Deer Management Day
Matt Moss
On Saturday 11th December, Matt Moss from High Weald AONB presented a day on deer management on the farm. Deer are an important part of the UK’s woodland ecology and wood-pasture ecosystems, but in recent years non-native and naturalised deer species have reached unsustainable levels and seriously threaten the habitats that they - and other species - depend on.
On Saturday morning, I led a walk and talk with a group of farmers and small holders. The talk focused on deer impact and how fallow deer affect our woodland ecology and farming communities. Many of the conservation focused grants available to land managers ask for an assessment of whether deer are having a detrimental impact on the land. This is called a Deer Impact Assessment. It is used to guide a deer management plan. Over the morning I showed everyone on the course how to recognise and evaluate deer impact signs, some of which included, how to spot deer racks and slots, how to evaluate browsing damage, and how to calculate the value of loss to one’s farming crops. The morning was not just about the technical side of assessing deer it was about bringing like-minded people together to share their interests and passion for our natural landscape, wild food and conservation.
