Policy paper

Deer impacts policy statement: managing the impacts of wild deer in England

Published 20 February 2026

Applies to England

Executive summary: managing deer impacts to help woodlands flourish

England’s wild deer are an iconic feature of the countryside, with historic and cultural significance. Within naturally functioning ecosystems, deer can help maintain diverse habitats through their browsing habits, but when this becomes excessive damage can result.

Evidence suggests that a third (33%) of English woodlands are negatively impacted by deer – an increase from around a quarter (24%) in the early 2000s. Over browsing is damaging trees, both young and mature, and inhibiting natural regeneration of existing woodlands and the use of natural colonisation to establish new ones. Other habitats and the wildlife that depend on them are also affected. There are also growing reports of damage to agricultural crops, impacting farmers.

In England, land use changes, the introduction of non-native species and a lack of natural predators have been contributing factors to the increase of deer impacts. Wild deer have increased in range and abundance during the past 50 years and it’s clear that the management approach to date has failed to prevent an increase in their negative impacts.

Without sustainable management of deer impacts the following will likely increase:

• serious damage to planted or naturally regenerated trees in new and existing woodlands, as well as damage and loss of woodland plants
• deterioration and loss of habitats, reducing their natural capital value and accelerating declines in species that rely on them, including birds, insects and other mammals
• reduced final timber crop values through browsing damage
• deer vehicle collisions, leading to human injuries and fatalities as well as animal welfare issues
• damage to agricultural and horticultural crops, gardens and amenity spaces
• risk of increased incidences of Lyme disease, as high deer densities can sustain greater numbers of parasites such as ticks (which can carry Lyme disease), which can be passed to other animals or humans
• poor health and welfare of wild deer driven by sustained high densities, as competition for resources leads to malnourishment and increased risk of disease transmission between deer and to other animals and birds, including farm livestock

We want to help landowners and managers take action to tackle these impacts, and so improve the ecological condition, biodiversity, resilience, carbon sequestration potential, economic viability and connectivity of woodlands and other habitats. We will do this by improving the evidence base, providing targeted grants and advice, seeking improvements to existing licensing processes and legislation, increasing relevant skills, and supporting the wild venison supply chain. We will also explore and evaluate the use of alternative tree protection methods, to ensure the most effective and sustainable options are available.

This statement sets out the actions we will take in England over the next 10 years. Achieving our ambitions will be a collective effort across the public, private and third sectors, including The Deer Initiative Partnership.

1. Managing wild deer impacts sustainably

We will support the management of wild deer impacts in England so that they are not a threat to environmental, social or economic goals. This will allow woodland habitats to flourish, with deer browsing at appropriate levels, benefiting understory vegetation and supporting iconic woodland species, such as dormice and nightingales.

There are 6 species of wild deer in England. They can have varying impacts across the country, depending on the number of species present, their activities and levels of abundance in an area. The appropriate management that is needed can only be assessed at a regional or even local level. This is why we are encouraging regional and landscape-scale approaches.

The Forestry Commission and Natural England provide advice to the public and private land managers on the sustainable management and protection of new and existing woodlands and other habitats. Since 2020, this advisory function has been boosted by a dedicated team of Deer Officers established within the Forestry Commission. Their work includes helping to guide and advise landowners and managers of woodlands and forests on how best to assess and manage deer impacts, access relevant funding and collaborate across landscapes, to maximise the effectiveness of individual management efforts.

Landowner responsibilities and land management 

In some cases, deer impacts have increased to significant levels. Where affected woodlands and features are receiving public funds, we will ensure that landowners undertake sufficient measures (or allow their tenants to do so), where the impacts are impeding landowners’ ability to meet the objectives of this funding.

Actions

1.1. Defra will maintain effective grant support in woodland and agri-environmental schemes for management of deer impacts, and seek to improve the offers, where required.

1.2. The Forestry Commission will support implementation of the UK Forestry Standard, including the requirement for planned deer impacts management, to help ensure that deer browsing does not prevent natural regeneration of trees or the development of resilient forests.

