DEER MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE MORVERN DEER MANAGEMENT AREA 2015-2020 prepared on behalf of the Management Group by Professor R.J.Putman, Woodend, Banavie, by Fort William, Inverness-shire PH33 7PB phone: 01397 772774; email: [email protected] 2 DEER MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE MORVERN DEER MANAGEMENT AREA 2015-2020 CONTENTS: Page A. Introduction: 4 The Morvern Deer Management Area: 5 Geology, Vegetation, Mammals and Birds, Invertebrates, Communities and Species of Special Interest Designations 9 Group Membership and Deer Populations 10 An overview of the main issues affecting the Management Area 11 Condition of designated sites, Woodlands and Commercial Forestry, Sustainability of Harvests, Deer-Vehicle Collisions, Non-native species The Structure of this Document 15 B. Vegetation, Deer Populations and Current Management of Individual Estates: 1. Ardtornish 16 2. Kingairloch 25 3. Glensanda 31 4. Laudale 37 5. Glencripesdale 43 6. Glencripesdale Nature Reserve 47 7. Rahoy Estate 50 8. Kinlochteacuis 54 9. Rahoy Hills 59 10. Carnoch 65 11. Killundine 70 12. Forestry Commission, Scotland 73 13. Other Affiliated Areas 76 C. Proposals for Future Management 2015-2020 1. Ardtornish 78 2. Kingairloch 79 3. Glensanda 80 4. Laudale 82 5. Glencripesdale 83 6. SNH Glencripesdale 84 7. Rahoy 85 8. Kinlochteacuis 85 9. Rahoy Hills 86 10. Carnoch 88 11. Killundine 88 12. Forestry Commission, Scotland 89 D. General Considerations General stocking rates and ongoing monitoring 89 Monitoring of deer populations; population modelling 90 Monitoring of Habitat Condition 93 Other issues: Roe deer; Non-native species 93 Best Practice, Training 94 Welfare 95 Deer-Vehicle Collisions 96 Economic Costs and Benefits; Woodland Creation 96 Communication; Education and Wider Engagement 97 3 E. Summary of Public Interest Benefits and Action Points 98 Annual Audit 101 Appendices 1. Constitution of the Morvern Deer Management Group 102 2. Summary of Woodland Resources within the Morvern Deer Management Area 105 3. Sample of audit sheet for annual completion by individual Estates and return to the MDMG. 107 4. Independent Drimnin Estate Deer Management Plan 109 Maps 121 1. Morvern Deer Management Area and Property boundaries 2. Overall Vegetation Cover of the Management Area as denoted by Land Cover Scotland 3. Reported Area of Woodland Cover (and potential woodland cover) mapped by the National Forest Inventory 4. Areas of Recent Woodland Creation 5. Designated sites within the MDMG Area 6. Reported Condition of Designated Sites 7. Condition of Native Woodlands reported by the Native Woodlands Survey of Scotland 2014 8. Deer-Vehicle Collisions reported in the Management Area between 2002 and 2013Appendices; References cited in the text: 4 A. INTRODUCTION: A1.1 The Morvern Deer Management Group area includes in effect all that land to the south of Glen Tarbert (and the A861) and Loch Sunart; bounded to the east by Loch Linnhe and to the south by the Sound of Mull. It divides in effect into two discrete areas to the west, and to the east of the chain of lochs of Loch Teacuis, Loch Doire nam Mart, Loch Arienas and Loch Aline. The entire Management area (excluding towns and villages) extends to some 47000 hectares (11000 ha in the west; 36000 hectare to the east). The area includes land in some 12 main ownerships as well as land owned and managed by Forestry Commission Scotland. Deer Management and associated activities of individual landholdings are coordinated through discussion within the Morvern Deer Management Group [MDMG], which meets formally twice a year (although other meetings may be called as required and much business is transacted via email). All member Estates atempt to have a representative present at all meetings; meetings are also attended by representatives from the Forestry Commission, SNH regional and wildlife staff and local community interest groups by invitation. The Group’s constitution is appended to this Plan. A1.2 The Deer Management Plan adopted by the MDMG in 2007 has recently expired. Following assessment of Group activities and matters addressed within the Group Plan in collaboration with SNH, MDMG has determined to update and revise the former Plan and at the same time bring it into line with the Benchmark for Deer Plans. MDMG endorses the Government’s Code of Practice on Deer Management and the ADMG’s Principles of Collaboration in relation to Deer Management. A1.3 After extensive consultation this Plan is presented as an agreed Deer Management Plan for a five year period from 2015-2020. The Plan has been prepared to integrate individual Estate Management Plans, and Long-Term Forest Plans with Group-level commitments and to ensure delivery of both private and public interest. A1.4 In any Management Area it is impossible to find a period of absolute stasis with all future factors influencing management decisions fully resolved. Indeed in the period of the previous