Wild geese threat to crofting future in Western Isles - DonaldMacKinnon

Crofting and the world-renowned natural heritage on many of Scotland’s Western Isles is under threat due to the exploding population of wild geese, it has been claimed.

Warning that the growing populations of greylag geese resident on the islands could already be over the tipping point, the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF) met with Scotland’s environment, minister, Mairi McAllan, as they upped the stakes in their long-running battle to gain recognition for the scale of the problem:

“The population of greylag geese resident in the Hebrides has reached unsustainable numbers”, said SCF chair, Donald MacKinnon who said that the withdrawal of Government funding for management schemes on the islands in the hope that the control of geese could become self-funding had failed.

He said that the agreed maximum population of 4000 geese on the Uists - a number which had been higher than crofters had wanted - had doubled to over 8,000 birds since the ending of the ‘adaptive management’ schemes funded by the Scottish Government.

“NatureScot, who holds the purse strings, has stopped all funding and we can see no hope of preventing an explosion in goose numbers,” said MacKinnon.

Stating that the situation was similar on many other Hebridean islands, he added:

“We met with the minister for environment to present the case for why funding is needed to help reduce numbers and pointed out that it is in everyone’s interest to stop this catastrophe continuing.

“The huge numbers of geese grazing and fouling the grass and heritage cereal crops will end crofting here. This will alter the ecosystem to the detriment of the other species we find here. We are seeing the destruction of a world-renowned natural heritage unfolding before our eyes.”

MacKinnon said that crofting agricultural practices in the Hebrides, especially on the machair, helped to nurture an ecosystem rich in biodiversity, and that this unique habitat had to be protected for all.

“Government policy on goose control has 3 legs to it that must be in balance: conservation of endangered geese; prevention of damage to agriculture and biodiversity and the responsible use of public money.”

But he claimed it was it was clear that these 3 legs were no longer balanced:

“The geese are not endangered, they are thriving; the damage they cause is extensive to the detriment of agriculture and biodiversity and there is no public money being spent on control.”

Responding to the call, a spokeswoman for the agency said:

“NatureScot supported Local Goose Management Groups to trial methods to control greylag geese with the view that groups would then use their expertise on the ground to manage populations sustainably once funding for these adaptive management projects had come to an end.

“As planned, while we continue to work with groups on sustainable approaches to controlling resident greylag geese and their impacts on agriculture, our role has now shifted to an advisory role.

She said the organisation recognised the concerns about ongoing funding and remained happy to be involved in further discussions on the issue with Scottish Government and SCF.