1.3. All areas of publicly owned or managed land will be covered by a deer management plan or strategy by the end of this statement’s term, where necessary and practical. Defra will promote management of deer impacts through relevant strategies, such as Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Protected Landscape Management Plans.

1.4. Defra will seek to enable tenants and owners or occupiers of land to have the legal rights to shoot deer under certain circumstances. Possible legislative reform would look at the merits of granting these rights to protect crops, property or other assets.

1.5 Defra will seek to ensure that where inaction is causing demonstrably negative impacts on publicly funded woodlands, biodiversity and public interests of adjoining land, those responsible carry out appropriate management.

National, regional, and local management strategies

Deer impacts are widespread but can be particularly severe in specific areas. Targeting effort and resource to reverse the negative effects of deer in the worst-affected areas will be important to deliver the best value for money and ensure effectiveness.

This will require planning and facilitation, which will involve the public, private and third sectors working together. Using local knowledge will help ensure resources are used to best effect.

Actions

1.6. The Forestry Commission, working with others, will identify national priority areas where there is an imbalance between deer impacts and the delivery of wider public benefits, and where focussed action is needed to remedy this across landscapes and ownership boundaries. This could include setting targets in priority areas to achieve and maintain densities needed to achieve this balance.

1.7. Defra will promote collaboration between neighbours to deliver landscape-scale deer impacts management and consider how to support this within current and potential future environmental land management or other schemes, such as Protected Sites Strategies.

1.8. Defra will continue to work with the Deer Initiative Partnership to gain greater buy-in across relevant sectors and deliver the actions set out in this document.

1.9. Through the work of Forestry Commission Deer Officers, Defra will encourage, facilitate and support an increase in management of deer impacts within local authorities, non-governmental organisations, national parks and landscapes. This will be at local and regional levels, encouraging broad partnership involvement wherever possible.

Support for sustainable management approaches and reducing reliance on tree shelters

Reducing deer impacts requires investment in equipment, skills and training. Historically, funding has focused on measures such as excluding deer by fencing and use of tree shelters or repellents to protect woodland and other habitats. However, deer impacts have continued to increase despite this support. Deer fences and tree shelters are also often perceived as visually intrusive, can be harmful to the environment and be a barrier to public access. Additionally, excluding deer from large areas of land also increases their density and impacts outside fenced areas. There is also an increasing interest in using natural colonisation to establish new woodlands or natural regeneration to expand existing woods, and tree shelters will not be appropriate in these situations.

Lethal control, following established best practice and law, is currently the most effective and humane alternative (or addition) to exclusion methods, when these are inadequate in isolation, or not possible to implement. Lethal control is now necessary in many areas to manage deer impacts.

In 2022, Defra introduced a dedicated Countryside Stewardship grant to support management of deer impacts on woodlands. This includes through lethal control, where warranted and carried out to best practice, within the law, and where approved through assessment by a Forestry Commission Deer Officer. Uptake of the grant has been strong and Defra will keep its success under review. Defra will work to further develop available grant support (as needed), to support effective management of deer impacts. Grants for related items, such as high seats, and for passive measures such as tree shelters, guards and creation of exclosure plots will continue to be available.

To date, most tree shelters and guards have been made from non-biodegradable single use plastics that must be removed after use to be recycled. These can break down into small fragments meaning they sometimes cannot be easily removed. More recent designs use plant-based sources, compressed paper, or cardboard. We are undertaking testing of these new designs, including through a dedicated research trial. However, due to the need to test properties such as biodegradation, new designs will take some years to be fully tested and widely utilised.

Actions

1.10 Defra will review existing grant support for lethal control, where this is necessary to reduce deer impacts, and consider and implement any improvements, where needed.

1.11 Defra will continue to investigate effective alternatives to plastic tree guards and consider how to support their deployment, if appropriate.

Skills, standards and capacity

Ensuring that deer browsing can benefit new and existing woodlands, rather than negatively impacting them, requires knowledge and skills in deer management and assessing woodland condition. High quality training and guidance are essential to support this.

