Written By Laura Williamson, Ecologist & Assistant Advisor It is no secret that traditional land management practices face unprecedented pressure in today’s political climate. Likewise, it is widely known that bird populations face exceptional pressures, with some suggesting that more… Read More »Where Birds Thrive: The power of surveys & best practice land management
By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland New provisions The Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 introduced a new licensing scheme for making muirburn in Scotland. NatureScot has re-affirmed its intention to have the new scheme ready ahead of the… Read More »GWCT support for new muirburn licences
Written by Fiona Torrance, Farmland Biodiversity Advisor With most of Scotland managed for agricultural use, the biodiversity crisis will not be solved using nature reserves alone. Much of the responsibility for addressing this issue will be burdened by land managers… Read More »How well do you know your habitats?
By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland General Licences for 2025 were issued by NatureScot in December 2024 and are in effect as of 1 January 2025. It was previously expected that the 2025 Licences would involve significant changes following the… Read More »General Licences 2025
By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland The beginning of the new calendar year offers an opportunity to reflect on the results of the health testing in red grouse carried out by GWCT Advisory Services Scotland in 2024. Samples Red grouse… Read More »Red grouse health testing in 2024
By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland The GWCT Advisory Service Scotland delivered its last training courses of the year on Wednesday 4 December. Attendance at these courses has become a requirement under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024… Read More »Progress on delivering Mandatory Trapping Training
By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland In an effort to monitor and combat Avian Influenza, UK Government requires all kept birds to be registered. Separate registers exist for the devolved nations, the relevant one for Scotland being the Scottish Kept Bird… Read More »Corvid Trapping in Scotland: New requirement to register decoy birds
By Felix Meister, D.Phil., Advisor Scotland On Wednesday 9 October, Scottish Government signed off the training materials for the new Corvid Trapping and Spring Trapping courses. Attendance at these courses is a necessary condition for obtaining a Wildlife Trap Licence,… Read More »Important Update: Trapping training in Scotland
By Felix Meister, D.Phil, Advisor Scotland On Tuesday 24th September, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity Jim Fairlie informed Scottish Parliament that the ban on snares, which was introduced as part of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, will… Read More »Important update: Snaring ban in Scotland
By Felix Meister, DPhil, MSt, BA, Advisor, GWCT Scotland In July, GWCT staff and their pointing dogs revisited study sites across Scotland to count red grouse. After the pair counts in the spring, which aim to determine the number of breeding… Read More »Red grouse brood count results: Weather and ticks take a toll