Habitat to benefit

RSPB NI, RSPB Scotland and Birdwatch Ireland have unveiled the million pound package to make sure that some of our best landscapes are managed to benefit everyone.

It is RSPB NI’s biggest “species recovery project” yet and is billed Halting Environmental Loss Project (HELP).

Three project officers will roll out the scheme in Northern Ireland with one project officer in Donegal and another in Scotland.

The project, which runs until December 2014, will be carried out by dedicated teams in each region, with Project Manager Caroline Marshall co-ordinating and working closely with the funding bodies from her RSPB NI base.

Says Caroline: “I’m looking forward to great successes in this exciting project. No doubt there will be many challenges ahead, but the end goal of well managed habitat with greater opportunities for wildlife is a worthy vision.”

In Northern Ireland, work will focus on several important areas for breeding waders: Lough Foyle, Lough Beg, Lough Erne and Glenwhirry, Co. Antrim.

“In these areas agri-environment participation is high, but there is no training and advice available to farmers on how to manage for waders.

“The funding has enabled us to take on Project Officers to work with farmers and monitor the numbers of breeding waders. The funding will also allow us to build on our successful work for waders on our own reserves at Lough Erne, and in the case of Lough Beg, invest in specialised machinery to help farmers control rushes,” Caroline explains

Five project officers are now in place; three in Northern Ireland, one in Donegal, and one in South-west Scotland. They will be joined by seasonal field workers soon and all will work closely with local farmers in providing advice on habitat improvement and management.

In Scotland, seasonal officers will also link in to tourism and help to improve the local island economy by providing talks and walks on biodiversity that raise awareness of vulnerable habitats and species.

“After two years of lining up the funding and the team, it’s great to be able to announce that all systems are now go. This is such an important programme and will make a major difference to conserving rapidly disappearing habitats and the biodiversity they support,” says James Robinson, RSPB NI Director who launched HELP during a special address at the All Ireland Conference.

HELP’s aim is to deliver targeted cross-border biodiversity action for a range of priority species across Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland and Donegal. The Priority species are those that have undergone severe declines in number and range, including chough, corncrake and breeding waders (lapwing, curlew, snipe and redshank).