How can conservation objectives be reconciled with the sporting and commercial objectives of private landowners?

This is being addressed in collaboration with a RELU funded project on "Collaborative Deer Management".

• Deer range freely over a landscape made up of multiple ownership and diverse management objectives.
• Management actions in one area of their range can impact on the management in another area.
• In partnership with deer managers we are incorporating expert knowledge into a GIS to develop a shared understanding of deer range and habitat use.
• Integrating local knowledge has increased the accuracy of the GIS in predicting areas preferred by deer from around 50% to 80%.
• The GIS is being used with members Deer Management Groups to test the effect of a range of management scenarios on the diverse objectives of the land owners

The RELU deer management project website includes a searchable bibliography of deer related information.

Contact:Dr. Justin Irvine