Taking action for birds in England

Guest blog by Dr Guy Anderson, Principal Research Manager, RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

Researching the causes of wildlife declines and putting tested management solutions into place to help species recover frequently requires partnerships – to allow work to take place at a big enough scale, in the right places, and with enough resource.  The statutory (governmental) conservation agencies in the UK have a long history of working closely with NGOs and academia - helping to ensure that their conservation policies and practice are informed by the best available evidence.  A great example of such a partnership is the joint programme of species research and recovery projects run by the RSPB and Natural England called Action for Birds in England (or ‘AfBiE’). This programme has run since 2005 and, often working with other partners on individual projects, has produced some remarkable conservation success stories for birds in England. 

Cirl bunting population recovery

Back in 1989, the cirl bunting was down to just 118 pairs in the UK. Research identified the causes (changes in agricultural practices removing both winter seed food and summer insect food from the landscape), solutions were tested and rolled out across the entire range of this bird in South West England, as part of targeted wildlife-friendly farming scheme options. Much of the solution testing – including the establishment (through translocation) of a new population in Cornwall - population monitoring and refinement of conservation management was done through AfBiE. The result? A survey in 2016 showed that the population had exceeded 1,000 breeding pairs. Find out more about our work on Cirl bunting.

Photo of Cirl bunting by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Testing and implementing conservation solutions for Stone curlew

The stone-curlew’s need for bare stony ground in open landscapes in spring and summer put them at risk from changes in how heathland, areas of open chalk hills and arable farmland were managed in the 20th century.  Much of the detailed ecological studies, and testing and deployment of conservation solutions for this species in recent years have been carried out as part of the AfBiE Programme. Lack of suitable sparsely vegetated nesting areas and the threat of nest destruction from farm machinery were identified as the main threats, with human disturbance not helping the situation. Direct nest protection and providing safe bare ground nesting plots in suitable undisturbed situations worked a treat and the population has recovered, with the help of substantial funding from the EU LIFE+ Programme in recent years.  Ongoing work in partnership with the University of East Anglia is testing and refining the management advice for nesting plots on farmland to make them as useful as possible for stone curlews and a whole range of other birds, plants and insects. We are tracking adult stone curlews, fitted with accurate GPS tags, to understand how they use their landscapes, and plots provided for them. Find out more about our Stone curlew work in our blog series

Photo of Stone curlew by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Conserving wetland breeding birds

The recovery of the UK’s bittern population has been monitored and documented through the AfBiE programme. Similarly, breeding waders in England have been monitored, and a wide range of conservation management solutions tested to try to improve their breeding success. These have shown good success where mammalian predators can be excluded, and the methods are now being deployed on nature reserves with positive results for waders.

Photo of Bittern by John Bridges (rspb-images.com)

Developing and implementing conservation measures at a wider countryside level

The Action for Birds in England programme has funded research and development of special measures for two of our fastest declining farmland birds: corn bunting and turtle dove. Both now have their own bespoke management packages in the Countryside Stewardship agri-environment scheme in England, which include high density crop strips for corn bunting and special management of seed-rich habitat for turtle doves.

Species recovery research still underway for corn bunting, curlew, ring ouzel, turtle dove and willow tit

The scope of the AfBiE programme, from monitoring through problem solving and solution testing, all the way through to full-blown species recovery projects, is one of its great strengths; reflecting the wide range of capabilities and expertise present in both RSPB and Natural England staff.

Photo of Ring ouzel by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Other work still underway within the AfBiE programme includes studies aimed at identifying the causes of populations declines in hawfinch, starling and wood warbler, and testing land management conservation solutions for curlew, ring ouzel and willow tit. RSPB and other NGOs in the environmental and conservation sector don’t always agree with everything that the UK statutory conservation agencies say. 

That’s entirely right and proper – our role is to challenge where necessary (and be challenged back for that matter).  But our role is also to help the agencies deliver their conservation objectives by ensuring that their policies are based on the best available evidence. Many of their objectives are closely shared with ours (you’d hope so, really!), and working in partnership has delivered, and continues to deliver, more conservation bang for your buck than either organisation could have achieved alone.