Stoat project — flop or not?

January 20, 2024 at 7:31 am

Stoats, an invasive species, pose a critical threat to Orkney’s ground-nesting birds and to the Orkney Vole.

Conservation chiefs in charge of the multi-million pound scheme to eradicate stoats from Orkney have hit back at scathing criticism, and claims that squandered funds, bureaucratic procedures and institutional ineptitude have led the project to flop.

Orkney Native Wildlife Project offered a strong and robust rebuttal, defending the project — the biggest of its kind ever undertaken — and said that it must abide by procedures, legal requirements and welfare measures designed to protect wildlife, people and staff.

It has been claimed that the project and its staff on the ground have been bogged down by procedures, protocols, regulations and bureaucratic red tape, which have nullified the project’s effectiveness, according to an insider.

Read the full story in this week’s The Orcadian.