The FRS deer management team attended a major cross-national knowledge transfer event held in conjunction with Irish and Scottish wildlife services.

Topics such as managing deer populations on state forests, national parks, agricultural lands, and other high amenity areas; policies; and local deer management were discussed amongst the organisations.

The three-day event, organised by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the Wicklow Deer Management Partnership (WDMP) and NatureScot, took place from Tuesday 28 October and Thursday 30 October, with knowledge and experiences being shared at the Wicklow Mountains and Glenveigh National Parks in Donegal.

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Also in attendance were members of the Irish Deer Management Strategy Group (IDMSG), who, in collaboration with FRS, has been tasked with setting up a first-of-its-kind collaborative deer management groups across the country over the next four years.

FRS will facilitate the implementation of best practice deer management on a landscape scale, in collaboration with all stakeholders across the country, reducing deer numbers where appropriate, in order to help facilitate various land use objectives, such as preventing biodiversity loss and protecting agriculture and forestry.

Michael Keegan, manager of FRS Co-Op’s deer management programme, said: “FRS were delighted to be part of this event. It’s a great privilege to get an opportunity like this to share knowledge and learn from the people who have been practicing collaborative deer management in Scotland for decades.

"A massive thank you to the Wicklow Deer management Partnership, Wicklow and Donegal NPWS staff, and to NatureScot, for having the vision and foresight to hold such an event. We have had a lot of collaboration with NatureScot already, they have been extremely helpful to us, and hopefully this is the first of many such events.”