Plan there have been a number of changes of land-ownership and/or objective. This Plan therefore is inevitably prepared against a background context with some remaining ‘unknowns’ and should not be seen as set in stone. Rather the Plan is seen as indicative, and must allow room for flexibility as circumstances may change. A1.5 In any event, management for the future is not a precise science. Active management must be accompanied by close monitoring of the condition of deer populations and habitats in order to assess whether management decisions taken are indeed delivering objectives sought. Where such monitoring suggests that objectives are not being delivered as expected, some minor adjustments to proposed policies and action plans may be necessary to meet desired targets. A1.6 Annual review of progress and approval of any minor changes in policy in the light of altered circumstances, or in response to results of ongoing monitoring programmes will be made at each Annual General meeting of the Management Group. After this time, the Plan will undergo full review with an update for the following 5 year period. A1.7 In development of the actual Management Plan which follows, the Group employed Professor R.J.Putman to collate information on deer populations and habitat condition, to assist in establishing clear definition of objectives as well as help focus discussion on future possible management options within individual Estates or the wider Management Group Area. Information was sought from all estates and from MDMG records on deer counts for the different estates or other land-holdings over the period since the last Morvern Group Plan, recorded calf-hind ratios and cull data. 5 A1.8 Detailed consultations were undertaken with individual landowners, or their managing agents, as well as all stalkers to establish i) current deer numbers and distribution on their own estates; movement patterns within Estates and between adjacent properties; past and present management policy and procedures; ii) current patterns of land use, plans and expectations for the future, as well as exploring aims and objectives of management for their deer for the future. A1.9 Additional consultation was carried out with other interest groups such as Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission for Scotland to establish their interests and aspirations for future management of the area. A1.10 Finally, independent assessments were also undertaken of the condition of the deer herds and the condition of the habitat during a series of visits to all the estates by RP between August and December 2014. A2. The Morvern Deer Management Area: A2.1 The Morvern Deer Management area [Map 1] includes all that land to the south of Glen Tarbert (and the A861) and Loch Sunart; bounded to the east by Loch Linnhe and to the south by the Sound of Mull. It divides in effect into two discrete areas to the west, and to the east of the chain of lochs of Loch Teacuis, Loch Doire nam Mart, Loch Arienas and Loch Aline. There is relatively little exchange between the two sub-areas; the division is more emphatic since the western shores of these lochs are entirely covered, from Carna to Lochaline and beyond, by the Forestry Plantations of Barr and Savary, whose boundaries have in the past been securely fenced. Although there may be some small exchange between Rahoy and Drumbuidhe in the north, such exchange is itself limited by the deer fence of Drimnin Estate’s Woodland Restoration scheme at Sornaghan. A2.2 The entire Management area extends to some 47000 hectares (11000 ha in the west; 36000 hectare to the east) and includes the Glencripesdale Reserve (owned and managed by Scottish Natural Heritage), the Rahoy Hills Nature Reserve (part-owned by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and part-owned by Ardtornish Estate), properties owned and administered by the Forestry Commission for Scotland (Barr, Savary, Fiunary and Mungasdail Forests) as well as 12 Estates currently in private ownership. A2.3 The whole of the open water of Loch Sunart, and its fringing native woodlands, fall within the Sunart Special Area of Conservation (SAC) while the shoreline woodlands of the Sound of Mull and Loch Linnhe, as well as areas along Loch Arienas and up the Black Glen fall within the Morvern Woods SAC. A further SAC protects the upland basalt areas of Beinn Iadain and Beinn na h’Uamha; with the exception of the Uladail Woods within the Morvern Woodland SAC, all these areas are also designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI: A3.1, A3.2). Geology: A2.4 The geology of the area is relatively complex for the size of the area as a whole. The principal rock types underlying the north of the area (on the shores of Loch Sunart itself) are metamorphic rocks of the Moine series: an assemblage of sedimentary rocks (mainly quartz- feldspar-granulite, or sandstone and mudstone schists) laid down in shallow waters over a basement of Lewisian gneiss.