Dales estate and duchy team up to protect curlews in last stronghold
THE haunting call of the curlew, the largest of the British waders, is now “all too seldom heard”, says the Prince of Wales.
Nearly half the breeding population has been lost over the last 25 years and Prince Charles, who has hosted two summits, including one at Highgrove last month, said the Eurasian curlew needs “urgent support”.
A curlew recovery partnership, including the Duchy of Cornwall and Bolton Castle Estate in Wensleydale, has been formed to try to help secure the future of the threatened species.
The population in the Yorkshire Dales is the last global stronghold, with as many as 200 breeding pairs on the Bolton Castle estate alone.
Over winter the resident population can be swollen by over 800 curlews, which feed on the intensively managed grasslands in the valley bottom round the village of Wensley on the River Ure. In the last week or so they have been moving up to their breeding territories on the moor.
Lord Bolton’s son Tom OrdePowlett, who is leading the conservation work on the estate, said the partnership, made up of nine organisations, is not trying to tell people what to do.
He said: “We are trying to build a network of people who have curlews on their land, and up here in the Dales we have more than most.
“We want to try to inspire and encourage people. We want to talk and engage with farmers, and for them to tell us what problems they have, whether it is predation or whether they are compelled to cut regularly for silage. It is trying to put them in the driving seat. The farmers will have more in-depth understanding of the things we want to get right for the curlews.
“The key central thing is bringing together scientists, land managers, gamekeepers, researchers, local people – bringing them together and making sure information is shared.”
The partnership has been set up with financial support from the Government and will explore opportunities to embed the bid to boost numbers of curlews within the new Environmental Land Management Scheme and the Nature Recovery Network.
We’re building a network of people who have curlews on their land. Tom Orde-Powlett, who is leading the conservation work on the Bolton Castle estate.