Question reference: S6W-23467
- Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 30 November 2023
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Current status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 December 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made to identify an alternative to using Asulox as a method of bracken control.
Answer
A number of alternative methods of control are available to aid bracken management depending on the intended outcome of a control strategy and the challenges that could be encountered.
The Scottish Government will continue to support stakeholders by working with NatureScot to progress priorities that were identified at the stakeholder roundtable in August. These include delivery of best practice guidance, to be in place for June 2024, and development of a bracken framework which will help land managers consider where bracken control is needed, how it could be undertaken and the intensity of any control.
The Scottish Government takes the use of chemicals very seriously. Pesticide products are only authorised where data demonstrates that the proposed use will not have unacceptable effects on human health or the environment.