An increase in relevant skills and capacity is needed at both the practitioner and land manager level through formal mentoring, qualifications and ongoing professional development. Forestry Commission supports deer impacts management training through its apprenticeship programmes, which will train cohorts of future foresters, and through providing a grant for appropriate training for managers that take up the Countryside Stewardship deer control and management grant. Forestry Commission has also launched guidance on Woodland Condition Assessment and has collaborated with Sylva Foundation to develop a digital tool, to help woodland owners and managers understand the ecological condition of their woodlands, including whether this is being impacted by deer or other herbivores.

Actions

1.12. Defra will continue to support England and Wales Best Practice Guidance on management of deer impacts, suitable Deer Management Qualifications and guidance and tools on woodland condition assessment.

1.13. Forestry Commission will include effective deer impacts management training in its apprenticeship programmes and as part of Countryside Stewardship deer control and management grant support.

1.14. Defra will work with forestry and other partners to develop opportunities for increasing sector skills and capacity, including through wildlife management traineeships and training, and development events focused on management of deer impacts.

1.15 Defra will work with the Home Office and National Police Chief’s Council to explore whether the Guide on Firearms Licensing Law could be amended to encourage police forces to consider requiring that those seeking to use relevant firearms to shoot deer are first able to demonstrate a minimum level of competence in doing so.

2. Regulating management of deer impacts

Bringing deer browsing into balance with woodland ecosystems and reducing deer damage to timber, crops and other assets is a significant challenge. Alongside providing grants to support measures to manage deer impacts and training and tools to increase relevant skills, improvements to the existing regulatory framework and licensing processes are also necessary.

Streamlining the licensing approach for deer management

The Deer Act 1991 specifies times of year (close seasons) during which deer cannot be lawfully taken or killed. However, licences can be granted during these times to allow this, in specific circumstances. These circumstances include where deer damage to natural heritage is such that it cannot be adequately managed without the ability to carry out control at these times.

The present approach to granting such licences was developed at a time when deer impacts were substantially less than they are today, with smaller environmental and economic consequences. However, due to increasing incidences of deer damage, the need for lethal control at night and during the close seasons has increased. This means there is a need to improve efficiency in granting of licences.

We will streamline the licensing system so more landowners and managers can take appropriate action. This will help manage deer impacts outside of the close seasons by enabling more licences for night shooting of both sexes to be issued. It will also allow more efficient granting of licences to control male deer during their close season, where necessary.   

The increased availability of high-quality night vision and thermal optics supports safe and humane control of deer at night. The ability to shoot deer at night can be particularly effective where deer have become nocturnal. The licensing process will continue to ensure that the need for control is justified, and that it is carried out by suitably trained and experienced individuals, in the interests of safety and welfare. Defra will consider whether changes to the legislation are required to provide for a more flexible approach to licensing where parliamentary time allows.

All existing restrictions on shooting female deer with dependent young will continue to apply. If deer impacts continue to increase (despite actions of the statement being implemented), Defra will revisit if there is a need to review close seasons as specified in the Deer Act, while still retaining protections for dependent young.

Strengthening deer impacts management in forestry regulation

The Forestry Commission controls tree felling by issuing felling licences. These may specify conditions to be adhered to, to ensure that sustainable forestry approaches are achieved (as defined in the UK Forestry Standard).

We will take action to ensure felling licences include appropriate management of deer impacts, where relevant, to implement the updated UK Forestry Standard. Felling licences may be refused if those seeking them do not plan for managing excessive levels of deer impacts.

Clarifying the status of enclosed wild deer

Issues have been identified whereby enclosed deer in deer parks or private collections receive the same protections of the Deer Act as wild, free-living deer. These include tranquilisation or capture of enclosed wild deer, in contravention of the Act.

This creates a public health risk as such deer treated with veterinary drugs may enter the food chain (as wild venison). They may also be captured and transported without adequate pre-movement disease testing, creating an animal health risk.

