AN APPLICATION to use more than a dozen dogs for hunting foxes to “protect” black grouse at a forestry plantation in the Scottish Borders has been rejected.
True North Real Asset Partners, which manages the Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund, has had its application denied to increase the amount of hunting dogs at a forestry in Peebles, due to failing to provide sufficient evidence that there are no alternative solutions.
The Guernsey-based firm have been planting predominantly Sitka spruce at a moorland in the Scottish Borders.
According to The Scotsman, the firm confirmed an application was submitted to use 19 dogs as part of its predator control plan to protect existing black grouse once the planting of trees has been finished.
However, the application to use dogs for fox hunting has been rejected by the Scottish Government agency that manages forestry regulation, NatureScot.
The tree planting project has been on hold since September by the Scottish Forestry after a local opposition group warned hundreds of hectares of the area had been sprayed with herbicides.
Campaigners said the spraying of herbicides would impact the local black grouse population in the area.
NatureScot reportedly said it was not informed that large-scale spraying was planned prior to the application being submitted and that the planting of the trees has been paused until new information can be “reassessed”.
In the application the firm had reportedly provided a predator control management plan to target particular species, which it said could adversely impact upon black grouse.
In a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, seen by The Scotsman, the English firm applied to NatureScot for a licence in March to use 19 dogs to hunt foxes for “environmental benefit”.
The Hunting with Dogs (Scotland) Act 2023 limits the number of dogs that can be used for hunting to two, unless a licence is granted.
“To be very clear, the license application was for fox control, not for any leisure activity,” a spokesperson for True North told The Scotsman.
“This is not hunting in the field sports sense. There would have been no spectating followers or pageantry. This was purely about licensed fox control using dogs to flush to guns for conservation purposes as intended under new legislation.”
The firm told the newspaper that the decision to introduce any form of animal control “was not taken lightly”.
It added that fox predation “is the single biggest threat to ground nesting birds, particularly black grouse, and NatureScot insisted on a predator control plan as part of the planting application”.
NatureScot said for the license to be granted three tests had to be met: a licensable purpose; that there were no alternative solutions to achieve this purpose; and a contribution to long-term environmental benefit.
Although according to the FOI, the nature agency said it was satisfied there was a purpose in controlling foxes to potentially protect the black grouse, it rejected the application.
NatureScot reportedly ruled that True North had not fully demonstrated there were no alternative solutions to controlling fox numbers without increasing the amount of hunting dogs.
It also added that it was not satisfied that a long-term environmental benefit would be achieved by granting the license.
NatureScot also questioned why it was not possible for the firm to use two dogs to flush out foxes.
True North reportedly said it was “disappointed” the application for the licence was rejected.
