14
FEATURES
Bid to boost
environment
awareness
Big support
for charity’s
bird survey
ARMERS have given an
enthusiastic thumbs-up to a
scheme that promotes good
relations between conservationists
and the farming community.
The RSPB Volunteer & Farmer
Alliance offers a free service
that connects farmers who want
to know more about birds on
their farms with trained volunteers,
who carry out early morning
surveys during the breeding
season.
In a survey, 98 per cent of
farmers questioned said the bird
study was worthwhile, and 70 per
cent discovered they had species
on their land they had not known
about.
At least 85 per cent
implemented the the scheme’s
farmland bird management
guidelines — and twenty-six per
cent used the results to support
applications to the Countryside
Stewardship Scheme, which
makes payments to farmers and
other land managers to enhance
rural England.
Alliance project manager Jenny
Atkins said: “The staggering
amount of interest shown by
farmers and volunteers is an
F
8
The lapwing… more common
on farms in the North
inspiration to RSPB staff and
reinforces our belief that by
working together with the
farming community we can
reverse the decline of farmland
birds like skylarks and corn
buntings.”
The Alliance was launched in
1999 with just 40 farms in central
England. The number involved
more than doubled the following
year by including the South East
and East Anglia. Last year, 850
farms, covering 65,000 hectares
across the UK, were surveyed,
involving more than 1,000
volunteers, and 850 more farms
will be visited this year. About
2,000 farmers have taken part so
far.
Jenny said: “Demand within the
farming community is such
that we cannot always meet it
and we are fully booked for
this year. But if any National Grid
grantor is interested in taking part,
then they should get in touch as
soon as possible and we will put
them on the waiting list for next
year.”
q For further information, call
Jenny on 01767 680551 or e-mail
[email protected]
Red alert for the
poor tree sparrow
AN ASSESSMENT of the
UK’s bird population has
been published in The
Population Status of Birds
in the UK — Birds of
Conservation Concern:
2002-2007.
It uses a scheme of
colour-coding to group the
247 species that are
regularly to be found in the
UK according to their
status:
Red — there are 40
species whose
populations or range are
rapidly declining. Included
are the skylark, song
thrush, tree sparrow,
house sparrow,
yellowhammer and lesser
spotted woodpecker.
Amber — there are 121
species whose
populations are in
moderate decline. They
include the swallow and
NEWS
THE Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a large landowner in the UK — and a National Grid grantor. In this issue of GridLine, we
introduce a new RSPB initiative launched at this year’s Royal Show, the RSPB Volunteer and Farmer Alliance. The RSPB has long recognised the
vital role farming must play if we are to reverse the alarming declines in skylarks, song thrushes, lapwings and the other birds that depend on
farmland. The alliance highlights the society’s commitment to work with farmers to reverse this decline.
Birdlife gets a helping hand
ARMING and wildlife conservation have
not always found it easy to go hand in
hand in recent years.
RSPB public affairs manager Andre
Farrar said: “In just 50 years, farmers have
had to respond first to the priorities of
post-war Britain and then to the
production-led drive of the Common
Agricultural Policy.
“The resulting agricultural industry has
left little room for wildlife. Birds like the tree
sparrow have declined by more than 80
per cent in just 25 years, and corn
buntings are all but lost from Wales.”
But there is hope in the new RSPB
Volunteer and Farmer Alliance.
The project involves trained volunteers
— including long-term RSPB volunteers,
farmers and wildlife enthusiasts —
carrying out a free and confidential bird
survey of participating farms throughout
the UK.
At the end of the survey, the farmer is
given a map showing which birds inhabit
his land, and where they can be found.
Andre said: “At the very least, he has
details which can influence how he
manages his land. He might discover, for
example, that a particular hedgerow is an
important habitat for a certain rare
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