{"id":671278,"date":"2026-01-03T13:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/671278\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T13:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:54:16","slug":"scottish-cabinet-secretary-commits-to-further-research-on-gamebird-releases-raptor-persecution-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/671278\/","title":{"rendered":"Scottish Cabinet Secretary commits to further research on gamebird releases \u2013 Raptor Persecution UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill<\/a> was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in February 2025 and received extensive scrutiny through Parliamentary Stages 1 and 2, which concluded in December 2025 just prior to the Xmas break.<\/p>\n

The Bill as it currently stands after Stage 2 can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Bill is quite broad but generally deals with proposals to introduce targets to improve biodiversity, proposals on Environmental Impact Assessments and the Habitats Regulations, proposals on the aims of National Parks and their management, and proposals on the management of wild deer.<\/p>\n

Stage 3 of the Bill, where final amendments can be lodged and debated in the Chamber prior to a vote on whether the Bill is passed is expected to take place soon, with the goal of completing it prior to the dissolution of the Parliament for the May 2026 election.<\/p>\n

There are many topics of interest in this Bill but those of specific interest to this blog include amendments relating to closing the loophole in the grouse moor licensing scheme (I\u2019ll blog separately on that), a proposed amendment to permit licences to falconers to take Mountain Hares (I\u2019ll blog separately on that) and a number of amendments relating to the licensing of non-native gamebird releases (Pheasants & Red-legged Partridges). That is the subject of this particular blog.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A non-native Red-legged Partridge, one of millions released into the UK countryside every year for shooting. Photo by Ronnie Gilbert<\/p>\n

There were over 300 amendments proposed to this Bill and the Stage 2 debates, led by the Rural Affairs & Islands Committee, took place during extended sessions on 19th and 26th November and 3rd and 10th December 2025, including additional sessions that had to continue into the evenings just to get through them all.<\/p>\n

The amendments relating to non-native gamebird releases were heard on 19th November and interestingly, were proposed by three MSPs from three different parties \u2013 Lorna Slater MSP (Scottish Greens), Mercedes Villalba MSP (Scottish Labour) and Beatrice Wishart MSP (Scottish Lib Dems).<\/p>\n

Lorna Slater\u2019s amendment (Amendment #40) proposed a licensing scheme for Pheasants (surprisingly, she didn\u2019t include Red-legged Partridges, I\u2019m not sure why) to curb the mass release of non-native gamebirds to be shot for entertainment. A Scottish Greens press release on this issue can be read here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t calling for an immediate outright ban, although she acknowledged, during the debate, a personal opinion that that would be a \u201cgood idea\u201d. I suspect she probably went for licensing rather than a ban because she recognised that without scientific evidence showing the damaging impact to the environment of releasing millions of non-native gamebirds, the Scottish Government would be unlikely to take such a step. She argued that:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should know how many Pheasants there are, who is releasing them and where, and we should know the impact they are having on our environment. We do not know those things\u201c.<\/p>\n

Predictably, her proposal was attacked by the three Conservative committee members (Tim Eagle MSP, Rachael Hamilton MSP and Finlay Carson MSP) with varying degrees of outrage and ignorance. Notable was Tim Eagle\u2019s reference to the recent report on gamebird releases in the Cairngorms National Park, where he, let\u2019s be charitable, perhaps inadvertently, misrepresented the report\u2019s findings (which I discussed in a previous blog, here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Lorna Slater withdrew Amendment #40 in favour of Amendment #12 in the name of Mercedes Villalba MSP (see below).<\/p>\n

Mercedes Villalba proposed a couple of amendments relating to gamebird releases. Amendment #12 proposed modifying Section 14 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (introduction of new species etc) whereby Scottish Ministers must publish a strategy for the long-term management of an introduced (non-native) species including an assessment of the expected effect of the non-native species on the natural environment. <\/p>\n

Mercedes\u2019 other amendment on this subject (#55) proposed repealing Section 14 part 2a of the W&C Act, which exempts anyone releasing Pheasants and Red-legged Partridge from committing an offence if releasing a non-native species beyond its native range. She argued that the game-shooting sector had negotiated this exemption as part of the Wildlife & Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011 but that this amounted to \u2018putting up our natural environment for sale\u2019 where commercial profit for private shareholders (shoot owners) was causing additional cost to the public purse for environmental conservation.<\/p>\n

