Chamber and committees

The licence application by the Scottish Wildlife Trust/Royal Zoological Society of Scotland contains an exit strategy for implementation during, or at the end, of the trial. The exit strategy contains four options for implementation. These are:

Option 1: Repatriation of animals to the country of origin/transfer to other reintroduction programmes;

Option 2: Housing of animals in zoological collections;

Option 3: Capturing, neutering and returning animals to live their life span in the wild; and

Option 4: Humane control of animals.

The licence application by Scottish Wildlife Trust/Royal Zoological Society of Scotland for the Knapdale Trial contains criteria for the success or failure of the beaver trial. If the Knapdale trial is judged successful these criteria could be used to inform the development of wider criteria relating to the possible establishment of beavers in the wild.

Scottish ministers will not only assess the results of the Knapdale Trial, but also take into account other relevant information such as experience from Europe and North America and information from the Beaver-Salmonid Working Group which reports to the National Species Reintroduction Forum.

No beaver has been trapped by Scottish Natural Heritage in the River Ericht.

One beaver has been captured in Tayside by Scottish Natural Heritage and is currently being kept at Edinburgh Zoo by the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) staff and volunteer trappers have conducted an informal assessment of the trapping sites and use local knowledge of the presence of otters and other protected species prior to making the decision to proceed with trapping. SNH does not conduct beaver trapping within 30 metres of otter holts.

There are no powers which enable Scottish Natural Heritage to gain access to land to capture beavers where landowners are not willing to give them permission.

However, The Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill, which was passed on 2 March 2011, introduces a new regime of species control orders that would enable access to land to control invasive non-native animals or plants.

This would be a matter for the courts to determine.

The replacement beavers were brought from the Telemark area of Norway.

There are 12 animals resident in the Knapdale trial area as of 18 February 2011.

Specifically:

(a) Six beavers of the original release and four from subsequent releases since June 2009 are currently resident in the Knapdale trial area.

(b) Two beavers have been born within the site.

(c) Two beavers died at the trial site (one of the original animals and one released since June 2009), and one animal (one of the original animals) was removed due to welfare reasons and later died at Edinburgh Zoo.

(d) Three beavers have gone missing from the trial area and are now assumed to have died.

The Scottish Government has issued its own guidance on procurement policy relating to timber and timber related products. The guidance recommends that public procurement officials should specify in orders and contracts that suppliers must provide evidence that timber and timber products have been lawfully obtained from forests or plantations that are being sustainably managed. It explains which certification schemes can be regarded as evidence in this respect whilst making clear that other evidence of sustainability should also be allowed. It also draws attention to the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) as a source of advice for assessing evidence for timber which is not part of one of those certification schemes.

The Scottish Government has not carried out any assessment of how the wider public sector in Scotland complies with the criteria set out by CPET.