Wild deer are roaming Britain in the largest numbers for a millennium, with an estimated 2 million threatening woodland and precious wildlife habitats.
Forestry England, which manages about 1,500 woodlands, is now selling the animals it culls directly to the public for the first time in an attempt to encourage environmentally-conscious meat eaters to turn to wild shot venison.
“Encouraging more people to eat wild venison is better for biodiversity and helps protect our future forests,” said Andrew Stringer, its head of environment.
“With more people becoming aware of the carbon footprint of farmed meat and the challenges around intensively farmed animals, wild venison is a perfect solution for those wanting to eat less but better meat.”
About 80 per cent of wild deer culled in the UK goes to restaurants or the hospitality trade but demand collapsed during the pandemic.
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Wild deer herds can grow 30 per cent a year, with the population expanding by 600,000 between May and June. With stalkers not culling as many animals during the pandemic, it is feared that already large herds could eventually devastate woodland habitats for other species.
Hayley Coristine, from Forestry England, said that it was one of the first organisations in Britain to use lead-free ammunition and culled about 14,000 deer last year, up 15 per cent.
“They’re absolutely everywhere,” she said. “The deer population was about 400,000 in the 1990s and now we are up to about 2 million. Climate change is making winters milder and allowing more deer to survive.”
Forestry England has an arrangement with Highland Game, a wholesale meat supplier, to sell its wild shot venison from northern England and Scotland but that meat is not available to the public to buy online.
Under a new partnership with Farm Wilder, a non-profit organisation promoting nature-friendly farming, wild venison culled from its forests in the southwest can be bought through the Farm Wilder website. A venison fillet costs £12, T-bone steaks £6.50 and a rack of ribs £25.
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Tim Martin, co-founder of Farm Wilder and a former executive producer at the BBC’s Natural History Unit, said that wild shot venison was “the most sustainable meat you can get in the UK”.
He said: “If you can source sustainably reared wildlife-friendly meat like ours, then you can eat it with a clear conscience, knowing that your delicious meal is helping make our countryside healthier and bringing back our wonderful wildlife.”
Deer strip the forest undergrowth bare, which is a problem for dormice, which need tangled areas of brambles for shelter and berries. Woodland butterflies like the white admiral and silver-washed fritillary also drink the nectar of the bramble flower.
“There are a lot more deer that need to be culled than are being culled,” Martin said. “There is massive potential for it to become much more widely consumed.”
Martin, 52, who was behind wildlife documentaries such as the Natural World series, Animals with Cameras and Yellowstone, set up Farm Wilder in 2019 with Luke Dale Harris, an adviser on the Farm and Wildlife Advisor Group, an environmental charity, and former investigative journalist.
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He said that the steep decline in wildlife populations he had seen in his 30-year career made him want to act.
Their company supplies meat boxes from West Country farms that have adopted regenerative farming methods, which boost wildlife biodiversity and reduce greenhouse gases.
All their farms are organic and the animals are fed only on fresh pasture. No imported soya is fed to the animals and they use rotational grazing , moving animals to new strips of land every day. This increases plant and insect biodiversity, reduces agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and stores more carbon in the soil.
Grazing animals are not kept in sheds during the winter and return nutrients and organic matter to the ground in their dung, ensuring the soil remains healthy and fertile.
The intensification of farming in the past 70 years has caused the numbers of bees, butterflies, birds and many other animals to plummet. Hedgehogs, tree sparrows and turtle doves were once common but have all declined by over 90 per cent.
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Martin and Harris spent a year finding farmers across the southwest who were using wildlife-friendly techniques and offered them more money for their meat and the opportunity to market their wildlife success stories to customers.
By encouraging neighbouring farmers to join their scheme, they are creating entire landscapes where wildlife can thrive.
“Farmers want to do better but often the market forces don’t allow them to,�� Martin said. “We offer them a better price and with many farmers it’s been an open door.”
He said that it was “simply not true” that the only way to help the planet was to go vegan.
“It’s possible to be a farmer in the UK, rear meat and be good for wildlife and sustainable,” he said.
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Asked if this less intensive farming, which produces less meat at higher prices, could still feed a growing global population, he said: “It has to because it’s the only sort of farm that’s sustainable.
“We need to eat less meat and dairy and what we do eat has to be sustainable. It’s about treasuring the meat you eat, like buying a really nice venison fillet or a steak or lamb chops and appreciating it.”
How to cook it — Tony Turnbull
Venison and juniper casserole
Heat 2 tbsp oil in an oven-proof casserole and brown 500g diced venison shoulder in batches. Set aside and add 4 chopped rashers of bacon and 1 onion, 1 stick of celery and 1 carrot, all diced. Season and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, then add 2 crushed cloves, the leaves from a few rosemary sprigs and 6 crushed juniper berries. Cook for few more minutes then add a large glass of red wine, 300ml beef stock, 30g dried porcini mushrooms and 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly. Cover, bring to a simmer and transfer to a 150C oven. Cook for 2½-3 hours, until the meat is tender. Serve with mashed potato.
Venison cottage pie
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and brown 600g venison mince. Set aside. Add 1 onion, 1 bulb fennel and 2 carrots, all chopped, to the same pan with more oil if needed, and cook about 15 mintues until softened. Add 2 tsp tomato concentrate and cook further minute, then add small glass red wine, 200ml beef or chicken stock, splash of Worcestershire sauce and few sprigs fresh thyme. Simmer uncovered until thickened and transfer to an oven-proof dish. Top with mashed potato and cook at 180C until golden.
