North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme

A few weeks ago we heard good news - the North Isles Landscape Partnership Scheme has cleared its first hurdle, with the Heritage Lottery Fund deciding to earmark £3m for the project. You can read more about the scheme here. 

We’re one of the partners who would be involved in delivering parts of the scheme, and we think it has a lot of potential to help people look after and make the most of the natural heritage of the North Isles. Sarah, who leads the local RSPB team, explains more below.

Natural heritage of the North Isles

Orkney is an amazing place for wildlife, and nowhere more so than the North Isles.

The rich life in the surrounding seas and the islands’ miles of cliffs means that they’ve historically been home a significant proportion of the UK's breeding seabirds. The North Isles have also managed to hold onto many wet unimproved areas within the farming landscape, encouraging wading birds like curlews and lapwings to flourish. In some cases, islands like these now almost entirely support wildlife that was once widespread across the UK - corncrakes and great yellow bumblebees are two good examples.

Kittiwake and chick by Derren Fox

Why this wildlife needs help

You can see and even hear the effects of climate change. Noup Cliffs on Westray is the largest breeding seabird colony in Orkney - the equivalent of high-rise accommodation for birds. In 1970 these raucous cliffs were home to around 40,000 kittiwake nests, but last year saw this population reduced to just over 1,000. The problem is linked to rising sea surface temperatures and changes in the marine food chain, affecting the supply of food for seabirds trying to raise their chicks.

Help is also needed to ensure the landscape continues to provide homes for corncrakes, waders and bumblebees in a way that works for both farming and wildlife.

Great yellow bumblebee by Eric Meek

What the Landscape Partnership Scheme can do

This scheme cannot solve climate change but it can, through helping people to raise awareness, build support for action. Projects could also collect data that we need to understand the exact factors at work in seabird decline - studying the number of birds, number of chicks and what the chicks are being fed. We know the birds’ breeding success varies between years but resources are needed to collect more information in the future.

The scheme could provide assistance to landowners and communities who want to protect and restore homes for vulnerable wildlife within the farming landscape, for example by providing help with accessing grants or carrying out restoration work on the ground. Again, the scheme could support the collection of data that’s needed to inform efforts to help these species of wildlife.

Furthermore, the project is an opportunity to bolster the islands’ economies by encouraging wildlife tourism – through supporting the wildlife itself to flourish, increasing publicity, running events and creating improved facilities for getting close to nature. This would help make conservation sustainable for communities, supporting thriving populations of wildlife beyond the life of the project.

Noup Cliffs, Westray by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)