Farmers hold key to survival of threatened bird species, says RSPB

 By WMNPBowern  |  Posted: October 29, 2015

Lapwing, in danger of extinction

Farmers hold the key to saving the Westcountry’s most threatened bird species, Britain’s biggest conservation charity said today.

The RSPB said farmers had stepped in before to make special efforts to ensure the survival of at-risk birds – and they could do so again.

The charity’s spokesman in the South West, Tony Whitehead, was responding to a report from the government into the state of farmland birds – and to international research into UK species at risk.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature this week added turtle doves and lapwings to its red list of endangered birds. Meanwhile the government's farmland bird indicator reveals a 2% increase in farmland birds in 2014 – although there has been a decline of over 50% since the 1970s.

But Mr Whitehead praised the efforts of farmers in the past who had made strenuous efforts to pull threatened bird populations out of the danger zone – and called on them to help out again.

Read more: 

Kingfishers face being wiped out: Species and 37 others including puffins and curlew on list of British birds at risk of extinction

37 species of birds that occur regularly in the UK face extinction 

Across Europe one in five species face being wiped out according to study

EU and BirdLife International has published its 'red list' of birds at risk

They include the puffin, kingfisher, herring gull, lapwing, red grouse and curlew 

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 23:12, 3 June 2015 | UPDATED: 00:17, 4 June 2015

British birds such as the puffin and kingfisher are at risk of extinction, a new study warns.

The colourful kingfisher was once a common sight on our riverbanks but is now among the 37 species in danger of dying out. 

Others include the herring gull, lapwing, curlew and red grouse.

And across Europe, nearly one in five bird species face being wiped out, according to a recent assessment.

Climate change, habitat loss and changing land management have all been blamed for the decline in many species.

The puffin, pictured off the coast of Northumberland, is now among 37 species of birds in danger of dying out, a study has warned

The colourful kingfisher, pictured above catching a fish , was once a common sight on our river banks

The figures come from a newly published European Red List of Birds, which was put together following an assessment carried out by a consortium, led by BirdLife International.

The assessment, funded by the European Commission, has revealed that per cent of 451 European bird species are now considered to be at risk of extinction across Europe.

Read more:

THREATENED BIRD SPECIES: Call for wader sightings in the Antrim Hills

Threatened breeding wader species including lapwing, curlew and snipe have been bucking national trends in the Antrim Hills in recent years, thanks to the interventions of wildlife friendly farmers in Glenwherry.

Recent research has shown this species group declined by 83 per cent in Northern Ireland since 1987 but in the hills and valleys of Glenwherry these birds have been on the increase since 2011, with an impressive 164 pairs recorded last year.

Through the RSPB’s Halting Environmental Loss Project (HELP) local farmers have been taking advice from Neal Warnock their local RSPB Project Officer and have been busy tackling many of the problems which have caused such drastic declines in the wider countryside.

Nearly £1.5 million has been given to HELP from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the INTERREG IVA Programme, which is delivered locally by the Special EU Programmes Body. The project will run until August 2014 operating in the few remaining hot spots for these birds in Northern Ireland.

Weather conditions in late summer and early autumn 2013 were excellent and the dry conditions saw fields grazed late into the autumn and allowed for more than 143 hectares of rush to be controlled in wader fields.

“The increasing level of rush control has been one of the major successes of the project and has resulted in a dramatic rise in the number of breeding snipe in particular,” Neal explained.

Continued

Farmers help halt 89 per cent Peewit dip

Farmers along Lough Foyle are working with a local RSPB officer to help halt the decline of the Lapwing, local populations of which have decreased by 89 per cent since 1987.

The RSPB’s Halting Environmental Loss Project (HELP), began in 2011, and local farmers have been taking advice from their local Project Officer to tackle many of the problems which have caused such drastic declines of the ‘Peewit.’

Nearly £1.5 million has been given to HELP from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the INTERREG IVA Programme, which is delivered locally by the Special EU Programmes Body.

The project will run until August 2014 operating in the few remaining hot spots for these birds in Northern Ireland.

Continued

'Action needed' after wading bird populations suffer decline

THE populations of four out of five wading birds on Scotland's farms have declined significantly over the past decade, a report has found.

Curlews, lapwings, oystercatchers and redshank have all decreased in numbers, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) found. However, the number of farmland seed-eating birds, such as linnets, skylarks, tree sparrows and yellowhammers, all rose.

Farmland birds in Scotland and further afield have been decreasing since the 1950s, with major declines in the 1970s and into the 1980s.

More intensive farming, climate change and changes in the areas where Scotland's farmland birds spend the winter have all contributed to the fall in numbers, according to SNH.

Susan Davies, the agency's director of policy and advice, said: "Many of our waders are struggling and that action needs to be taken.

"It's not all bad news though, and it's heartening to see some of Scotland's farmland birds increasing. The hard work by farmers and volunteers can pay dividends in helping wildlife.

Read further

It's easy to see to see why native wildlife is in decline

I read the article about farmers and wildlife charities joining forces to bring back the lapwing. 

Lapwings have suffered a catastrophic decline over the last 30 years. Why another costly study? Since 2007, the RSPB has been working to maintain and strengthen the largest remaining population of breeding lapwings of the Welsh uplands in Hiraethog. The project aims to attract more pairs to breed, while also learning lessons about the best ways to manage the land for nesting adults and chicks. Thanks to the help of farmers and partner organisations, Habitat management work has been carried out on 15 farms. This includes targeted grazing and creating more suitable habitats for chicks to find food. The RSPB will not look at predators as a cause or causes of decline in lapwings. This is why we are getting these negative results. The RSPB should ask farmers what happens to nesting peewits and they will tell you that if the crows don't get their eggs, then foxes and buzzards will kill adults and chicks. The RSPB's approach to conservation isn't working. At present farmers in stewardship schemes get paid solely for habitat improvements.

If the farmers and the RSPB were also paid for achieving improvements in wildlife numbers, they might adopt other measures such as predator control to achieve these ends.

The RSPB and other conservation organisation will not admit that increased predation levels are a problem because this puts them in a conflicted position.

Their revenue would be at risk if they the RSPB were to carry out research that identified a real need to control predators because membership support could fall.

About 350,000 deer have been shot in Scotland because they were destroying habitat.

More at:  http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/s-easy-native-wildlife-decline/story-17268522-detail/story.html