How do you build a sustainable deer population?

Photo: Bas Worm

Red deer have been a fixture of the Dutch landscape for decades – from the Veluwe to the Oostvaardersplassen – yet their presence continues to raise questions: how many deer can an area support, and what does a healthy population actually look like? The Vereniging het Edelhert (Dutch Red Deer Society) wants to broaden that debate. In its policy document presented at a symposium on 31 October Gezonde populaties in gezonde leefgebieden (Healthy populations in healthy habitats), the society argues for an integrated approach in which forest, soil, people and animals are not considered in isolation. During the symposium, researchers, land managers and policymakers explored what that sustainable balance might look like. Bionieuws spoke to four of the speakers about their vision.

Bas Worm, co-author of the policy document Gezonde populaties in gezonde leefgebieden

‘The Vereniging het Edelhert was founded in 1946 out of genuine concern that the red deer – already pushed back to the Veluwe alone at that time – would disappear from the Netherlands altogether. The founders came mainly from the hunting world, but the vast majority of our current membership does not hunt – they are primarily nature enthusiasts. I don’t hunt myself either. I do believe that deer populations need to be managed, but in a different way from before.

‘The new policy document shows that healthy deer populations can only exist in healthy habitats. That requires not just food and cover, but also connectivity between areas. New genetic insights show that a population of one hundred and fifty animals – the figure we have traditionally worked with – is far too small to remain sustainably viable. A healthy effective population size requires as many as four thousand animals. Habitats therefore need to be better connected – through ecological corridors, better-coordinated provincial wildlife management plans, and by removing unnecessary fencing.

‘Management should focus less on simply meeting agreed numbers and more on the desired outcomes: are we achieving the goals we set, such as forest regeneration or greater biodiversity? The policy document is a first step, and an invitation to have that conversation.’

‘A thriving deer population can only exist in a thriving habitat. On the Veluwe – where by far the largest population lives – that is unfortunately far from the case: centuries of clear-felling, sod-cutting and the planting of conifer forests have severely degraded the soil. We act as though this is nature, but in reality these are nothing more than ordinary timber plantations on poor sandy soils. Deer take in too few minerals there and consequently depend on salt licks – a symptom of an artificial system.

‘True vitality begins with restoring the soil and vegetation. That means bringing young broadleaved trees back. They are not only the natural food of deer, but also improve soil structure and restore variety to flora and fauna. Allow forests to regenerate naturally and greater biodiversity and a healthier ecosystem will follow of their own accord. Yet current policy continues to favour clear-felling, driven mainly by economic habit and subsidies. This is ecologically and economically absurd: it leads to losses of carbon, minerals and landscape quality, as well as financial losses for forest owners.

‘Let us stop this unnatural forest management and allow nature more room to take its course. Restoring broadleaved woodland and a healthy soil will bring back the balance: forests that sustain themselves and deer that have a natural place within them, without management constantly having to intervene. Managed that way, forestry need not cost a penny.’

‘A sustainable deer population is one that fits the landscape in which it lives. On the Veluwe, there are simply too many at present: for years the numbers have been running at three times the desirable level. This leads to browsing damage, stalled forest regeneration and loss of biodiversity. Because the red deer is no longer classified as a game species, responsibility lies with the province – and that makes it difficult to hold anyone truly accountable. In Germany, a hunting leaseholder simply receives the bill when young plantings are eaten; that kind of clarity is absent here.

‘Hunting leaseholders play a crucial role in restoring balance. They know their area and can carry out management, provided the system enables them to do so. The grey wolf helps to some extent, but does not solve the problem: a natural system without human intervention no longer exists in the Netherlands.

‘What is often lacking is coherence: too many rules, too little practical coordination between the province, the land manager and the hunting leaseholder. If those parties can find each other more effectively, we can steer towards results far more efficiently.

‘Ultimately, it comes down to balance and responsibility. Sustainable wildlife management requires clear objectives, direction and trust in the people who have to do the work on the ground – not more rules, but more effective collaboration.’

Martin Drenthen, associate professor of environmental philosophy at Radboud University in Nijmegen

‘Anyone who wants to coexist sustainably with deer must let go of the stubborn Dutch idea that nature and culture are separate worlds. We erect fences, draw boundaries, and assume that wild animals belong “over there” and people “over here”. But deer, grey wolves or roe deer pay no heed to our map lines: they move through the same landscape as we do. Sustainability requires us to learn to see that shared space anew.

‘I advocate a different perspective: no longer the human as manager of nature, but as a fellow citizen within the broader biotic community. Animals respond to our actions – agriculture, traffic, construction – and we to theirs. Rather than relying primarily on culling and fencing, we should think more in terms of co-existence: connecting habitats, influencing behaviour through landscape design and food availability, and learning to live with their presence.

‘In many other countries, this kind of relationship is more natural. In Montana, deer walk through gardens and people take that into account; in Romania, nobody lets their dog off the lead in areas with grey wolves. The Netherlands, by contrast, wants to maintain control everywhere – a deeply ingrained cultural reflex. But genuine sustainability requires precisely that we learn to live with unpredictability. If we stop seeing the landscape as “ours” and start seeing it as a shared living space, room opens up for reciprocity – and for healthy populations in healthy ecosystems.’