Natural Heritage site 'Audit List'
The Site Audit records the results of a desk based examination of all designated sites for potentially negative impacts attributable to wild deer, either on their own or in combination with other herbivores. Inclusion in the audit does not confer any judgement about the reasons for condition of the special features on the site.
The main source of information used to inform the Audit is SNH's Site Condition Monitoring (SCM) 6 yearly programme. The audit is carried out at the site level based on the assessment of the natural heritage features present. The Site Audit looked at all designated sites with interests that could be affected by grazing or trampling
The Audit List addresses two key questions:
(a) Is herbivore browsing and trampling (i.e. by cattle sheep, rabbits, hares, goats and deer etc.) contributing to the assessment of features on a site as being in 'unfavourable condition'?
(b) Are deer a potential contributor to the unfavourable condition of these features - either on their own or in combination with other herbivores?
The Audit List will be updated regularly as information is verified and new data becomes available. In addition, the Audit List will, in due course, be extended to record:
(c) whether a site has been prioritised for action; and,
(d) whether the site is included in the Work Programmes
The Audit List, containing initial listings of sites that meet both these conditions, is available at: Natural Heritage site 'Audit List'
Details of individual sites
Further details of individual sites listed is provided on the web-site of Scottish Natural Heritage - see SNHi - Sitelink, which can be searched by site name. Sitelink hosts a page listing the special features for which the site is designated and the results of Site Condition Monitoring for these features.
| Designated Sites | Designated Features | |
|---|
| Total designated | 1,916 | 5,437 | |
|---|
Considered in Site Audit | 1,202 | 2,345 | ie interests that could be
affected by grazing or
trampling |
|---|
Audit List
| 188 | 245
of which 27 recovering | ie number with unfavourable
features that may be
related to deer impacts |
|---|
| Still to be confirmed * | 351 | 641 | |
|---|
Sites unrelated to deer | 663 | 1,459 | |
|---|
* most features have been assessed but outcomes need to be confirmed.
The Scottish Executive's targets [1] for bringing features into favourable condition relates to all designated features (i.e. 5,437 including all SSSIs, Natura and Ramsar features). Some sites are designated as both SSSI and Natura sites and in many cases the designated features on these sites will be the same. The Audit List includes both SSSI and Natura designations where these cover the same ground.
[1]The Scottish Executive's key targets: 80% of the special features on Scotland's nationally important nature sites to be in favourable (including unfavourable but recovering) condition by March 2008 and 95% by March 2010.
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