Actions

2.1. Natural England will work with stakeholders to develop and implement a more streamlined approach to licensing to make night and male close season shooting more accessible, while retaining appropriate controls to ensure animal welfare and favourable conservation status. Defra will consider reflecting these changes within the Deer Act 1991, subject to suitable legislative opportunities.

2.2. Forestry Commission will strengthen the focus on deer and other mammals within regulations, by ensuring issuing of felling licences considers management of deer impacts, where appropriate, to protect woodland regeneration and resilience.

2.3. In accordance with the 5th edition of the UK Forestry Standard, the Forestry Commission will seek to ensure that all woodland management plans include a deer management statement, or plan, where appropriate, to ensure deer risks to woodland are mitigated.

2.4. Defra will seek to clarify the legal status of enclosed ‘wild’ deer to ensure animal health, welfare and food hygiene regulations are not compromised.

3. Wild venison

Venison sales are a key part of the deer management cycle as the revenue can help landowners offset deer management costs. The sustainable management of wild deer impacts can also support development of the domestic wild venison market, which offers a healthy meat as a product of sustainable woodland and countryside management.

Wild venison is high in protein and low in fat, owing in part to wild deer being free roaming and having a natural diet. However, demand throughout the food sector is currently low and some venison consumed in the UK is supplied from New Zealand and parts of Europe.

To improve cross government and industry collaboration, Defra formed the British Wild Venison Working Group in 2020, a partnership of organisations and individuals from across the supply chain. This group identified that a supply of traceable, certified, high-quality venison was needed to increase the willingness of retailers to stock wild venison.

This led to the British Quality Wild Venison Standard. Launched in April 2023, it is a quality standard for wild venison, open to applicants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It provides a set of audited standards to be met throughout the supply chain, from forest or field, to processing and onto supermarket shelves, providing full traceability and so boosting buyer and consumer confidence.

Alongside supporting the British Quality Wild Venison Standard, Defra has provided support at each stage of the supply chain:

• investment in skills in safe and hygienic preparation of wild venison through funding dedicated training courses
• making funding available towards specialist processing equipment through grant schemes such as the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (which provided grants for chillers to store and transport venison carcases that await processing), and the Farming in Protected Landscapes Fund (which is funding wild venison projects where deer impacts affect protected landscapes)
• grant support to improve the capacity of game handling establishments and local food operators that process wild, free-roaming, venison, including through the Smaller Abattoirs Fund and Adding Value grant
• exploring domestic and international market opportunities for wild venison and ensuring more wild venison can be offered as an option through public procurement networks, through working with the GB Wild Venison Working Group, and using our strong relationships with the food industry

Defra will keep its actions under review, to ensure the level of support provided is effective, appropriate and avoids unintended consequences, such as over-incentivisation of lethal control of any species of wild deer.

This could occur, for example, if funding or markets became so favourable that levels of lethal control drove declines in the favourable conservation status of native deer species, or in practices such as poaching. The poaching of deer is illegal under the Deer Act, as is the selling and purchasing of venison that comes from a deer that has been killed or taken unlawfully.

Actions

Defra will:

3.1. Continue to facilitate an industry-led British Wild Venison Working Group to improve and build sector resilience, develop branding, traceability and promote the British Quality Wild Venison Standard.

3.2. Provide funding towards wild venison collection and processing facilities and equipment, through infrastructure and capital items grants and other support. This will use learning being gained through projects such as the Natural England Sussex Woods Protected Sites Strategy, which has a focus on management of deer impacts and wild venison.

3.3. Work with relevant sectors to improve the quality and consistency of wild venison supply into the human and other relevant food chains, including seeking to ensure that more wild venison can be offered as a sustainable meat option through our public procurement networks.

3.4. Ensure the Wild Game Guidance can be clearly understood and readily adhered to by deer managers seeking to provide wild venison for human consumption, through engagement with the processors in the supply chain and the Food Standards Agency.

4. Minimising the spread and impacts of non-native deer

Only 2 out of 6 deer species are native to England: red and roe. Fallow deer are a non-native species with a longstanding presence in the UK.

