Fair Game: valuing the bio-cultural heritage of fallow deer and their venison for food security, sustainable woodlands and biodiversity

公平游戏：重视小鹿及其鹿肉的生物文化遗产，以促进粮食安全、可持续林地和生物多样性

• 批准号: AH/Z505675/1
• 负责人: Naomi Sykes
• 金额: $ 10.33万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FZ505675%2F1
• 关键词: Fair; Game; valuing; bio; cultural

Fallow deer are an icon of the British landscape and an important part of the island's bio-cultural heritage. They are native to the Mediterranean but, over the last 2,000 years, have been repeatedly introduced to Britain. They are now more numerous than at any point in the past and are overgrazing landscapes and prohibiting woodland regeneration, to the detriment of their population's welfare and broader biodiversity.Deer culling is contested but is currently the only viable population management strategy. Deer stalkers are in decline due to lack of training and because younger generations have a negative perception of deer culling. Indeed, fear of negative publicity is a concern for deer management organisations, which further suppresses discourse on the subject.The cultural distaste for deer culling and venison consumption is exemplified by the National Food Strategy, which regards wild animals as outside of human consumption. For this reason, most wild venison is discarded or exported at a low price. By contrast supermarket venison is expensive and generally sourced from deer farms located as far away as New Zealand.Both the government-funded Deer Initiative (1995-2020) and DEFRA's 2022 consultation on deer management stressed that wild venison is affordable, healthy, high-welfare, sustainable and a by-product of necessary deer culling. Yet this messaging has not connected with the general public.Our AHRC-funded project Dama International generated the missing narrative to contextualise fallow deer management and present it in an engaging and palatable way. It demonstrated that modern fallow deer descend from populations established ~1000 AD as part of a medieval hunting culture. The species was hunted primarily by women and deer carcasses were ritually butchered, or 'unmade', and venison redistributed throughout society to facilitate community cohesion. To protect venison supplies, fallow deer were managed in parks and top predators (bears and wolves) were eradicated. Gradually, hunting and venison fell out of fashion, fallow deer escaped from parks and, in the absence of top predators their populations burgeoned. In essence the modern fallow deer problem is a legacy of the medieval period.Fair Game will use Sussex as a proof-of-concept region to demonstrate how Dama International's research can provide solutions to the intractable problems of deer management. We will do this by resuscitating medieval-style approaches to fallow deer hunting, carcass processing and venison redistribution by:Fostering a more diverse demographic for deer stalkers by providing deer management and game hygiene courses, aimed at younger people and women.Establishing communal infrastructure for the storage and supply of venison carcassesCreating a new 'Virtuous Venison' brand for redistribution via the food charity FareShare.Providing an engaging communication strategy (animated film and pop-up exhibitions) that explains the history of fallow deer, the need to cull them and the societal benefits of their venison.Fair Game is not only timely given the biodiversity crisis, cost of living crisis and rising demand for food banks but is justifiable on ethical and environmental grounds. We believe Fair Game will transform public understanding and ultimately the sector's approach to deer management.

小鹿是英国景观的象征，也是该岛生物文化遗产的重要组成部分。它们原产于地中海，但在过去 2000 年来，被多次引入英国。它们的数量现在比过去任何时候都多，并且过度放牧并禁止林地再生，损害了鹿群的福利和更广泛的生物多样性。宰杀鹿受到争议，但这是目前唯一可行的种群管理策略。由于缺乏培训以及年轻一代对宰杀鹿的负面看法，猎鹿者数量正在减少。事实上，对负面宣传的恐惧是鹿管理组织关注的一个问题，这进一步压制了有关该主题的讨论。国家食品战略体现了对宰鹿和鹿肉消费的文化厌恶，该战略将野生动物视为人类消费之外的。因此，大多数野鹿肉被丢弃或低价出口。相比之下，超市里的鹿肉价格昂贵，而且通常来自远至新西兰的鹿场。政府资助的“鹿计划”（1995-2020）和 DEFRA 2022 年鹿管理咨询都强调，野生鹿肉价格实惠、健康、高品质。福利、可持续和必要的鹿扑杀的副产品。然而，这一信息并未与公众产生联系。我们的 AHRC 资助项目 Dama International 生成了缺失的叙述，将小鹿管理置于背景中，并以一种引人入胜且令人愉悦的方式呈现。它表明，现代小鹿的祖先是公元 1000 年左右建立的中世纪狩猎文化的一部分。该物种主要由妇女猎杀，鹿的尸体被按仪式屠宰或“未加工”，鹿肉在整个社会中重新分配，以促进社区凝聚力。为了保护鹿肉供应，小鹿在公园里得到管理，顶级掠食者（熊和狼）被消灭。渐渐地，狩猎和鹿肉不再流行，小鹿逃离了公园，由于没有顶级掠食者，它们的数量急剧增加。从本质上讲，现代小鹿问题是中世纪时期的遗留问题。Fair Game 将使用苏塞克斯作为概念验证地区，展示 Dama International 的研究如何为鹿管理的棘手问题提供解决方案。我们将通过复兴中世纪风格的小鹿狩猎、尸体处理和鹿肉重新分配的方法来实现这一目标：通过针对年轻人和妇女提供鹿管理和狩猎卫生课程，培养更加多样化的猎鹿者群体。鹿肉的储存和供应创建一个新的“Virteous Venison”品牌，通过食品慈善机构 FareShare 进行重新分配。一种引人入胜的交流策略（动画电影和临时展览），解释了小鹿的历史、扑杀它们的必要性以及鹿肉的社会效益。考虑到生物多样性危机、生活成本危机和对食品银行的需求不断增加，但从道德和环境角度来看，这是合理的。我们相信公平游戏将改变公众的理解，并最终改变该行业的鹿管理方法。