METHODS SUGGESTED to ensure the survival of the capercaillie have been criticised by gamekeepers, who have warned that land management measures will make no difference if predators are not kept under control.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority Board has been asked to endorse the findings of the first phase of the Capercaillie Framework, which seeks to reverse the species' steep decline by better co-ordinating management for habitat, recreation and development.

Hamish Trench, director of conservation and visitor experience at the CNPA explained: "Expanding the capercaillie population in Strathspey is critical to the species future in Scotland. In the long term, habitat expansion and improvement is key, but we also need to manage other pressures including disturbance.

"The Framework gives us a basis to co-ordinate effort more pro actively, ensuring for example that we create bigger areas of undisturbed habitat."

However, the Scottish Gamekeepers Association described this approach as "like a group of people trying to rescue their dinner while the house is on fire", and suggested that, first and foremost, it is predation by pine marten that is keeping capercaillie numbers low rather than inappropriate habitat.

A spokesman for the SGA said: "It must be questioned how much of a priority capercaillie survival is, beyond sound-bites, if plans to conserve it make no mention of predator impact.

"Millions have been spent in removing deer fences and improving forest habitat, yet the decline of capercaillie continues," noted the SGA. "On 20 video monitored nests in Abernethy Forest, 65% of nests were found to be predated, 57% of those by pine marten.

"Given this science within the core area, and the rise in number of pine marten, it is surely common sense to proceed with a trial to translocate pine marten from a small core area to monitor the affects of, and better understand, such predation.

"If it is found pine marten have no affect on Capercaillie, then efforts can be targeted elsewhere or in tandem with what is going on, anyway."

The gamekeepers have also expressed their anger that their suggestions have been reported in the national press, prompted by anti-game pressure groups, in the style of "grouse moors want to wipe out pine marten".

"What the report seemed ignorant of is that grouse reside in large moorland areas of the uplands while pine marten roam over large woodland areas," said the SGA. "Similarly, this is a small, targeted scientific trial in a keycapercaillie stronghold. Attempts by groups opposing such a trial to blacken a legitimate conservation attempt should not be allowed to detract from the fact that avoiding a second extinction requires more than is presently being done," added the spokesman.