Waders project celebrates win at Nature of Scotland Awards
Jennifer Struthers of SAC Consulting, centre, and the rest of the award-winning Clyde Valley Waders Farming Group.
A collaborative project to save threatened populations of wading birds in the Clyde Valley has picked up a major national award.
The Clyde Valley Waders Farming Group won the ‘Farming with Nature’ category at the Nature of Scotland Awards in Edinburgh.
The project has seen SAC Consulting and SRUC colleagues and the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) work with farmers in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire to help provide favourable breeding grounds for species including lapwings, curlews, redshanks, oystercatchers and ringed plovers.
It aims to revive declining numbers of waders in the Clyde Valley, encouraging the use of initiatives like forage crop fields to bring breeding birds back to upland sites.
Jennifer Struthers, Senior Consultant at SAC Consulting in Lanark, said: “We are delighted to have won this award. This project has been a great example of different partners working together with farmers for the benefit of a crucial part of our wildlife in Scotland and I’m delighted that has been recognised.
“More importantly, though, we have managed to give threatened populations of wading birds a better chance of survival in the Clyde Valley.”
One of the farmers who has been part of the group, Kenny Johnstone, said: “Most waders are doing pretty badly and it would be tragic to lose them.
“We have to do the best for our farm, we have to feed our family, we have to be efficient, but, at the same time, we now want very much to work together to do our best for wader birds.”
Daniel Brown, Senior Conservation Officer with the RSPB, added: “The future of waders is intrinsically linked to the future of farming. All the partners have a love and appreciation for these amazing birds and want to work together to save them.
“The farmers are totally committed to this and are giving up their time and money to improve the situation on the ground.
“Scotland, and the UK, is home to internationally important numbers of breeding waders. Things like curlews, for example – we have about a third of the breeding population so, on an international scale, we are so important.
“We are all working together to trial and monitor new approaches to their conservation.
“Some of the recent trials have provided grounds for hope. For example, we’ve recorded 80% hatching success in the last few years on brassica stubbles when left undisturbed during nesting.”
SAC Consulting and the RSPB reached out to Clyde Valley farmers, knowing the best way to protect the waders was for everyone to be working together.
A series of meetings took place and ways of protecting the birds without adversely affecting farming practices were devised.
Farmer Doug Telfer, who is chairman of the group, said: “Waders are a very important part of the culture of the valley. We want to try our best to make sure these birds have got a good habitat to go out and survive.”
The project has already seen signs of success, including the restoration of traditional cropping which once served as a major boost for wading birds, such as cereals and brassica including kale and turnips.
The Nature of Scotland Awards took place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on November 28, hosted by BBC Landward presenters Dougie Vipond and Arlene Stuart.
Posted by SRUC on 29/11/2024
