Seòmar agus comataidhean

Provision for enhanced publictransport will be incorporated into the replacement crossing in order to managepredicted increase in demand for cross-Forth travel.

Provision for enhanced publictransport will be incorporated into the replacement crossing in order to managepredicted increase in demand for cross-Forth travel.

This issue is currentlybeing considered and a decision will be made as soon as possible.

Arrangements fromlate summer are likely to comprise a combination of invitations of bids as inthe past and dialogue with potential applicant bodies on possible packages ofmeasures, building upon the known expertise and interest of the bodies. We expect Scottish Natural Heritage toplay a leading role in advising on the development of proposals for funding ofbiodiversity projects in Scotland.

Details of the licencesissued by the Executive under section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981in each of the last five years (2002 to 2006) are listed as follows. There are currentlyno plans to review licensing policy. Scottish Executive and Scottish Natural Heritageofficials are, however, jointly considering measures to simplify and streamlinethe application process.

Wild birds

Section 16(1)(a) permitsScottish ministers to issue licences to control protected species of birds for thepurposes of scientific research.

Licences Issued forthe Purposes of Scientific Research

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Ruddy duck		1

 

Section 16(1)(cb)permits Scottish ministers to issue licences to control protected species of birdsfor the purposes of conserving fauna.

Licences Issued forthe Purposes of Conserving Fauna

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Ruddy duck					2

 

Section 16(1)(e) permitsScottish ministers to issue licences to control protected species of birds for thepurposes of falconry or aviculture.

Licences Issued forthe Purposes of Falconry (species taken by falcon)

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Meadow pipit/skylark/blackbird	1		1
Meadow pipit/skylark		1	1
Meadow pipit/ skylark/blackbird/song thrush			1
Crow/rook				1
Crows					1
Meadow pipit					1
Herring gull					1

 

Licences Issued forthe Purposes of Aviculture, Exempting Keepers from the Necessity of Ringing a Schedule4 Bird, Indicated in Section 7 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Golden eagle	1	8		6
Parrot crossbill	4	2	1	3
Gyr Falcon	4	11	27	4	13
Barbary Falcon		1
Scottish Crossbill			3	2	4
Stellar’s sea eagle				5
Gyr Falcon x Gyr Saker				4	1
Peregrine Falcon				2	1
Gyr Falcon x Peregrine					1
Northern Hobby					8

 

Licences Issued UnderSection 16 (1)(i) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as Amended)

Section 16(1)(i) permitsScottish ministers to issue licences to control protected species of birds for thepurposes of preserving public health or public or air safety.

Licences Issued forthe Purposes of Preserving Air Safety

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Common gull	1	1	2	3	3
Black-headed Gull/Mallard/Tufted Duck/Mute Swan*			1	1
Buzzard		1	2	3
Heron			1	1
Curlew	1		2	1	1
Oystercatcher			1
Whooper Swan/Buzzard/Greylag Goose*				1
Ringed plover				1	1
Whooper swan				1
Greylag goose					2
Black-headed gull					1
Common gull/herring gull*		1	1
Rook	1

Note: *Licence issuedfor more than one species.

Licences Issued forthe Purposes of Preserving Public Health or Public Safety

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Common gull	2		9	17	13
Herring gull			1	2	2
Black-headed gull			1	1	3
Arctic tern			3	2
Arctic tern and common tern					2
Arctic tern/ common tern/black-headed gull					1
Common Gull/ Buzzard/ Arctic tern/ House Martin		7
Sparrow			1	1
Blackbird				1
Feral Pigeon			1	1

 

Licences issued forcontrol of birds in food-stores: no information available.

Licences Issued UnderSection 16 (1)(k) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)

Section 16(1)(k) permitsScottish ministers to issue licences to control protected species of birds for thepurposes of preventing serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for livestock, crops,vegetables, fruit, growing timber, fisheries or inland waters.

To Prevent SeriousDamage to Agriculture

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Geese*	115	116	181	157	150
Gulls	Nil	Nil	1	1	1
Ravens	26	34	43	53	57
Widgeons	Nil	1	Nil	1	Nil

Note:*Geese species.

 

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Barnacle	24	23	25	23	25
Greenland White-fronted	1	1	Nil	Nil	Nil
Resident Greylag in Sutherland, Caithness, Lewis and the Uists	15	18	18	25	24
Greylag, Canada and Pink-footed	75	74	138	109	101
Total	115	116	181	157	150

 

Licences Issued forthe Purpose of Preventing Serious Damage to Fisheries

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Cormorant	15	17	11	12	13
Merganser	6	4	2	3	2
Goosander	12	13	8	11	8
Heron	1	0	1	0	1
Eider duck	2	1	0	1	0

 

Section 16(2)(a) permitsScottish ministers to grant licences for the purpose of providing food for humanconsumption in relation to a gannet on the island of Sula Sgeir.

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Gannet	1	1	1	1	1

 

Section 16(2)(b) permitsScottish ministers to grant licences for the purpose of providing food for humanconsumption in relation to a gull’s egg.

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Herring gull, lesser black-backed gull Black-headed gull Common gull	4	4	2	4	1

 

Wild Animals/Plants

Section 16(3)(f) permitsScottish ministers to grant licences to control protected species of mammals forthe purposes of preserving public health or public safety:

Licences Issued forthe Purpose of Preserving Public Health or Public Safety

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Pine marten			4	2	1

 

Section 16(3)(g) permitsScottish ministers to issue licences to control protected species of mammals forthe purposes of preventing the spread of disease, and

Section 16(3)(h) permitsScottish ministers to issue licences to control protected species of mammals forthe purposes of preventing serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for livestock,crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber or any other form of property or to fisheries.

