One beaver has been recaptured in Tayside by Scottish Natural Heritage in December 2010. This beaver has been relocated to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

The experiences of dealing with the beaver populations have not had a bearing on the proposals concerning invasive non-native species. Under the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Bill the release of beavers, or any other former native species, into the wild will require to be licensed and keeping could be regulated if considered appropriate.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-37930 on 22 December 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government has not sought any such advice.

The Scottish Government''s recent consultation paper Securing the Benefits of Scotland''s Next Energy Revolution argued that the Crown Estate Commissioners in Scotland should be more accountable to the people of Scotland and maximise the economic impact from our unique renewables resource. In this particular case, the Scottish Government is fully aware of the decisions taken by the Crown Estate Commissioners. It is not the case that the Crown Estate Commissioners have imposed a moratorium on development activity, but they have indicated that they are taking a cautionary approach at the present time on the award of any additional leases. This approach is driven by the need to gain a greater understanding of key development issues. The Scottish Government supports a marine planning approach which encourages development in the most appropriate locations and minimises cumulative impacts, while not ruling out projects in areas that will not adversely impact on existing leaseholders, or the environment. The Scottish Government would wish the Crown Estate Commissioners to consider all mechanisms and options to enable leases for wave and tidal developments to proceed consistent with the long-term opportunities for the area.

The Scottish Government has not received any formal representations from Scottish Renewables and marine renewables developers concerning the potential impact of the Crown Estate Commissioners approach to new leases for wave and tidal energy in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters strategic area. However, it is aware of the fact that Scottish Renewables has covered this issue in the recommendations set out in its recent Driving the Low Carbon Economy “ Wave and Tidal Energy paper.

The Scottish Government has had some informal discussion with marine renewables developers concerning the Crown Estate Commissioners approach to new leases for wave and tidal energy in the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters strategic area. We discussed this issue with Scottish Renewables prior to the publication of their paper on Driving the Low Carbon Economy “ Wave and Tidal Energy.

Very little is known at present about the ways in which marine renewables developments within a particular zone or region will interact. These are among a range of important issues which the Scottish Government, the Crown Estate Commissioners, technology developers and other key stakeholders are dealing with through the work of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Delivery Group. Future licensing of marine renewables activities will take account of the interaction between those activities and their environment.

The Scottish Government has regular discussions with the Crown Estate Commissioners regarding marine renewables development in these waters as part of our joint chairing of the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Delivery Group.

The Crown Estate Commissioners have not sought advice from Marine Scotland on this matter.