§ Mr. Russell BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what was(a) the cost of producing the Langholm report into raptors and (b) the cost of compensation that had to be paid to landowners. [120378]
§ Dr. ReidI have been asked to reply.
The subject matter is now devolved. However, the Game Conservancy Trust and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology carried out a study between 1992 and 1996 of grouse populations on Langholm and other moorland estates in response to concerns about the impact of birds of prey on the number of grouse available during the annual shooting season. The results, published in 1997 as "Birds of Prey and Red Grouse", cost £400,000; the study 93W was funded and guided by a consortium of those with an interest in the subject, which included Scottish Natural Heritage, Buccleuch Estates, RSPB and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
The study was undertaken for research purposes: no compensation was paid to landowners.