£156,000 grant to help safeguard island-nesting seabirds from brown rats and other 'invasive' species

                                                           

Ground-nestings birds such as puffins are vulnerable to rodents

WHITEHALL  has today announced funding of  £156,000 to help safeguard  England’s island seabird populations against the threat of 'invasive' predators.

Islands such as Coquet Island and the Isles of Scilly are internationally important for millions of seabirds, with the former - off the Northumberland Coast - being the only breeding place in the UK for roseate terns.

However, some key breeding populations are in decline due to multiple threats including invasive mammals such as stoats and mice.

Says Defra: "The eggs and chicks of ground-nesting seabirds including puffins, razorbills, gannets, terns and European storm petrels are particularly vulnerable, and their populations can quickly be decimated by invasive mammals.

"The funding, to be provided from July next year, will ensure existing biosecurity measures across England’s seabird islands are maintained and enhanced so we can continue to protect the recovery and secure the future of important seabirds."

It is hoped that the grant will be sufficient to help fund:

* The employment of a full time biosecurity officer

* A conservation detection dog team that will train dogs to search for and indicate the presence of brown rats

* Information campaigns targeting island visitors

* Training of volunteers to support biosecurity implementation across England’s seabird island Special Protection Areas

* Frequent surveillance checks

Says Minister for Biosecurity, Marine and Rural Affairs, Lord Benyon: "British seabirds are part of what make our coastlines so beautiful, and it’s vitally important we continue to do all we can to help them thrive.

Defra will be entrusting much of the initative to RSPB whose seabird recovery officer Laura Bambini comments:"This is important for building resilience in our seabird populations which are in a precarious situation.

Agrees the charity's marine policy officer Kirsten Carter: "Even just a single inadvertently introduced predator can have a devastating effect on an island where the native species have no natural defences."