title: Goose management in Scotland: An overview.
abstract: This paper reviews the changing status of goose populations in Scotland since the 1940s, and the changing policies and management activities employed over that time. The size of all goose populations has risen since the 1940s due to protection measures, changes in agriculture and levels of shooting, in the UK and elsewhere. The development of goose policies in response to public interest and pressures is described. Some changes in goose populations since 2000 can be linked to this policy development. Policy is now split between protective measures for some species and adaptive management approaches encompassing control measures for others. The paper identifies the importance of the social and economic concerns of some parties in the development of goose management approaches, rather than scientific advice based on goose population numbers and trends, and recognises that future goose policy will necessarily be a difficult compromise between wide ranging, and even opposing positions and views.
authors.affiliation: Luckie Harg's, Anwoth, Gatehouse of Fleet, Castle Douglas, DG7 2EF, Scotland, UK. luckiehargs@btinternet.com.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bainbridge
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D058735:Environmental Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005777:Geese / Q000502:physiology*; D011050:Policy Making; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012606:Scotland
keywords: Adaptive management; Goose populations; Wildlife policy