SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

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When the Policy Report and Recommendations of the National Goose Forum (NGF) was presented to Ministers in December, we were both immediately impressed by the well-argued and detailed content of the report, together with the obvious degree of consensus which the Forum had been successful in achieving.

The challenges presented by the interactions between wild geese and agriculture in Scotland are significant and fraught with potential for conflict. To arrive at a coherent set of management proposals has not, we fully recognise, been an easy task. The members of the NGF are therefore to be congratulated on a job not only well done, but one which has been completed with sensitivity and an awareness of the diversity of interests affected by the resulting policy proposals.

Having now had an opportunity to consider all 34 recommendations put forward by the Forum - together with the responses generated by public consultation on the report - we have been pleased to find that those initial impressions of the NGF's work were fully justified.

We were also particularly encouraged by the extent to which responses to the public consultation displayed not only a breadth of vision, but also a willingness to recognise the legitimate interests of other sides in the debate. It is welcome and reassuring that, on an issue as potentially emotive as this, the organisations and individuals who responded were, to a significant degree, prepared to look beyond their own immediate sectoral interests and set their arguments firmly within a wider context - seeing nature conservation, sport shooting and agricultural concerns as different facets of a common interest in a shared natural heritage. If such a co-operative approach can be maintained, this must surely augur well not only for the national policy framework on geese, but also for the successful resolution of future debates on similarly contentious and difficult issues.

It is now necessary to put the Forum's proposals into effect. In doing so we are particularly conscious that early action on key recommendations is required if we are to have local schemes in place within the new framework for the coming winter season.

The degree of consensus apparent in the original report, and confirmed by the consultation responses, means that the bulk of the NGF recommendations can be readily translated into national policy without further delay. We are therefore happy to endorse the NGF report and its proposals for a new National Policy Framework, subject to the recognition that a minority of recommendations do require some further work. We have now asked officials to take forward implementation of the report's central proposals and to give appropriate further consideration to the limited number of areas where further work is required.

In view of the timescales involved, we have already moved to establish a National Review Body. It is now essential that work on the development of local schemes should begin as soon as possible, so that outline applications can be submitted by local groups for consideration by the Review Body in June.

Although there was general agreement from consultees on the approach suggested by the Forum, we recognise that there remain issues for further discussion, particularly in relation to some of the technical details of the Population Viability Analysis (PVA) work. Concerns were also expressed, in particular in relation to Greenland Barnacle geese and the impacts of resident Greylag populations. We have asked officials to address specific queries directly with those consultees who raised points of detail on matters such as the PVA work.

We also recognise that support for the recommendations on goose populations is dependent, in the view of many consultees, upon the conduct of effective monitoring and additional research work in the future. We wholeheartedly accept this point and welcome the extent to which all sides are clearly prepared to see impartial scientific advice as a fundamental determinant in the making of future policy. The National Review Body will be responsible for co-ordination of monitoring work, to ensure that the requirements of the National Policy Framework are met.

Subject to further representations on the subject from interested parties, we are happy to confirm that no alteration in the protective regime for the small Scottish population of Light-bellied Brent geese is proposed. This population was not discussed in the NGF report.

We endorse the NGF recommendation that no amendment to national or international legislation is required at present but, as suggested by the Forum, would be prepared to reconsider the position if circumstances change. We will want to work with international partners on the management of shared goose populations and intend to promote appropriate contacts and international initiatives, including consideration of international flyway management schemes.

In common with many consultees, we believe that it is important for the National Policy Framework to be sufficiently flexible to allow particular local circumstances to be taken into account. We are asking the National Review Body to take account of the particular concerns raised by local interests in their responses to the consultation. Guidance on the development of a framework application for a Local Goose Management Scheme will be issued to local groups in the very near future. Local groups will be encouraged to propose local solutions to specific local problems, within the context of the overall principles established by the National Policy Framework.

Given the clear consensus on the need for, and value of, the National Review Body envisaged by the NGF, we have already taken action to ensure its establishment under the chairmanship of Andy Robertson, SERAD Chief Agricultural Officer. Representation has been invited at the national level from conservation, farming, crofting, land-owning and shooting interests.

The new approach to the management of goose populations proposed by the NGF requires a reliable information base. Co-ordination of the monitoring effort will be undertaken through the National Review Body. It is evident that strong support also exists for improved monitoring of hunting mortality and that this support includes representatives of shooting interests and the police. Better monitoring will provide a further important data input, allowing the development of more comprehensive and finely-tuned population models. We are progressing the development of a valid methodology to meet the Forum's recommendations.

There was general concern from consultees that current funding for goose management is insufficient. We recognise that a fair system of payment with justifiable and realistic payment levels is an important component of the National Policy Framework. We shall be giving careful consideration to the overall funding requirements in the context of the next spending review.

We are extremely grateful to all who responded to the consultation. It was clear from those responses that the work of the NGF has produced a coherent and widely welcomed set of recommendations. The argumentation behind those recommendations was detailed and there were inevitably areas, in particular in relation to the PVA work, where consultees raised queries which could not readily be covered in this response. We will however ensure that such points are dealt with in direct correspondence with consultees.

Finally, it would be remiss not to thank once again the members of the National Goose Forum for their hard work and invaluable contribution of time and effort over the last three years. There is however further hard work ahead. If that work can be carried forward with even a proportion of the dedication, co-operation and commitment to objective debate which characterised the NGF, then we can all, with some considerable justification, feel confident of success in implementing a new national policy for geese in Scotland.

SARAH BOYACK MSP Minister for Transport and the Environment	ROSS FINNIE MSP Minister for Rural Affairs

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