New funds will be made available to help farmers and crofters on Scottish islands to effectively manage local populations of greylag geese.
A rise in geese numbers over the years on numerous Scottish islands has caused significant agricultural damage to barley crops and pasture.
Numbers have increased significantly in particular locations; on Orkney from the estimated population of 1,500 birds in 2001, 21,367 birds in 2012 to 26,500 birds 2021.
To address this, the Scottish government is providing more financial support to existing adaptive management projects on Orkney, Uist, Lewis and Harris and Tiree and Coll.
These projects, established by NatureScot in 2012, help farmers to control populations and reduce their impacts on agricultural activity and habitats.
Environment minister Mairi McAllan recently visited Rennibister Farm on Orkney to announce the funding and meet farmers and members of NFU Scotland.
She said: “I have listened to the concerns of farmers and crofters on Orkney, Lewis and Harris, Uist, Tiree and Coll about the difficulties they have had in controlling resident greylag populations.
“I understand how serious the impacts can be for crofting communities, and for the unique machair habitat and biodiversity that their traditional form of agriculture supports.
“That’s why we are contributing up to £50,000 towards resident greylag goose control on these islands over the next two years to mitigate the impact on agriculture and support unique and important habitats.
“This is part of our wider approach to delivering more resilient and sustainable farming systems.”
NatureScot established four pilot projects in 2012 to test whether local populations of resident greylag geese, a quarry species, could be managed effectively to reduce their impacts on farming activity.
The Scottish government's nature agency said it would continue to work with farmers to balance conservation of geese with reducing and preventing agricultural damage.
NatureScot added that it would carry out a 5-yearly review of goose policy later this year.
