstrated the importance of voluntary adherence to current legislation and recognised best-practice guidelines. However, while the failure of self-regulation is easily asserted, and isolated cases are frequently presented as symptomatic of failures of the industry as a whole, monitoring successful compliance has proved more difficult.
To address this need, the GWCT Advisory Services Scotland have developed the Data Management Services as a digital, cloud-based data-collection solution that provides estates and farms with much-needed transparency regarding the land-management activities carried out on their ground. The service, which uses the Epicollect5 mobile app, can be tailored to meet virtually any needs. All data collected belongs solely to the client and is held in strict confidence by GWCT. Regular reporting done by GWCT specialists offers a summary and interpretation of the data that can serve, among other things, to demonstrate due diligence under vicarious-liability legislation. Popular projects currently include:
Predator Control
The profile of predator control has recently been raised with the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. In addition to complying with pre-existing wildlife legislation and General Licence conditions, trap operators are now also required to demonstrate compliance with the conditions of the Wildlife Trap Licence.
This project offers a comprehensive record-keeping solution for all predator control methods deployed, including shooting, spring trapping, corvid trapping, and live-catch mammal trapping. It allows trap operators to gather crucial details such as trap locations, trap captures by species, and the timing of activation and deactivation of traps. All entries can be linked with pictures or videos to offer vital protection against potential allegations of wrong-doing. Annual reports provide a break-down of species controlled and offer important insights into the efficiency of the predator-control regime across the estate or farm and over time.
We recommend combining this project with our annual Predator Control Assessments so as to form the ultimate proof of an estate’s due diligence and commitment to best practice.
Muirburn
Under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, land managers may only burn under a valid peatland-licence or non-peatland licence. Adherence to the licence conditions, and to the areas to which the respective licences apply, needs to be monitored. Additionally, regard to the new statutory Muirburn Code needs to be demonstrated.
This project allows land managers to easily log all relevant details in the field prior to igniting a fire. Locations of ignition points and approximate sizes of fires are recorded, as are alternative heather-cutting operations. Annual reports visualise the data in high-resolution maps that can be submitted to NatureScot to prove that licence conditions have been observed.
When used in conjunction with our Muirburn Planning Services, this project can also serve as strong proof that an estate has made every reasonable effort to reduce potentially harmful effects of muirburn on sensitive habitats and protected species.
Grouse Management
This project allows gamekeepers to record all details relevant to the management for red grouse. It includes, but is not limited to, the results of counts in the spring and summer as well as nest locations and clutch sizes.
Crucially, the project also allows recording the locations of grit stations alongside details regarding the administration of plain grit or medicated grit. When coupled with Strongyle Worm Counts done as part of our Grouse Monitoring Services, these records can be a powerful means of demonstrating that medication is only applied, in accordance with best practice, where high worm burdens have been found.
Likewise, the project allows recording details about tick numbers, observed either through surveying or on legally controlled animals, and about tick-management operations and sheep-treatment regimens. In this way, it allows land managers to demonstrate that acaricides are applied as a specific response to tick numbers on the ground. As public concerns about the blanket administration of gamebird medication are rising, the value of this kind of records cannot be overstated.
Conservation
While GWCT research has frequently demonstrated the biodiversity benefits of managing land for shooting, there is an increasing need to produce specific evidence of the delivery of these benefits on the ground. Many licence applications, for instance, now rely on accurate figures of the populations of, say, raptors, ravens, waders, songbirds, black grouse or mountain hares.
This project allows recording the numbers of these, and any other desired species, either through casual sightings or through formalised counts. Annual reports synthesise and analyse data on population trends and distributions, helping inform management decisions that benefit local biodiversity. These data can also be submitted to facilitate individual licence applications as, for instance, to kill ravens or mountain hares for specific purposes.