Hunting licence to protect black grouse is rejected

An application to use more than 12 hounds for hunting foxes to protect black grouse in the Scottish Borders has been rejected. 

True North Real Asset Partners, which manages the Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund, has had its application to increase the amount of hunting dogs at a forestry plantation at Stobo Hope in Peebles denied because it failed to provide sufficient evidence that there are no alternative solutions. 

The Guernsey-based firm submitted an application to use 19 dogs as part of its predator control plan to protect existing black grouse once the planting of sitka spruce had been completed. The application was rejected by NatureScot. 

The application was also said to provide a predator control management plan to target particular species, which the agency said could adversely impact black grouse. True North had cited the “environmental benefit” for its application, as the Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 limits the number of dogs that can be used for hunting to two, unless a licence is granted. 

A True North spokesman said: “The licence application was for fox control, not for any leisure activity… There would have been no spectating followers or pageantry. This was purely about licensed fox control using dogs to flush to guns for conservation purposes and intended under new legislation.” 

NatureScot said that for the licence to be granted three tests had to be met; a licensable purpose; that there were no alternative solutions to achieve this purpose; and a contribution to a long-term environmental benefit. Although the nature agency said it was satisfied there was a purpose to fox control to protect black grouse, it still rejected the application. 

The agency ruled that True North had not demonstrated that there were no alternative solutions to controlling fox numbers without increasing the number of hounds, and questioned why it was not possible for the firm to use two dogs to flush out foxes. 

A spokesman for the local Stobo Residents Action Group suggested NatureScot refused the licence “on the basis that foxhunting will not help with black grouse conservation as the commercial spruce plantation will cause the black grouse to leave the site as habitat is lost”. 

True North said it was “disappointed” with the decision to reject the application as it “removed the most effective and selective means of fox control”, but added the firm would wait to be guided by NatureScot on how it proposed to protect black grouse populations.