The reintroduction of red deer to the Isle of Man is an outside possibility as part of an effort to increase biodiversity in Manx woodlands.

And the department concerned will take the chance, where possible, to return landscapes to their natural form before they were covered by conifer plantations.

Environment Minister Geoffrey Boot said that ’re-wilding’ - if taken to mean the recreation of wilderness areas, managed by natural process - was unlikely to happen in Manx forests ’as these are always likely to require management to some degree by man, whether for timber or recreational value’.

But he added: ’The return of locally extinct species, such as the red deer, would be possible, but there are obvious issues that make this seem unlikely in the current situation.’

He said the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture ’recognises that recreation in some more natural habitats, such as bog and broad-leaved woodland in non-commercial areas, is a great opportunity that can provide environmental benefits and an opportunity to provide a legacy for future generations’.

He added: ’From a forest and woodland perspective, the department will consider opportunities to recreate and regenerate the natural landscape that existed prior to the conifer plantations, during its current review of forest management plans.’

Mr Boot said biodiversity across the forest and woodland estate was ’an essential part of our management aims and objectives’, although he added the production of timber was the priority in a commercial forest. He was responding to Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew), who had tabled a written Tynwald question asking how DEFA encouraged biodiversity in its woodlands.

The minister said: ’The department’s management of its woodland and forest areas for the benefit and enhancement of biodiversity values is considered when opportunities are recognised.

’Examples of recent proactive management include the conversion of areas from conifer to broadleaved species and heathland, restructuring of tree age classes, increasing open space within woodland areas, the identification of wet areas for appropriate management and successful riparian zone management.’

An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man by Joseph Train, written in 1845, tells of the Earl of Derby, in the 18th century, populating the Calf of Man with red deer.

They had a propensity to cross the treacherous sea to the mainland, in ’formidable numbers’, to pillage crops from local farms.

But, later, the deer became extinct in the Isle of Man and the Calf.

In 2015, the DEFA ruled out the introduction of red squirrels - which are endangered in the UK - to the Manx countryside following a consultation with the public.