Scottish grouse shooting licences

[Conor O'Gorman]

In Scotland, for this grouse shooting season onwards, land on which red grouse may be killed or taken must be licenced. This applies to both walked-up and driven grouse shooting. The licence holder will be the landowner or the person who formally holds the legal right to take or kill grouse. Not everyone who shoots a red grouse will require a licence but the land over which they are taken or shot must be covered by a valid licence.

NatureScot has stated that applications for grouse moor licences will provisionally open on 15 July through an online portal. 

A requirement in the Wildlife Management & Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024 is that a licence holder 'must have regard' to the associated code of practice. Non-adherence to the requirements set out in the forthcoming code could result in a licensing sanction.

NatureScot will publish a finalised version of the statutory code of practice for grouse moor management on 12 July 2024. The latest and near-finalised draft can be viewed here: 

https://www.nature.scot/doc/guidance-draft-code-practice-grouse-moor-management 

A ‘six steps for licensing’ guide has been prepared by NatureScot and can be viewed here: 

https://www.nature.scot/professional-advice/protected-areas-and-species/licensing/species-licensing-z-guide/red-grouse-and-licensing 
 

Edited July 3, 2024 by Conor O'Gorman

[udderlyoffroad]

Have you asked any questions of Naturescot with respect to data protection/Security of the data uploaded?  The requirement to upload a map of your boundary, and a grid reference ,would be valuable information for anti shooting organisations, who are unlikely to care about acting on information obtained illegally, after all they've been happy in the past to commit criminal damage and trespass.  Obviously, the location of the larger estates is well known, but smaller operations may be more vulnerable to 'bad actors'.

[Conor O'Gorman]

On 03/07/2024 at 15:20, udderlyoffroad said:

Have you asked any questions of Naturescot with respect to data protection/Security of the data uploaded?  The requirement to upload a map of your boundary, and a grid reference ,would be valuable information for anti shooting organisations, who are unlikely to care about acting on information obtained illegally, after all they've been happy in the past to commit criminal damage and trespass.  Obviously, the location of the larger estates is well known, but smaller operations may be more vulnerable to 'bad actors'.

That would be covered by their data protection policy.

https://www.nature.scot/about-naturescot/access-information-and-services/access-information/privacy-notice/data-protection-policy

 

[udderlyoffroad]

24 minutes ago, Conor O'Gorman said:

That would be covered by their data protection policy.

https://www.nature.scot/about-naturescot/access-information-and-services/access-information/privacy-notice/data-protection-policy

 

Hi Conor, I understand that, but I think we need to be more pro-active here, being cognisant of the Gun Trader breach.

We're talking about shoots uploading maps and information that would be valuable to organisations who are quite comfortable with criminal acts in pursuit of their aims.

Perhaps a word in NatureScot's Data Protection Officer's shell-like may be called for.

[Conor O'Gorman]

32 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Hi Conor, I understand that, but I think we need to be more pro-active here, being cognisant of the Gun Trader breach.

We're talking about shoots uploading maps and information that would be valuable to organisations who are quite comfortable with criminal acts in pursuit of their aims.

Perhaps a word in NatureScot's Data Protection Officer's shell-like may be called for.

Thanks. I am sure that is all covered off by the shooting organisations in contact with Nature Scot, but I am not directly involved so I will mention it to our Scotland team.

[Conor O'Gorman]

The red grouse shooting licence online application process is now live here:

https://licensing.nature.scot/red-grouse/apply