Eat venison to help curb growing deer population, ministers urge
Government ministers have urged the public to eat venison to help curb the growing deer population as they launched a new quality assurance scheme.
The programme will aim to protect British woodlands by boosting consumer confidence in the meat through the introduction of a bespoke trademark.
Britain’s wild deer population is now thought to be two million, the highest at any time since the Norman Conquest and an increase on an estimate of 1.5 million prior to the pandemic.
Wild deer breed at a faster rate than the existing infrastructure to control them can currently operate, and their lack of a natural predator has led to further pressure on the tree shoots, shrubs and other vegetation that they consume.
Defra said in a statement: “Increased wild deer management is essential if we are to protect existing woodland and newly planted saplings, meet England’s tree planting targets, protect agricultural crops and biodiversity and increase carbon stocks in woodlands.”
Trudy Harrison, the Forestry Minister, said: “We must develop ways to manage deer more sustainably if we are to meet our tree-planting targets and protect our precious woodlands and biodiversity.
“This announcement is an important step towards achieving that aim and creating a thriving market for British wild venison.”
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