Dangling the carrot – do we need more financial incentives for deer management?

Managing the wild deer population in England is a complex thing, fraught with issues and conflicts which aren’t quite as prevalent in other parts of the UK. Well aware of this challenge, groups like the Deer Initiative are working to develop a strategy to bring about effective and sustainable deer management in England and Wales. There are many elements which could piece together to form a wider, landscape scale deer management strategy, but within that, increased financial incentivisation might figure. One thing is certain, however, deer management is an unavoidable and crucial part of maintaining the landscape in England. 

It is true that financial incentives for deer management already exist, in the form of Countryside Stewardship grants WS1 and WD2. For the very largest of estates, these can work, but for many of the smaller parcels of land found in England, the meagre financial size of the grants (e.g. £105 per hectare for WS1) along with the not inconsiderable red tape, mean that the ‘carrot’ being dangled is perhaps not worth the effort. So, does something need to change? 

One issue faced by many deer managers is the low price of venison. After the cost of ammunition and fuel, and the effort of stalking, extracting and delivering to an Approved Game Handling Establishment (AGHE), one can be left quite out of pocket. One method of incentivisation could be for the government to subsidise price per kg paid to venison producers. As the Scottish economists of the enlightenment might attest, another method of increasing the price of venison would be to constrict its supply from elsewhere. Cheap venison from Europe and New Zealand is seen by some to be a cuckoo’s egg, leading some to believe that greater import duty on those could give the price of British venison a real boost.  

An alternative incentivisation method, mooted by some, is to pay deer managers per head of deer put in the larder. In order to achieve effective population control, many agree that this incentive should be limited to does / hinds and their dependent young. How this would work in practice would have to be hammered out, but this may be the best way to encourage land owners who do not already manage the deer on their land to start doing so. 

The implementation of initiative schemes like this in England is not pie in the sky material, it is achievable. We know that the Scottish Government is considering ways to incentivise deer harvesting, what is needed is for that seed to germinate in England too. There is a business case for further incentivising deer management in England, what needs to happen now is for the organisations involved to put together a formal business case to the government and to get that ball rolling.