Estate wins award for protecting the curlew

BOLTON CASTLE Estate has been recognised for its work on curlew conservation with a national award.

The Life on the Land Awards, organised by charity Redlist Revival, recognises efforts to maintain an abundance of globally important species fundamental to sustaining natural resources.

Five awards recognising work with curlew, tree sparrow, lapwing, nightingale and corn bunting were given, highlighting success stories in the face of nationally declining numbers.

Curlew conservation is an integral part of the family-owned Bolton Castle Estate in Wensleydale.

Receiving the award, Tom Orde-Powlett said: “Our family has been associated with this area of North Yorkshire for a long time, with each generation sharing the privilege and responsibility for the heritage and history of the land we look after.

“The curlews bring great joy in their own right but to do so in the numbers we have, against these terrible national declines, is a great reflection of the landscape that is not only maintaining history but also flourishing. I hope what we are doing will provide inspiration to others.”

Alongside Bolton Castle, the winners were Jacks Bush Farm, Hampshire, for corn bunting; Emley National Nature Reserve, Kent, for lapwing; Knepp Estate, West Sussex, for nightingale and Vine House Farm, Lincolnshire, for tree sparrow.

Redlist Revival’s chief Edward Darling said: “Congratulations to the five sites achieving these levels of abundance, to the people that made it happen on the ground and to those who provided support.”