The Stage 1 report on the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Bill has been published this morning.
This is the report prepared by the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs & Islands Committee, the lead committee responsible for scrutiny of the Bill, and provides its conclusions and recommendations for the various parts of the Bill, e.g. provisions to ban glue traps, to address raptor persecution with a licensing scheme, to licence the use of certain traps, to licence muirburn, to ban snares, and to extend the investigatory powers of the Scottish SPCA. The Committee’s conclusions and recommendations are based on the evidence the Committee has heard over the last several months and, undoubtedly, on the individual biases and interests of the Committee members.
The Stage 1 report is published in advance of the Stage 1 debate, where the entire Scottish Parliament has an opportunity to vote on the general principles of the Bill to decide whether it progresses to Stage 2, which is when amendments can be proposed.
The Stage 1 debate is anticipated to take place before the end of this month although there seems to be some uncertainty about the actual date at the moment. I’ve heard various suggestions that it’ll be on either 29 or 30 November.
The Stage 1 report can be read/downloaded here:
UPDATE 30 November 2023: Environment Minister provides additional evidence ahead of today’s Stage 1 debate on grouse moor licensing bill (here)
Raptor Persecution UK 
I spent 2 hours going through 79 pages and 454 paragraphs of this detailed Stage 1 Report today. It’s hard work, but shows the attention the committee paid to all consulted, and the complexities of the issues involved in this Bill. I need some help before writing to my MSP ahead of the debate next week(?) Any advice from RPUK would be helpful.
To quote the Scottish Play – “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” But welcome progress nonetheless.
Be careful. The final lines are: A tale told by idiots, signifying nothing.
Ruth I’m sure you and others are all over this but it can’t be widely enough circulated:
IUCN UK Peatland Programme Position Statement: Burning and Peatlands V.4 April 2023.
The IUCN UK Peatland Programme reaffirms that, while there are some dissenting voices, the IUCN UK PP remains committed to the broad consensus of the science arrived at by the majority of acknowledged peatland specialists.
Key points, which are addressed in our full position statement (originally produced in 2017, updated in 2020, 2021, and 2023) include:
1. The overwhelming scientific evidence base points to burning on peatlands causing damage to key peatland species, peatland ecosystem health, and the sustainability of peatland soils.
2. Burning vegetation on peatland brings no benefits to peatland health or sustainability.
3. Evidence points to peatland restoration management not requiring burning; burning is harmful to the prospects of peatland restoration.
4. Misleading interpretations of some scientific work point to methodological inconsistencies in defining peatlands and assessing impacts of burning management; there is no evidence that peatland ecosystem health in the UK benefits from burning.
5. The most effective long-term sustainable solution for addressing wildfire risk on peatlands is to return the sites to fully functioning bog habitat by removing those factors that can cause degradation, such as drainage, unsustainable livestock management and burning regimes. Rewetting and restoring will naturally remove the higher fuel load from degraded peatland vegetation.
6. Further research and good practice guidance is required for managing wildfire risk on peatlands.
Can be basically summed up as ‘leave peatland alone’!