Members of the Scottish Parliament ask questions of Ministers to elicit data and/or statements from the Scottish Government (SG). Some recent Q&As are given below (in edited and sometimes reduced form) with website reference numbers.
S6W-16672 Alexander Burnett: What assessment has the Scottish Government made of any potential impact of reintroducing wildcats to the Cairngorms?
Mairi Gougeon: The 'Saving Wildcats' project submitted a licence application to NatureScot in September 2022 to permit the translocation of wildcats from conservation breeding facilities to sites in the Cairngorms Connect Project area. The decision document is available on the NatureScot website (search for 220947).
S6W-17526 Mark Ruskell: What assessment has been made of any climate implications of redefining the definition of deep peat from 40cm to 30cm in relation to the muirburn licensing provisions of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill?
Mairi Gougeon: A 2022 report by NatureScot has shown that there is limited and unclear evidence on the impact of muirburn on the total carbon budget. Therefore no specific such assessment has been made. The Bill’s provisions take a precautionary approach aimed at allowing muirburn to continue as a land management tool, and as a method of controlling the risk of wildfire, alongside reducing the risk and volume of carbon emissions.
S6W-19948 to 19950: Mercedes Villalba: How many (i) individuals (ii) corporations (iii) public bodies own land holdings over 500 hectares in Scotland, broken down by region?
Mairi Gougeon: On 19 July 2023, out of the 2040 registered titles with a footprint area over 500 ha, 809 are owned exclusively by one or more natural persons, and 434 by one or more companies. A further 15 titles are leased exclusively by one or more natural persons, and 2 are mixed tenure titles. Of the 615 areas of unregistered land over 500 ha, an estimated 244 are indicatively owned exclusively by one or more natural persons, and an estimated 188 by one or more companies. A further 212 titles are leased exclusively by one or more companies and 2 are mixed tenure titles. These figures exclude titles with a complex proprietorship structure consisting of a mix of natural and non-natural persons which may include a company. (Regional tables were supplied)
Estimates for public bodies are highly dependent on how such bodies are defined and name-searched in the Land Register … We estimate that on 21 July 2023, public sector bodies (including local authorities) held approximately 32,882 holdings across all tenure types, covering a combined area of approximately 884,350 ha, of which 288 holdings exceed 500 ha.
S6W-18571: Rhoda Grant: What the average cost per hectare to restore peatland, and what factors prevent targets from being achieved?
Mairi Gougeon: The average cost of restoration in 2022-23 was around £2,326 per ha, with significant variation in the actual cost to restore peatland depending on site specific factors like the size and location of the site, level of degradation and required work to remedy, and accessibility. The factors preventing targets from being achieved are physical limitations imposed by weather, access and ecological constraints and gaps in contractor availability and skill shortages.
6W-19951: Mercedes Villalba: How many privately-owned land holdings over 500 hectares are used for (a) food production, (b) timber production, (c) energy generation, (d) carbon sequestration, (e) affordable housing, (f) flood reduction, (g) nature recovery and (h) natural heritage?
Mairi Gougeon: While the Scottish Government does not currently hold land use data for land as categorised in the question, it does hold information in relation to land use for specific purposes, e.g. where farmers (who may not be owners) make applications for funding. Individual holdings of over 500 hectares will often have a mixture of uses. For example, Scottish Forestry has engaged with 324 separate areas of privately owned land over 500 hectares that are under forest cover and used primarily for timber production and carbon sequestration but also contribute to natural heritage and nature recovery. Proposals for compulsory Land Management Plans for large land holdings will require land holders to detail the use and management of their land.
S6W-19863 and 19864: Murdo Fraser: What is the estimated cost to the public purse, and how much deer management is currently done (a) by its agencies and (b) privately?
Lorna Slater: The estimated cost to public agencies for all deer management actions in 2022-23, including culling, provision of fencing, deer larders and other equipment, was £8,838,400. The total number of deer culled by public agencies in 2022-23 was recorded as 38,242. The annual cull data collected by NatureScot, plus estimates of unreported private sector deer culls, suggests that in 2020-21 approximately 20% of deer culled in 2021 were culled by SG agencies and 80% by private land managers and NGOs.
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