Saving Curlews from extinction in Wales

Curlew (Cameron Sharp)

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I recently attended a gathering of people involved in efforts to save Curlew as a breeding species across Wales. It was sobering and uplifting in near equal measure. Those leading recovery efforts shared their experiences, frustrations and elation.

Curlew is the highest bird conservation priority, because the UK is the second most important country in the World, after Finland, yet the breeding population is in steep decline. The situation is especially critical in Wales, where there may be as few as 400 breeding pairs and Curlew is forecast to be on the point of extinction by 2033 without intervention. This prompted conservation groups, game management organisations, farming unions and scientists to come together under the banner of Gylfinir Cymru/Curlew Wales and produced a national recovery plan. Silage cropping, changes in grazing management in the uplands, and predation by foxes are among the threats facing Curlews, with tree-planting and onshore wind turbines being additional challenges.

Many of the recovery efforts are focused in Important Curlew Areas identified in the Plan. We heard from a farmer-led project in Radnorshire, a National Nature Reserve manager in Wrexham, and from project officers working for a National Park, a National Landscape, a charitable trust responsible for a large estate, RSPB Cymru and the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. In North Wales, action is underway in Anglesey’s Cefni Valley, the South Clwyd hills, Mynydd Hiraethog, Ysbyty Ifan and Fenn’s & Whixall Moss.

It was a summer of mixed fortunes, with cold, wet conditions making it hard for tiny chicks to thrive, but in other places positive management of hay fields and wet features resulted in young birds flying successfully. What was apparent in all the efforts was the importance of farming and farmers. We heard some wonderful examples of farmers going the extra mile to help Curlews.

There were clear messages about continuity, since this work has only short-term funding. It is clear that Curlews won’t be saved without people on the ground and financial support for farmers to incorporate Curlew-friendly measures as part of their business. But we also heard about the wider benefits of the management, for Lapwings, dragonflies, peatlands and water quality. Saving Curlews remains a huge challenge, but there are a lot of knowledgeable people across Wales working their socks off to keep its cry in our landscape.