Muntjac deer are listed under the assimilated Invasive Alien Species Regulation 1143/2014 (the ‘IAS Regulations’) as Species of Special Concern due to the damaging impact this species can have to trees, woodlands, other habitats and societal assets. Deer managers report difficulty in using lethal control to manage muntjac deer impacts, due to their small size and nocturnal and elusive behaviour. Muntjac is also known to be effective at breaching fences. Sika and Chinese water deer are also non-native and considered to be invasive.

It is important to ensure the spread of invasive non-native deer is prevented and is not exacerbated. This is particularly important as we increase woodland cover and connectivity. It’s also a requirement of relevant legislation - IAS Regulations in relation to muntjac, and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 in relation to muntjac, sika and Chinese water deer. Such legal controls are aimed at preventing further spread of invasive species.

Actions

4.1. As part of actions on enhancing licensing processes and seeking to review relevant legislation, outlined in section 2 of this statement, Defra will develop more effective control of invasive non-native species, such as muntjac, including through simplifying the application process for night shooting licences. 

4.2. Defra will seek to prevent additional non-native deer species establishing through the work of the non-native species secretariat and inspectorate and other relevant agencies. This includes monitoring for new releases or escapes from deer parks and other collections, in line with the goal of the Great Britain Invasive Non-native Species Strategy to prevent by up to 50% establishment of new invasive non-native species in the wild.

4.3. Defra will commission updates of the risk assessments for both sika and Chinese water deer. Updated risk assessments will allow us to better understand the current risk that these species pose in Great Britain (GB). They will also, where possible, direct future action against these identified risks, including seeking to prevent new populations establishing. Based on the outcome of the risk assessments, further action has the potential to include considering listing these species under the IAS regulations as Species of Special Concern. This would potentially allow stronger restrictions on activities such as movement of such species between captive populations.

4.4. The Non-Native Species Inspectorate and Natural England will continue to ensure any captive muntjac are kept securely and subject to appropriate licences to help prevent their spread.

5. Reducing human-deer conflict

Deer inhabiting woodlands and scrub in urban areas can damage planted trees and gardens or sustain tick populations. Deer herds near roads and highways also risk deer-vehicle collisions.

Actions

5.1. Forestry Commission will continue to encourage consideration of deer management in development of infrastructure, housing and transport, where appropriate. This includes working with National Highways and the private sector to continue development of mitigation for road traffic accidents involving deer, in locations where this is appropriate.

5.2 The UK Health Security Agency will continue to increase public awareness of Lyme disease prevention (as a disease spread by ticks, which can live on deer). It will also undertake surveillance of vector borne diseases transmitted by ticks in the UK.

6. Developing and improving the evidence base

Delivery of the actions in this statement must be informed by strong evidence and ongoing understanding of wild deer impacts, distribution, density and management, to ensure their effectiveness.

We have identified improvements to the existing evidence base and are already working on these, such as through thermal drone assisted abundance and impact surveys, and research into mitigation methods through Forest Research.  

Defra will work with relevant stakeholders to ensure data can be readily shared on deer distribution, abundance, management, and impacts on woodlands. This data will improve understanding of each of these areas and inform monitoring of the actions of this statement, such as grant offers and identification of national priority areas.

Actions

6.1. Forestry Commission and Defra will continue to invite landowners to submit returns and data on deer management activity on their land as part of agri-environment schemes, to collate data on management efforts.

6.2. Forestry Commission will continue to introduce mandatory deer impact monitoring and management plans into the woodland elements of environmental land management schemes, and ensure its use for monitoring effectiveness of the relevant options within these schemes.

6.3. Defra will continue to support, monitor and promote research into tree protection and deer impact management methods and consider novel methods of impact mitigation that use non-lethal means, such as physical measures like repellents and prophylactic methods.

6.4. Forestry Commission will support research into a national study of the economic, natural capital and carbon impacts of wild deer.

Defra is committed to taking forward the actions of the statement over its term and will take overall responsibility for ensuring these are progressed.