Report shows UK bird numbers halved since 70s

Mark Layton

February 5, 2016

Countryside organisations champion the conservation role played by shooters, as a new report details birdlife declines

Shooters have a “major part” to play in conserving the UK’s bird populations, say countryside groups, following the publication of the 2015 UK Biodiversity Indicators Report by DEFRA and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee last month.

The report highlights the declining fortunes of Britain’s birds, with statistics showing that between 1970 and 2014 populations of breeding farmland and woodland birds decreased by 54 per cent and 20 per cent respectively, and the 2015 population index for breeding water and wetland birds was 15 per cent lower than in 1975.

Furthermore, in 2014, breeding seabird populations were 27 per cent lower than in 1986. In the shorter-term, between 2008 and 2013, populations of woodland birds have remained stable, but farmland birds have shown a “statistically significant” decrease of 11 per cent, and water and wetland birds a drop of 12 per cent. Seabirds have also shown a decrease of nine per cent between 2008 and 2013.

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