Lots of posts on this blog have featured wetlands and, in particular, the UK’s coast and estuaries. This is no coincidence – this country’s coastal heritage really puts us on the world map of conservation issues. As we look forward to the end of winter hundreds of thousands of wildfowl and wading birds are preparing to head north to their artic breeding grounds having survived another winter on our coast sustained by the rich food supply and warmed by the ocean currents of the North Atlantic drift.
Yet more birds will be passing through on their way north, highlighting the role the UK plays as a vital link in the chain of migration. The UK is an international mixing pot of birds like turnstones (pictured)heading to Greenland and even arctic Canada or bar-tailed godwits setting off for Siberia.
So how do we know all this?
At the heart of the discoveries about our wetland birds are the dedicated people who have been studying them. These are the bird ringers and counters – the vast majority amateurs and volunteers – who have painstakingly gathered the raw numbers. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude.
The RSPB along with our partners the British Trust for Ornithology, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, have just launched the latest report of the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBs) covering the winter of 2007/08. It’s a chunky little book packed with numbers that provide an unparalleled level of understanding about how our wetland bird populations are changing and showing which are our most important sites.
Although wildfowl (ducks, geese and swans) have been counted for longer, the forerunner of WeBs – the Birds of Estuaries Enquiry – started over forty years ago in direct response to the conservation challenge of building cases to defend estuaries from threats. The conservation movement was ill equipped to fight proposals to build London’s third airport off Foulness on the Essex coast, not least because the data just wasn’t there.
A lot has happened since those difficult days. The Ramsar Convention provided international pressure to protect wetlands ‘especially as waterfowl habitat’ – so that demands reliable data. The European Union’s Birds Directive gives effective and targeted protection to sites supporting migrating birds – the background to why many of our estuaries are designated as Special Protection Areas – making them part of the European Union’s network of the best wildlife sites – known as Natura 2000.
Of the top twenty sites for waterfowl in the UK, five are threatened by barriers or tidal power generating barrages – here’s the list (the number in brackets is the average number of birds the site supports).
The Wash (371,308)The Thames Estuary (186,302)The Solway (122,602)The Mersey (79,504)The Severn (69,482)
We’ve been working hard to prevent these damaging proposals coming forward (while at the same time championing innovative ways of harnessing tidal energy) – but despite the highest levels of protection these special places are still not safe.
The work continues on many fronts – but what is absolutely certain is the vital role of WeBS now and in the future providing the best information on which to base the wisest of decisions.
So – keep counting!