THE head of the Scottish Government nature agency says she and her staff will do “everything we can” to resolve the problem of beaver shooting after the outcry over the level of killing last year.
Scottish Natural Heritage becomes NatureScot today with a new logo, under a £63,000 rebranding exercise aimed to help it communicate its
message better. Its chief executive, Francesca Osowska, said the spending represented “excellent value for money” and would help the agency communicate with people.
But communicating about the agency’s work with reintroduced beavers is one of the toughest challenges facing Osowska, with farmers and conservationists at loggerheads and widespread public disquiet.
In the seven months after the animals were made a protected species in May last year, 87 beavers, around a fifth of the known population, were shot legally under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage. Campaigners say a petition to the Scottish Parliament demanding relocation of the animals instead of shooting has more than 11,600 signatures and is on track to become the most signed Holyrood petition in the past five years.
Speaking ahead of the rebrand launch, Osowska said solving problems such as those presented by beavers is at the core of NatureScot’s work.
A count in 2017 found there were about 450 beavers around the Tay, descended from animals illegally released more than 15 years ago. The population is now thought to be higher than that.
Some cause flooding problems for farmers, including many in the flat country east of Blairgowrie, and Osowska said: “I have heard it said that if you were to pick an area of Scotland which would be really difficult for beavers in terms of conflict with human activity, Tayside is probably it in terms of the agricultural use of that land.”
Nevertheless, the animals were made a protected species by the Scottish Government in May last year because their dams can be a buffer against flooding and enrich the ecosystem. NatureScot now has to strike a balance between farming and conservation, issuing licences to kill where it believes they are necessary.
Osowska pointed out that the licensing system should now ensure culling is done humanely, and said options including translocations within the existing beaver range – previously not done – were being considered to avoid more deaths, but she would not commit to cutting the number of shootings.
She said: “We will do everything we can to try to resolve these issues. I’m not going to speculate on where we’ll end up ... I would hope we can use other methods of control.”
The change of name at the agency was promoted in part by research showing people were confused by the word heritage in the old name, Osowska said: “They thought that meant we looked after ancient buildings and monuments and, important as that is, that isn’t what we do ...
“We found people were really getting engaged with nature and we wanted to engage with people more about nature. We really wanted to underline our purpose and goal ... putting nature at the forefront of everything we do including our name could help us do that.”
On the cost of the change, she said: “It represents excellent value for money. If you were to benchmark other rebrands that other organisations have done, particularly in the corporate world, if you can show me an example of less than half a million being spent I would be astonished, and we have done all of this in house.”
Among the costs are new signs on NatureScot buildings, but much of the change, which started last year and will take three years, will be achieved by replacing materials that have reached the end of their life.
Osowska said the agency’s job is also changing, with more people using the outdoors as a result of the coronavirus crisis and the restrictions on foreign holidays and indoor activities. She said this was increasing the need for good communication: “We are seeing some instances of anti-social behaviour ... but the majority of people enjoying the countryside are doing so responsibly.”
She said better education and information is the key to the problem, rather than putting more resources into enforcement, and the agency is recruiting more staff and extending other contracts to make sure it has enough workers to keep the public informed.
“Foreign travel is going to be disrupted for a number of years, so we will spend the next wee while looking at the lessons we can learn,”
she added.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel