Scotland urged to license grouse shooting, manage deer populations and preserve fishing to boost wildlife

RSPB, Scottish Wildlife Trust and WWF Scotland say reversing decline in nature will bring jobs and revitalise environment, writes Harry Cockburn

Scotland's out of control deer population have no natural predators, and leave landscapes treeless due to grazing on shrubs and shoots (Getty )

A group of the UK’s most prominent wildlife charities have drawn up a list of high impact measures they say should be implemented in order to ensure Scotland’s depleted wildlife can return to the country.

The UK is one of the world’s most nature depleted countries, and in Scotland, a 2019 UN report found 49 per cent of species have declined and one in nine is threatened with national extinction.

RSPB Scotland, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and WWF Scotland have set out what they describe as 11 “transformative actions for nature’s recovery in Scotland”, to help reverse these declines, create new jobs, improve the wellbeing of people, and introduce new legal protections designed to revitalise the environment.