IS RED TAPE STALLING EFFORTS TO SAFEGUARD ENGLAND'S NESTING CURLEWS?

Curlew - as a ground-nester, its eggs and chicks are vulnerable to predators

AN alert has been sounded on the future in Britain of the curlew - at least as a breeding species.

Because of changed legislation, in England, opportunities have become limited for control of its predator-in-chief, the carrion crow - even on sites designated as special protection areas for curlews and other ground-nesting species such as golden plovers. 

This has prompted the Game Wildlife and Conservation Trust to sound the alarm.

Says its  communications director, Andrew Gilruth: " If we want to stop the curlew going the way of many other birds, such as the corncrake and the nightjar, we are going to need Defra to allow landowners to resume protecting the curlew’s young on their most important English breeding grounds - just as they can in Scotland and Wales.

"These sites have been designated as Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas by Defra. 

"However, having given them the highest level of legal protection – this red-tape is now preventing conservationists from protecting birds in them." 

Across Europe curlew numbers have been in freefall - down by 46 per cent over the past 25 years. 

A review of scientific studies across Europe found that breeding success was so low that, between 1996-2006, over 70 per cent  of nests were not able to hatch a single chick.

Of those chicks that hatched, only half survived until they were able to fly. 

More at: www.gwct.org.uk