The state of the UK’s birds: a conservation barometer
As nations gather in Nagoya, Japan, next week, for the world biodiversity conference, a coalition of UK conservation organisations has today published a report using the UK’s birds as a barometer of conservation success.
In 1994, the UK government identified 26 species of bird that were most in need of conservation help and set in train detailed plans of action for them as part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Using population trends from 24 of these, today’s report – State of the UK’s Birds 2010 – shows that the number of these species in steep decline has now more than halved, and that the numbers increasing has risen from four to six species.
In 1992, a ground-breaking world conservation conference spawned the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Eighteen years later – in the International Year of Biodiversity – conservation targets should have been met. But the report also reveals that the overall number of species in trouble has risen and that the UK therefore hasn’t met international or EU biodiversity targets for slowing or halting the loss of birds. An assessment of 232 populations of birds prior to 1994, showed that 38 of these were declining severely. In the period after 1994, that number had risen by 18 per cent, with 45 populations declining.
Richard Hearn, of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, said: “At his address to the UN in September, Ban Ki-moon emphasised the need for more and better monitoring in order to meet new post-2010 targets for reducing the loss of biodiversity. Monitoring is not just a case of knowing how species are faring; it gives value-for-money conservation by ensuring hard-won resources are channelled into the highest priorities. We have seen some successes since 1994, but the overall picture is bleak for birds and biodiversity generally. If we are going to do better in the future, we need to encourage more people to be involved, from hobbyists to the specialist biologists of tomorrow.”
The report does pay tribute to the success that conservation efforts can bring to struggling species. In 1994 the bittern, corncrake and roseate tern all had populations which were declining, but the populations of these birds are now all increasing, thanks largely to conservation efforts. Additionally, the populations of six species - including, skylark, song thrush and tree sparrow - were all declining in the period prior to 1994, the populations of all these birds are currently stable. These encouraging figures show the potential for recovery through conservation action.
Worryingly, the report also features seven species which have continued to decline: common scoter; marsh warbler; red-backed shrike; and the formerly abundant and widespread corn bunting, grey partridge; spotted flycatcher; and turtle dove. The grey partridge and corn bunting are farmland species which have suffered from the effects of agricultural intensification. Despite conservation efforts by farmers, helped by government wildlife-friendly farming schemes, such species have failed to recover. Turtle dove and spotted flycatcher are migratory species that breed in Europe and winter in sub-Saharan Africa whose declines may be a combination of ‘home-grown’ effects and those operating outside the UK.
