Hard Truths of Conservation (2022) s03e01 Episode Script

(lively music)
- Great Britain has a rich
history of deer hunting
and the consumption
of venison meat,
but as cities and demands on
natural resources have grown,
conservation
management has become
an increasingly debated topic.
I'm going to be
traveling the countryside
to see what the reality is
and learn about what the future
holds for deer management.
Hunting has become a
controversial practice
in modern times.
My name is Dan Cabela
and I'm traveling the globe
to explore the true impact
that hunting is having on our
remaining wild landscapes.
This practice goes as far back
as human history can remember,
but does it have a place
in modern conservation?
(lion roaring)
(lively music)
There are several
species of deer
that are prolific
across Great Britain.
Some of these species have
been introduced in the 1800s,
while others are
native to the island.
(lively music)
As human populations
have expanded,
the space remaining
for natural land use
and conservation has decreased.
While there is a strong
push for rewilding
in many landscapes,
there are also other land
uses competing for space,
such as forestry
and agriculture.
(lively music)
Deer are a resilient family
and their populations
have thrived
to the point of
overpopulation in some areas.
Deer could cause damage
to agricultural crops,
particularly in rural areas
where agriculture and
deer habitats overlap.
I'm going to be spending
some time in Great Britain
to learn more about land
management practices
and their impact
on deer as a whole.
(gentle music)
- So this is Creag
Meagaidh Nature Reserve.
It's owned and
run by NatureScot,
and in the last 40 years or so,
they've been embarking
on a quite substantial
deer management project
to reduce browsing
pressure on the ground
to allow natural
regeneration of the trees.
- [Dan] And you're trying to
put it back the way it was.
- Well, not necessarily put
it back to the way it was
because I think that's
a general assumption
when it comes to
conservation management.
But in actual fact,
the majority of
conservation management
tends to be trying
to make landscapes
more climate-resilient.
So we've got a
different climate,
in the future potentially,
we're gonna definitely see
wetter, milder winters here
and kind of maybe
drier spells too.
So it's about kind of future
proof in this woodland
and this landscape to
make it more resilient
to those threats going forward.
(deer bellows)
- Deer browsing can also
impede forest regeneration
by inhibiting the growth of
tree seedlings and saplings.
This poses a
significant challenge
for sustainable
forestry management
and can hinder efforts
to restore native
woodland habitats.
- This plant here,
they actually,
it's quite unpalatable for deer.
You find this in your riversides
and that sort of stuff,
so that tends to be
one of the first things
that gets away quite easily.
Things like willow
that we've got here,
and then birch as well.
Birch is meant to be
an unpalatable species,
but in actual fact,
if it's all that the
deer have got to eat,
that's what they'll go for.
It's kind of preferentially
browse in that respect.
And often first stages
of natural regeneration
is from birch
'cause it's a pioneer species.
It sends its seed
right up the hillside
and then it grows quite happily.
But then because it's
all the only thing
for the deer to eat
apart from the header
and the shrubby
layer underneath.
That gets hammered as well
and it really struggles
to regenerate too.
It's not just deer as well,
we have quite a lot
of sheep in Scotland.
And this landscape here
was quite heavily grazed
through rough grazing of sheep,
which was a land
use at the time,
and that does have an
impact on habitats too.
As we transition to a
more conservation-based
land management style,
there's probably gonna be
less sheep on the hill,
so we're gonna have
to have a higher focus
on deer management
in those areas
where there have been sheep.
- Managing deer populations
in Great Britain
has become a complex issue
with ecological, economic,
and social considerations.
(gentle music)
Deer culling is
a management tool
used to control deer populations
and mitigate their impacts
on ecosystems, habitats,
and human activities.
It involves removing
deer from a population
through a variety of methods.
- What we're finding
is about four or five
deer per square kilometer
is allowing us to get
natural regeneration here.
And roughly about
100,000 deer in Scotland
are recorded, is called.
We estimate maybe,
probably about 50,000
to 70,000 other deer
that are unregistered
in the cull figures,
so we're thinking probably
about 150,000 deer
are shot in Scotland every year.
- [Dan] Deer culling
is typically conducted
by trained professionals,
wildlife managers,
or licensed hunters,
following specific
guidelines and regulations.
The goal is to maintain
ecological balance
and healthy deer populations.
- It's an animal that
has no natural predators.
Man removed those some
hundreds of years ago,
and they are extremely
successful animal
and they have to be culled
to manage the population.
And it's also, of course, for
the benefit of the animal,
because if they're allowed
to breed and continue it,
then they wouldn't
have enough food,
there would be all
sorts of problems.
So by culling them,
we keep the population healthy.
(upbeat music)
- [Dan] The goal of culling
is to maintain
ecological balance
and healthy deer populations.
Specific deer species,
such as red deer, roe
deer, and fallow deer,
are targeted as they
are the most numerous.
(upbeat music)
In closed ecosystems with
few natural predators,
the management of species
like deer is necessary
to ensure their long-term
population health and balance
within wild
landscapes as a whole.
(upbeat music)
The landscape is primarily hilly
with open patches on
the edge of the forest.
This is where you normally
find deer feeding.
(upbeat music)
In addition to helping
to maintain the health
of deer populations in Scotland,
the management of deer species
is an important income stream
for rural communities.
(upbeat music)
(gun shooting)
(upbeat music)
- Our communities, especially
our rural communities,
are incredibly fragile.
A lot of people are
moving to the cities
and then that kind
of breaks away
from what goes on
in the countryside
and can take away jobs
from the countryside.
- I'm also assuming that if
you lost the shooting sports,
that these areas in the
conservation that are being done
would probably go fallow
or be converted to
forestation or something else.
- Yeah, they would
diminish without a doubt.
