Deer Commission for Scotland merger

Deer are an important and iconic part of Scotland's natural heritage.  From 1 August 2010, Scottish Natural Heritage has the role of promoting conservation and sustainable management of deer in Scotland.  

The Deer Commission for Scotland was established by the Deer (Scotland) Act 1996 and carried out this role for over a decade.  Scottish Government proposed that the Deer Commission for Scotland should be merged with Scottish Natural Heritage. The proposals were contained in the Public Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2010   passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 March 2010, transferring all deer functions to Scottish Natural Heritage.  

SNH has been supportive of the idea of merger as a way to further our common goals and, by blending the expertise of the two organisations, to enhance our service to our stakeholders in the land and wildlife management sector.  We have worked closely together with the Deer Commission for Scotland and the Scottish Government and independent advisers to prepare for merger so that it can proceed smoothly and swiftly, and so that there is no negative impact on the work carried out by either body.  Most former Deer Commission for Scotland work alongside SNH staff within two units with related functions, customers and areas of expertise.

'Managing Scotland's Deer: our new role' is a new publication which sets out the actions which we propose to take in exercising our new deer remit.  A new wildlife management programme will bring together the Deer Commission's existing work on deer with SNH's work on a wide range of other species and wildlife management issues.