A third warning for our seabirds. 

Guest Blog, Erin McKeown, Senior Marine Policy Officer, RSPB NI

Northern Ireland is home to iconic seabird species such as Puffins, Terns and Manx Shearwaters. These seabirds are a delight to see on our shores and visiting a seabird colony is one of the great wildlife spectacles. Seabirds also play a vital role in keeping our seas well-functioning and healthy. Seabirds are therefore an indicator of ocean health. If they are not doing well, neither are our seas.

[Image: Roseate Tern, Credit Brian Burke, RSPB Images]

The latest Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC) 2024 shows alarming declines for many of UK seabird populations. 5 species have now been added to the BoCC Red List. Furthermore, species facing drastic declines in NI such as Roseate Rerns and Puffins remain on red list and have not shown signs of recovery. However, we shouldn’t be surprised by these trends. Last November, JNCC’s 2023 Seabird Count showed declines of over 70% in Northern Ireland for Puffins and Roseate Terns in the last two decades. In February this year RSPB led HPAI surveys showed further colony declines for species such as Kittiwake and Common Guillemot. This 2024 BoCC report is a third and potentially final warning for this seabird crisis. We need to act now to protect and recover seabird populations before it is too late.

The UK is an internationally important site for seabirds and therefore has a responsibility to safeguard populations. Although the results from the latest BoCC are incredibly concerning, there is cause for hope as there are clear actions that can and need to be taken to address these declines.

RSPB NI is calling on DAERA to act now to deliver a robust and ambitious NI Seabird Conservation Strategy that is well resourced to deliver the actions needed for seabirds to recover in Northern Ireland including:

• Rapid protection of seabird breeding islands from invasive predators.
• Improvements in the marine protected areas network for seabirds.
• Better spatial planning of marine developments to avoid important areas.
• Fisheries management to ensure there are sufficient prey species and new measures on boats that tackle the bycatch of seabirds in fishing gear.
• Rapid protection of seabird breeding islands from invasive predators
• Improvements in the marine protected areas network for seabirds
• Better spatial planning of marine developments to avoid important areas
• Fisheries management to ensure there are sufficient prey species and new measures on boats that tackle the bycatch of seabirds in fishing gear.

You can find more information about this latest report here: 

Alarming declines in UK seabird species sees five more added to the Red List (rspb.org.uk)