BDS promotes deer education, research and management best practice to ensure a healthy and sustainable deer population in balance with the environment; a key feature of the biodiversity of the UK landscape.
We aim to be the go-to place for objective and unbiased information on the biology of deer and methods of deer management, humane treatment and control.
How do we do this?
- Provide support and funding for academic research about deer and their relationship with the habitats they occupy
- Offer high quality education and training – acknowledging that wild deer must be managed if they are to remain in balance with their environment, we aim to improve general education and understanding of all deer related issues, and offer high quality training so that deer can be managed appropriately, humanely and according to best practice
- Advise government and key public bodies on deer-related issues – when deer become the subject of public policy, the Society ensures that politicians and decision makers have an evidence base founded on practical and factual advice
- Campaign on a range of deer sustainability issues working closely with other countryside and animal welfare organisations
- Lobby for a thriving and sustainable wild deer population
- Offer members a tailored public liability insurance package covering a wide range of recreational countryside and wildlife-related activities
- Publish Deer, the only UK journal devoted solely to deer
As a membership organisation, BDS supports regional branches across the UK which provide a lively forum for those who are interested in deer, offering local events and activities for deer enthusiasts.
BDS is a charity registered in England & Wales (no. 1069663) and in Scotland (no. SCO37817). We have over 6,000 members and supporters in sixteen regional branches and employ a team of full-time staff at our headquarters in Fordingbridge in Hampshire. Our work is guided by a Board of Trustees/Directors, who bring a wide range of deer-related expertise to the governance of the charity, and is directed by a management team made up of professional staff and Trustees.