Beatrice Wishart\u2019s amendment (#269) proposed giving Scottish Ministers the power to restrict releases of non-native gamebirds where those releases risk damaging flora, fauna or the wider environment. It would enable Ministers to specify where and when such restrictions apply, based on evidence of environmental harm. Beatrice said during the debate that her amendment was triggered after learning that Red-legged Partridges had been released on Shetland!<\/p>\n

She lodged a further amendment (#270) proposing to amend Section 44 of the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 to give NatureScot explicit powers of entry to land for the purpose of monitoring or assessing species that are considered to be outside of their natural range. She argued that this would \u201cprovide the practical access that is needed for early detection, accurate assessment and timely intervention \u2013 key principles of effective non-native species management\u201c.<\/p>\n

In response to these proposals, Cabinet Secretary Gillian Martin MSP urged the members not to press the amendments at Stage 2 and that she was willing to work with them, ahead of Stage 3, to see whether further refinement \/ agreement could be found.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the amendments collectively, she said this:<\/p>\n

\u201cI acknowledge the concerns that stakeholders and the committee have expressed about invasive non-native species. I am aware that INNS are one of the key drivers of biodiversity loss, as identified by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and ambitious targets are set out in the global biodiversity framework to tackle that. I am also mindful of the concerns that have been expressed about the species that have been exempted from the provisions in section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.<\/p>\n

\u201cStakeholders have highlighted the potential impacts of the common pheasant and red-legged partridge on our native biodiversity, as well as the risks that those species pose in relation to the spread of avian influenza. Stakeholders have also spoken about the effects of the self-seeding of Sitka spruce on sensitive habitats such as peat bog.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven those concerns, I absolutely understand why Mercedes Villalba has lodged her set of amendments. I agree entirely that having in place a robust process to manage the impacts of any non-native species that are exempted from section 14(1) and (2) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 makes sense. However, we must ensure that such a process is aligned fully with current legislation, is workable in practice and does not cause harm to Scotland\u2019s rural economy\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201c… Amendment 55 would remove the current exemption for common pheasant and red-legged partridges. The Scottish Government is aware of the concern about the potential impact of game bird releases. However, we are concerned that\u2014 as has been mentioned by members\u2014we currently do not have a complete calculation of the number of game birds that are being released in Scotland. Without that information, it is very difficult to take an informed view on the potential impacts.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving heard what has been said in today\u2019s discussion, we will give careful consideration to whether further research is needed to address the evidence gaps. Although I cannot support the amendment at this stage, I am committed to exploring whether additional research needs to be undertaken\u2014I suggest that it does\u2014in order to strengthen our understanding and to support informed discussion on sustainable game bird management in Scotland in the future\u201d.<\/p>\n

There was an intervention by Lorna Slater:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in some agreement on the data collection point. My Conservative colleagues to my right have also expressed some frustration that we do not have the data. However, arguing that we do not know how many game birds are released is somewhat circular, given that licensing would provide a mechanism to determine that. I am not suggesting that any restrictions be applied until data is gathered. I am interested in hearing a more robust commitment from the cabinet secretary about data collection so that both sides of the argument can come to the discussion with some evidence, rather than our own particular views\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Cabinet Secretary responded:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I said, I have heard all the arguments on the issue, and they are well
rehearsed. I have pretty much committed to further research on the issue, which I think is needed\u201c.<\/p>\n

None of the amendments were pressed and it remains to be seen whether they return in a slightly different format at Stage 3.<\/p>\n

Whether they return or not, it\u2019s very encouraging that the issue of releasing millions of non-native gamebirds for so-called \u2018sport shooting\u2019 continues to be raised in the Scottish Parliament, and especially as the amendments were lodged by politicians from three separate parties. <\/p>\n

This issue isn\u2019t going away anytime soon.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in the details of the various discussions and debates held during the session on 19 November 2025 you can watch the parliamentary video (here<\/a>) or read \/ download the official report (transcript) here:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament in February 2025 and received extensive scrutiny…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[70,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-671278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115831509071000347","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}