So it's important
that we educate,
it's important that
we have a voice
and promote the rural areas,
and that then attracts people
to continue on a way
of life that is vital.
- [Dan] What do you think
the future looks like
for these rural
shooting estates?
- I think they'll be safe
for many years to come
because they are
an important tool
from tourism to
biodiversity, to employment,
and to keeping rural
communities thriving.
They play such a huge
role in our countryside.
(lively music)
- You know, across the country,
we're looking really to try
and take that balanced approach
when it comes to both
private and public interests,
when it comes to nature.
Deer sporting is not
gonna go anywhere.
We really need that
to be a vital tool
in delivering our ambitions
as a country as well.
What there really needs to be
is that balance of objectives
so people are supported
in that transition
to more conservation-based
management of deer.
When you're trying
to manage impacts,
you really wanna keep deer
out of areas like this.
20 years of endeavor goes
down the pan in one season
if you don't do that.
(lively music)
- [Dan] Stalking is an
age-old tradition in Scotland,
a practice that requires
skilled patience
and a deep knowledge of
deer behavior and habitat.
Most of the stalking
is done on foot
with the goal of getting
as close as you can
and harvesting an old
male past their prime.
(whistle whistling)
(gun shooting)
(dog barking)
- [Hunter] Well done, Dan.
- [Dan] Thank you.
- [Hunter] Good shot.
Yeah, that's a warrior,
busted both of his
antlers while fighting.
- [Dan] Yeah.
- Absolutely incredible.
This will be a good one
for the freezer for sure.
(gentle music)
- The venison trade in Britain
is an important source of
income for rural communities
and a healthy source of protein.
(gentle music)
(lively music)
The meat that comes from
controlling deer numbers
is a healthy source of protein,
which is sourced sustainably.
- You've got really four
or five main products.
You've got haunches,
which are the back legs,
and from the haunch
we make steaks
and pieces of meat for roasting,
and some of it also goes
into diced for casserole,
and so on.
Then you've got a loin,
which is a very popular part.
So the fillet from
the shoulders,
we get casserole and so on.
And then there's the neck and
the flanks and the shanks,
and so on, for mincing,
either straight mince
or sausages and burgers.
(lively music)
- [Dan] We are more conscious
about where our food is coming
from today than ever before,
particularly when
it comes to meat.
Venison is gaining popularity,
which in turn gives the practice
of harvesting this meat value.
(upbeat music)
- [Speaker] I like it.
(Dan laughs)
I really like it.
(upbeat music)
- It's estimated that
over 1 million people
are shooting in the UK actively,
whether in a daily
or weekly basis,
and that is fantastic.
But obviously we want
to encourage more people
to get into shooting
and into conservation
because we see the
benefits that it brings
from our countryside
and employment.
And it's also just
from a point of view
of mental health and well-being
that a day out shooting
with friends or family,
whatever it may be,
is such a positive attribute
of living in the countryside
or even coming into the
countryside from the city.
It's very much part of the
tradition of our country,
but it's also bringing and
delivering those huge benefits
to conservation,
to biodiversity and
land management equally.
(lively music)
- While there is a strong
anti-hunting sentiment
within the UK,
there is a role that
hunting can play
within the conservation
management of ecosystems,
as well as deer species.
Amidst the competing land uses
with hunting as the primary use,
the land is kept
in a natural state,
and with proper management,
fauna and flora can thrive.
- There's a lot of
knee-jerk reactions nowadays
where all of a sudden the
next best thing to do is this,
stop shooting, stop
hunting, do this,
and 10 years later people are
scratching their head, going,
was that the right thing to do?
In actual fact,
we've lost all that,
now we can't get it back.
So we're trying to create an
estate that's nicely balanced,
but the focus is on re
naturalization of the estate,
of the natural habitats.
The Victorians straightened
out all the rivers
and put all the walls in,
and stone-picked all the
fields and cut all down,
all the trees and
bushes within the field
to allow the pastures
for the sheep to graze,
which is fine in good ground,
but on this marginal ground,
we feel the importance is more
about the environment now.
We do need to manage the deer
so that we can see the natural
regeneration coming back.
I just think it's about
finding that balance
for the sporting
side of the business
and the rewilding side of the
business to work in harmony.
- [Dan] If deer
become overpopulated,
they begin to have
a negative impact
on their own population health
and the habitat they depend on.
By selectively
managing their numbers,
we are provided with
a valuable food source
and are maintaining a balance
that will allow many
species to thrive.
(upbeat music)
- The kind of heads that
I'm trying to encourage,
so the kind of stuff that
we're shooting at the moment
is all sorts of stags,
slightly younger.
And we're trying to shoot
slightly older stags,
thicker antlers, higher up.
And these guys are just
displaying a little bit more age
than what we're typically
shooting at the moment.
I'm trying to find a balance now
between choosing the right
kind of stags to shoot,
leaving the right kind of stags,
but I'm actually considering
sitting down with my brother
and taking a lump of the
estate and just saying,
I'm gonna leave that,
that is gonna be entirely
left alone from stalking.
It's a quiet zone,
no one goes there.
No one shoots deer there,
no one stalks there,
and it's somewhere that
deer can feel safe.
I think that's important.
(lively music)
- A holistic
approach is required
for the management of land
biodiversity in the UK,
and deer stalking is certainly
a part of that strategy
into the future.
(lively music)
(gun shooting)
(gentle music)
(upbeat music)
Thoughtful decision-making
around the management
of deer is required
to ensure that deer
populations remain healthy
and habitats are managed to
accommodate all land uses.
(upbeat music)
Collaboration between all
stakeholders is essential
for developing and implementing
effective deer management plans
that promote
ecological resilience,
support biodiversity
conservation,
and minimize conflicts
between human activities
and deer populations
in Great Britain.
(upbeat music)