This month saw the beginning of a major new project reviewing and updating the Deer Management Plan (DMP) for a large Deer Management Group (DMG) in the Highlands. It will be a fascinating process meeting with all the landowners, getting to know all the landholdings, reviewing all the scientific information available and then trying to develop a Strategic DMP to which all owners can sign up to. Once the plan is agreed we will transfer it onto an Extranet (secure, user-accessible website) and update it monthly with news, hence all the owners can keep abreast of what is going on in their area. There are a lot of designated sites within the DMG area that will make planning more difficult. The planning process also needs to take account of quite a lot of new thinking from the government, encapsulated in the new Code of Practice on Deer Management and in their ideas on Ecosystem Services.
See here for information on the new Code:
