£1 million bid to save Wales’s curlews

Funding offers lifeline for curlew recovery

Wales could lose its last breeding curlews by 2033 – but a £921,000 Government grant gives conservationists a chance to prevent it.

The funding, from the Nature Networks Fund, will support GWCT Cymru’s ‘Gwlad y Gylfinir – Land of the Curlew’ project in Powys, mid-Wales, building on three years of work under the Curlew Connections Wales project, which comes to an end this month.

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Curlew population decline raises alarm

Wales may have as few as 500 breeding curlews remaining. Numbers have fallen by an average of 50% across the UK over 30 years, driven by habitat loss, agricultural intensification, predator pressure and climate change. The species nests in the same spot every year and is long-lived, meaning they age out rapidly when fledging success is poor and there are not enough younger birds to bolster populations.

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Technology and protection improve survival

The previous project used thermal drone technology to locate nests, which were then protected with electric fencing to improve chick survival rates.

Curlew Connections Wales project manager Julieanne Quinlan said the new funding would allow vital conservation work to continue across Powys, adding: “The past three years have demonstrated the power of true collaboration for curlew and our rural communities.”

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Wider investment in biodiversity

The Nature Networks Fund is providing £15m across 28 projects in Wales aimed at restoring biodiversity on land and at sea.