Curlew conservation in Wales - necessity of habitat and predator management

[Conor O'Gorman]

BASC demonstrated its commitment to curlew recovery as part of a Gylfinir Cymru (Curlew Wales) delegation that met with Huw Irranca-Davies, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs. 

The meeting focused on progressing the Wales Curlew Recovery Action Plan and emphasised the necessity of habitat and predator management.

Both habitat management and predator management are essential for curlew recovery. It is a formula that will support the recovery of more than 80 species, especially other lowland breeding wader species like lapwing. It will also increase water and carbon storage by improving soil health, plus enhance people’s wellbeing. 

A Sustainable Farming Scheme that follows this formula will lead to success for curlew, like we see on well managed grouse moors. The challenge is to replicate this on uplands where shooting isn’t the priority and to translate this success into lowland landscapes.

These efforts could also set a precedent for similar approaches in England’s Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMs), which started to investigate predator management to support threatened species under the Sunak government. This now needs prioritising urgently and added to the ELMs scheme to support curlew recovery in England.

BASC’s ongoing engagement with the Welsh Government underscores its pivotal role in advocating for balanced, evidence-based conservation strategies that benefit wildlife and the broader environment.

https://basc.org.uk/habitat-and-predator-management-for-curlew-recovery/

 

[Weihrauch17]

Did you raise the Snaring ban making effective Fox Control in certain areas virtually impossible due to the vegetation?