Petitioner: Andy Myles
Status:
Closed
Date Lodged:
20 March 2016
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to make an urgent decision about the legal status of the two populations of European beavers in Scotland, and to extend the full protection of law to the species.
Summary:
30 June 2016: The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government. Link to Official Report 30 June 2016
29 September 2016: The Committee agreed to refer the petition to the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee under Rule 15.6.2 of Standing Orders. Link to Official Report 29 September 2016
25 October 2016: The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee considered the petition and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform. Link to Official Report 25 October 2016
20 December 2016: The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee considered the petition and agreed to write to the petitioner, Andy Myles on PE1601 on European beavers in Scotland to seek his views on the petition and also write to the Scottish Government to provide an update on the timetable for European beavers to be protected under the law.
31 January 2017: The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee considered the petition and agreed to close the petition and to write to the Scottish Government requesting details of the Strategic Environmental Assessment associated with the forthcoming SSI.
Written Submissions:
In response to reports of the killing of pregant and lactating European beavers in Scotland, the Scottish Government said it was "taking time to consider the issue." In the opinion of the petitioners, this prevarication is severely damaging to Scotland's reputation for the way we conserve our wildlife and natural heritage.
We have been looking at this issue within the Scottish policy community for well over 10 years, regularly taking tiny granny steps forward. The policy community, including the Scottish Government, now has vast quantities of information on the issue.
Unless the Scottish Government can tell us precisely what more information they still require to make a decision as to the precise legal status, their hesitation begins to look like nothing more than weakness when faced by a small, vocal group of Scottish landowners.
How many years are our Government going to drag out this painful affair before finally summoning up the courage to say that beavers are back in Scotland, they are here to stay, and they will have the full protection of the law like any other species? Will they declare that the beavers are not a game species? Will they declare that the are not "vermin"?