New research exploring attitudes to deer control in England and Wales has revealed broad support for deer management, with the majority strongly in favour of lethal control.
All six species of deer have increased in density and range over the past 40 years. As populations have grown, so too has their impact on woodland habitats, particularly in lowland woods where fallow and muntjac deer now exert significant pressure on ground flora and woodland structure.
It is difficult to overstate the scale of the challenge. High deer densities are reshaping woodland ecology and undermining the long-term resilience of woods. Browsing suppresses coppice regrowth and, in some cases, can kill coppice stools outright. It also limits, or completely prevents, natural regeneration. This results in less structural diversity and makes low-impact forestry much harder to implement.
The impacts are very visible on the woodland floor. Heavy browsing reduces flowering plants and other sensitive species, with knock-on effects for woodland insects, birds, and wider biodiversity. At landscape scale, unchecked deer populations are also a growing barrier to government ambitions to expand woodland cover, because young trees struggle to establish and survive.
Given these ecological consequences, deer management is increasingly urgent. A research project, initiated to explore attitudes to deer control in England and Wales, has just published its results. The questionnaire was distributed by five national nature organisations. Two of these organisations (Sylva Foundation; The Woodland Trust) focus on woodland management, while three (British Association for Shooting and Conservation; British Deer Society; Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust) focus on wildlife management.
The findings show broader support for lethal control of wild deer than many might expect: 85% of respondents said they support or strongly support lethal control as part of deer management.
The research was led by Bangor University, supported by Sylva Foundation alongside Forest Research, Woodland Trust, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, and the Universities of Reading and Southampton.
We hope this research provides robust evidence to help government and land managers address deer impacts as a significant environmental issue.
The full paper has been published in People and Nature and is freely available under open access.
Cini, E., Spake, R., McMillan, L., Gresham, A., Shannon, G., Eigenbrod, F., Nichols, C. P., Orsi, P., Ward, A. I., & St John, F. A. V. (2025). Broad support for lethal control of wild deer among subscribers of nature organisations in England and Wales. People and Nature, 00, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70193
The impact of deer overgrazing on woodland ground vegetation inside (left) and outside (right) of an enclosure with deer-proof fence’. Credit: Nick Reed-Beale
