Loch Choire deer control scheme set to be revoked

Scotland’s first compulsory deer control scheme is set to be lifted, after the Scottish Government said Loch Choire Estate in Sutherland had reached a voluntary agreement with NatureScot on managing its red deer. A notice published on 24 July states that ministers intend to revoke the section 8 deer control scheme “in recognition of the voluntary agreement which has been reached on Loch Choire Estate, and the progress on deer management which has been made to date”.

Why was a control scheme imposed at Loch Choire?

The scheme was made by NatureScot under section 8 of the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 and confirmed by Jim Fairlie, the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, in April 2025. It was the first use of the power since the Act was passed.

NatureScot turned to the compulsory route after it was unable to secure a voluntary control agreement with the estate’s owner, More Work Holdings, following a formal notice under section 7 of the Act in March 2024. The regulator was satisfied that red deer, or the way they were being managed, had damaged and were continuing to damage blanket bog within four sites of special scientific interest in the control area: Ben Klibreck, Mallart, Truderscaig and the Skinsdale Peatlands.

What did the scheme require the estate to do?

The scheme required the estate to reduce red deer to a spring density of 7.5 per square kilometre within five years, against NatureScot estimates of around 14 deer per square kilometre when the process began. It also required fortnightly cull returns to the regulator, records of recruitment and mortality, participation in deer counts and quarterly progress meetings. A shortfall of up to five per cent against the culling guidance did not of itself count as a breach where the estate had used all reasonable endeavours to meet it. The scheme did not itself authorise anyone to take or kill deer; that authority sat separately, as the scheme document makes explicit.

What does the revocation notice say?

The notice, published under schedule 2 of the 1996 Act, states that Scottish Ministers intend to revoke the control scheme following an application from NatureScot itself. The step is taken in recognition of the voluntary agreement now reached on the estate and the progress made on deer management to date.

What happens next

Anyone wishing to object to the revocation has 28 days from the first publication of the notice, which appeared on 24 July, to write to the Scottish Government’s deer control scheme mailbox at deercontrolscheme@gov.scot. If the revocation proceeds, deer management at Loch Choire will continue under the voluntary agreement reached with NatureScot rather than under compulsion. The full notice and the original control scheme documents can be read on the Scottish Government website.