Hunting in Scotland
Hunting in Scotland, here used to include shooting and stalking, takes place in both upland and in lowland areas. Shooting is an important economic activity worth around £ 80M a year to the Scottish economy, and influences the management of an estimated 44 million ha of land. Red deer and red grouse are the most important upland game species, whereas pheasant shooting is important in the lowlands.
There is no central agency or organisation responsible for hunting in Scotland. The management and conservation of wildlife, including game species, in governed by European and National and, with devolution, the Scottish Government and its agencies.
Scotland perhaps differs to the North Hunt partner countries in having a well established hunting tourism sector. Within Scotland North Hunt aims to explore social and economic aspects of hunting, and how game populations are monitored and by comparing these with the situation in other partner countries aims to promote ecologically, socially and economically sustainable hunting tourism in the Northern Periphery.
North Hunt shares a number of common research questions with the core research of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute - see here for more information and examples of upland and wildlife research and EU FP7 funded HUNTing for Sustainability.
Scottish contact person Scott Newey (email: s.newey@macaulay.ac.uk)
For more information about hunting in Scotland see:
Association of Deer Management Groups http://www.deer-management.co.uk/
British Accociation for Shooting and conservation: http://www.basc.org.uk/
Deer Commission Scotland: http://www.dcs.gov.uk/
Game and Conservation Wildlife Trust: http://www.gwct.org.uk/
Scottish Gamekeepers Association: http://www.scottishgamekeepers.co.uk/
Scottish Countryside Alliance: http://www.scottishcountrysidelliance.org/
Scottish Country Sports Tourism Group: http://www.countrysportscotland.com/