Licences Issued UnderSection 16(3)( f), (g) or (h)

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Otter	Nil	Nil	1	Nil	Nil
Pine Marten	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil

 

Section 16(4)(a) permitsScottish ministers to grant licences to, among other things, sell eggs.

 

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Black-headed gull	1	1	0	0	0

 

Section 16(4)(b) permitsScottish ministers to issue licences for the purposes of selling dead wild animalsor plants, or any part of, or anything derived from, such an animal or plant.

 

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Wigeon/mallard				1
Pine marten	3		2	1	2
Otter	3	2	3
Red squirrel	1	1	1		2
Grass snake			1
Pipistrelle		2
Wild cat	1
Adder					1
Freshwater pearl mussel	0	1	1	1	11
Oblong woodsia				1	1

 

Section 16(4)(c) permitsScottish Ministers to issue licences for the purposes of introduction of new speciesnot ordinarily resident in and not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state.

Species	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Mink	1	1
Barn Owl	4	3	4	3	2
Rhizophagus grandis				1

 

General licences

General Licences areissued annually under Section 16 to permit specific actions to be undertaken inaccordance with the conditions of the licences.

To allow the keeping of birds in certain cage traps for pest control purposes.

To permit the sale of certain captive bred native species of birds.

To permit the competitive showing of certain captive bred live wild birds.

To permit the competitive showing of certain captive bred live wild birds.

To kill certain birds with the aid of artificial light, sighting devices,mirrors or other dazzling devices.

To sell feathers and parts of certain dead wild birds.

To sell dead birds.

To sell certain species of wildfowl.

To kill or take certain birds, including the taking, damaging or destructionof their nests or the taking or destruction of their eggs for the purpose of conservingwild birds.

To kill or take certain birds including the taking, damaging or destructionof their nests or the taking or destruction of their eggs for the purpose of preservingpublic health or air safety.

To sell certain gulls’ eggs.

To keep disabled wild birds (Schedule 4).

To kill or take certain birds and take or destroy nests or eggs for the purposeof preserving air safety.

To allow the keeping of certain birds in show cages for training purposes.

To take birds’ eggs for the purpose of removing unsuccessful eggs from nestboxes.

To take the eggs of the Mallard Duck for the purposes of incubation.

To permit the exhibition for competitive purposes of a certain captive brednative species of Bird (Mealy Redpoll).

To permit the sale of a certain captive bred species of bird (Mealy Redpoll).

To permit Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Practitioners to keep certainbirds which are receiving professional treatment and which are listed in Schedule4.

To permit the keeping of a Schedule 4 bird for a maximum of seven days afterhatching.

To keep certain disabled wild-bred birds (Schedule 4) for the purpose ofRehabilitation.

To kill or take certain birds including the taking, damaging or destructionof their nests or the taking or destruction of their eggs for the purpose of preventingthe spread of disease and serious damage to livestock, foodstuffs for livestock,crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber, fisheries and inland water.

To kill or take certainwild birds by the use of a semi-automatic weapon for the purpose of preserving publichealth or air safety; preventing the spread of disease or serious damage to livestock,foodstuffs for livestock, crops, vegetables, fruit, growing timber, fisheries.

The SpeciesAction Framework is being implemented through a partnership of statutory andvoluntary bodies, with SNH in the lead. SNH set up an internal ProgrammeManagement Group shortly after the launch, and established Species Leads forall 32 species on the Species Action List.

The Species Leadshave been in discussion with external partners and five-year implementationplans for each species are being produced. SNH has committed approximately £800,000to 26 individual, new, management-related projects to date. Resources are alsobeing provided by other partners. SNH will also be contributing £150,000 to theJoint Work Programme onnative deer, in collaboration with the Deer Commission for Scotland (DCS) todovetail with the framework objectives.

Amendments arecurrently being made to the Game Acts applying in England and Wales following areview of that legislation. There is a wide range of similar legislationapplying to these matters in Scotland which does not appear to have been lookedat for some considerable time. We will consider in due course whether a reviewof this legislation would produce benefits consistent with our widerpriorities.

A report on the Strengthening and Streamlining: The Way Forwardfor the Enforcement of Environmental Law in Scotland consultation exercise is to be produced later in the summer, collatingthe responses received under the key component headings that appeared in the consultationdocument. It is intended that a copy of this report will be placed on the ScottishExecutive website. Thereafter the responses will be analysed and reviewed, togetherwith other available evidence to help the Government reach decisions on how theenforcement of environmental law in Scotland might be further developed.

Procuratorsfiscal are provided with appropriate training, development opportunities andguidance material to enable them to carry out their varied duties. Thatincludes specific guidance and training on environmental crime.

A national network of prosecutors who specialise inenvironmental cases has been in place since 2004. They work closely withprofessionals from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), thepolice and other specialist agencies, and provide advice to prosecutioncolleagues as appropriate. One of our environmental specialists has completed asix months secondment with SEPA, assisting in the preparation of prosecutionreports and providing legal advice.

A jointenvironmental training programme for prosecutors and SEPA lawyers has beenestablished, with at least two joint training events each year, including sitevisits, presentations and discussion. This has resulted in improved liaisonbetween SEPA and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and enhancedknowledge of environmental issues and policy matters.

In his statement toParliament on 21 June 2007, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growthannounced that flooding legislation will be consulted on with a view to legislation.We are looking to encourage a more sustainable approach to flood risk managementin Scotland, and shall be consulting widely on our proposals,including interactive workshops targeted at stakeholders. We shall inform Parliamentof our legislative proposals after we have had the opportunity to consider responsesto the consultation.