Collaborative Frameworks in Land Management: A Case Study on Integrated Deer Management

Project Outline

Background:

People with legitimate interests but differing objectives for the management of the countryside often debate how to make best use of ecological resources. The management of deer provides an ideal study system because there are many associated costs and benefits. Deer management provides jobs for stalkers on forestry and sporting estates and people in the meat industry. Tourists are drawn to particular landscapes which deer help to create and to see the deer themselves. However, in some areas, high deer numbers are causing overgrazing and damage to sensitive natural habitats, agricultural and forestry crops and even suburban gardens. Deer are increasingly involved in road traffic accidents. Therefore there are many different attitudes to deer and conflicts on how best to manage them. In addition, the range of issues varies across the UK because of big differences in land tenure, land use and deer species between upland areas such as the Scottish Highlands and the lowlands of England and Wales.

This study will bring together an interdisciplinary team of ecologists, economists and social scientists from a range of UK universities and research Institutes to investigate collaboration in the context of wild deer. Using a range of case study sites based on deer management units, we will investigate collaboration by developing and applying novel methods for integrating and analysing ecological, economic and social knowledge relevant to collaboration in deer management across different scales and levels of complexity. The aim is to develop a process to facilitate collaboration that will lead to more sustainable management of deer. The lessons we learn from investigating deer management will be used to see how well they apply to the management of other natural resources where multiple management objectives exist.

AIM: To produce a generic framework for the development of effective, informed and inclusive collaborative management to promote rural sustainability; using wild deer in the UK as a case study.

Central Questions:

• Can stakeholder collaboration enhance the efficiency with which benefits of ecological resources are captured?
• What are the barriers that hinder collaborative land management and how can they be overcome?

Specific Objectives:

• Develop a framework for collaborative management of ecological resources across different scales and levels of complexity through:
• Investigating stakeholder characteristics and goals in relation to deer management and assessing current relationships, barriers to collaboration and gaps the knowledge

Developing novel methods for integrating ecological, economic and social knowledge and feeding this into the collaborative process. Study systems include the upland red deer systems (for example Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park) and lowland agricultural and woodland systems (for example, the Marches Deer Project co-ordinated by the Deer Initiative).

Work programme

We have developed a programme of work that combines exciting challenges for interdisciplinary research with finding practical solutions relevant to the management of natural resources such as deer.

The involvement of stakeholders to help frame the research problem and identify key issues of concern is an essential part of the project. We will continue to discuss the results of each stage with stakeholders regularly throughout the project to inform decisions about the next stages.

Year 1

• Review of the legislation and wider ‘governance’ of deer in the UK . Review the responsibilities of government organisations and describe how these work in practice.
• Review stakeholder characteristics. Desktop study to determine the range of stakeholders at National, Regional and Local levels using published information.
• Analysis of National stakeholders through individual meetings with core National stakeholders to clarify goals and perceived relationships.
• Carry out survey of venison processors through National and Regional interviews (see progress update below).
• Analysis of local stakeholders at case study sites through interviews and workshops.
• Meet with venison suppliers.

Year 2

• Carry out a series of focus groups to investigate the role of deer in tourism.
• Hold workshops to investigate consumer preferences for wild venison.
• Carry out ecological surveys of deer impacts, people’s perceptions of this and the role of deer in shaping the landscape.
• Model deer population changes and possible economic outputs.
• Survey public attitudes to deer.

Year 3

Methods to resolve issues identified in the first two years will be tested in the case study sites.

The lessons we learn from investigating deer management will be used to see how well they apply to the management of other natural resources where multiple management objectives exist.

Many rural economies are based directly or indirectly on the management and exploitation of natural resources, the management of which is often complicated by the great diversity of stakeholders involved. Hence, effective collaboration is a potential key driver of sustainability in rural economies.

The management of deer provides an ideal case study because there are many associated costs and benefits. Deer management provides jobs for stalkers on forestry and sporting estates and people in the meat industry. Tourists are drawn to particular landscapes which deer help to create and to see the deer themselves. However, in some areas, high deer numbers are causing overgrazing and damage to sensitive natural habitats, agricultural and forestry crops and even suburban gardens. Deer are increasingly involved in road traffic accidents. Therefore there are many different attitudes to deer and conflicts on how best to manage them.

This project will investigate how well people involved in deer management work together and how this can be improved so that the costs of managing deer are minimised and the benefits maximised. To achieve this we need to increase understanding between ecologists, economist and social scientists and combine this knowledge with management objectives.