BIODIVERSITY - ACTION FOR CURLEW | A


Andrew Gilruth is our director of member- ship, marketing & communications. He has helped to launch Action For Curlew, a GWCT initiative to raise awareness of the decline in our breeding curlew population.


s I write this, The State of the UK’s Birds 2016 report has just been published, highlighting the alarming decline in our breeding curlew numbers. The long-term trend shows a 64% decline from 1970 to 2014 and the situation can be much worse on a local level.


At a recent conference, it was estimated that there are just 300 pairs of curlew south of Birmingham and that at the current rate of loss, they will disappear from this region in the next eight years. The decline is being driven by nesting failure. We can’t sit by and let that happen and that’s why we are calling for action.


The first step we want to take is to engage farmers, gamekeepers, landowners and all GWCT members to let us know if they have breeding curlew on their land. This will help us to identify potential hotspots, understand what you’re doing to encourage them to breed and what might be causing their declines.


What happens next?


Each curlew site we hear about could help us to understand the role that habitat and game management play in their survival. Any account of fledging success or failure will help us to understand what is happening on the ground and what needs to be done to tackle it, both locally and nationally.


“There are just 300 pairs of curlew south of Birmingham … at the current rate of loss, they will disappear from this region in the next eight years”


If you have curlew on your land, please let us know Your information could provide a vital insight into understanding their current range and what needs to be done to improve this situation. You can let us know by: Telling us at www.actionforcurlew.com. Emailing us at curlew@gwct.org.uk.


Writing to us at Action For Curlew, GWCT, Burgate Manor, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EF.


We aren’t just recording nests in the lowlands – every curlew counts.


Curlew facts


Drawing on our experience from projects such as the Partridge Count Scheme and our involvement with many Farmer Clusters, we know what can be achieved through farmers and gamekeepers working together. We will provide the latest news, best practice advice and guidance on the types of agri-environment schemes in which you might be able to enrol for curlew conservation options. I don’t want us to stop there, however. If we are to bring about curlew recovery, we need to promote an honest and open discussion about predators and their role in declining chick survival.


Across Europe, too few young curlew are produced each year. Predators eating eggs and chicks is one of the main reasons, and it is this low breeding success, rather than poor adult survival, that is believed to be driving curlew declines. In areas where predator numbers are controlled, curlew can breed more successfully. Despite this, there is not currently provision within conservation policy to support those who, having provided ideal habitat for curlew, remove the threat of egg and chick predation. If you know any curlew sites, or if you used to have curlew but no longer do, please tell us at www.actionforcurlew.com. Every response will get us closer to taking action for curlew before it’s too late.


1


(Left) Today the curlew’s breeding range has contracted so much that they are often thought of as a bird of the uplands. © Laurie Campbell


Historically, curlew were found breeding across Britain – in meadows, marshes and arable fields where they are now rarely seen. Today, their breeding range has contracted and they are more often thought of as a bird of the uplands, breeding on moorland areas and farms around the hill edge. The UK’s breeding curlew population has halved in the last 25 years.


www.actionforcurlew.com


2


This decline has also been recorded in most of the other countries where curlew breed. It is estimated by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that worldwide there has been a 20-30% reduction in breeding curlew numbers in the past 15 years. Curlew are now considered to be ‘vulnerable’ on the European red list, meaning that the species face a high risk of extinction.


3


The UK plays an important role in shaping curlew conservation, because we support important breeding and overwintering populations. With a fifth of the world’s curlew in winter, and around a quarter of the world’s breeding pairs in spring and summer, what happens to the curlew in the UK will have substantial consequences for the future of the species.


GAMEWISE • SUMMER 2017 | 25


Curlew © Laurie Campbell, nest and chick. © Curlew Country


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60