Working for Waders - What have we been up to?

A good meeting at Battleby

We all know that waders are in a perilous state and we have to act. That is why Working for Waders has been busy gathering information, delivering action on the ground and talking to people about how they can help save our waders.  It’s been just over a year since we started and so we took the opportunity to have a long hard look at what we have done and ask ourselves what more we can do and who else can help. 

We looked at what we have helped to deliver so far. This has included action on the ground to encourage waders through building wader scrapes, habitat management and predator control in the Clyde Valley, Thrumster and East Cairngorms. We have also contributed to an interactive wader project map designed by the James Hutton Institute, to help show what is happening to help waders across Scotland and identify opportunities to learn from each other and share what is happening in different areas. BTO has produced a hot spot/cold spot map for different species of wader. This will help target future efforts in the right places. We’ve also produced guidance on counting waders to ensure that there is a consistent and therefore comparable approach so we can share knowledge from across Scotland and projects.

But are we doing enough and are we involving the people that we need to in the right ways? We all recognise the huge importance of engaging with farmers to identify actions on the ground which will help waders and allow farm businesses to work around pinch-points where agriculture can have a harmful effect on breeding birds. We also recognise the need to support small, local actions as collectively these can make a big difference. 

We need to balance the need for urgent, rapid action with the knowledge that there isn’t a quick fix to restore wading birds. Many waders are in serious trouble across Scotland, and there is an enormous amount of work to do if their declines are to be halted. Working for Waders now has a firm platform for progress, and this is rooted in a genuine desire to collaborate and work together. 

We are open to anyone who wants to join us in helping to save our waders so please contact us if you want to get involved.