An Award for Kinclune!

Working for Waders was delighted to learn that Kinclune Organic Farm in Angus won the Food and Farming Award at RSPB’s 10th anniversary Nature of Scotland Awards last month.  In the citation for the award, Kinclune Organic Farm  “demonstrates that it is in the power of Scottish farmers to farm our way out of the biodiversity crisis by placing environmental and biodiversity considerations at the heart of management decisions. This benefits, not only important wildlife, such as threatened waders, but also upland livestock farms”. 

Kinclune has been an enthusiastic supporter of Working for Waders for almost two years, and the farm has now received two grants from our Small Grants Fund to develop and improve existing wader habitats. Speaking about some of the habitat management work undertaken at Kinclune, Aylwin Pillai said "The project has radically changed our understanding of the importance of our farm habitats. Making small changes has big benefits. With a £1000 grant from Working for Waders in 2020 we were able to put in four wader scrapes in our summer grazing areas. It's been amazing to see all the wildlife using the scrapes from insects and frogs to shelducks and red deer. Four of our five wader species have also been caught on trailcam regularly feeding in the scrapes, including red list lapwing and curlew fledglings. We are delighted at the big difference a small change can make and are putting in 3 or more scrapes in a wetland area this winter, again with WfW support, which we hope will benefit redshank, in particular.” 

Thanks to monitoring as part of our Nest Camera Project in 2021, stoats, foxes and various corvids were identified as key nest predators for waders at Kinclune between April and June, and action was been taken to manage some of these opportunistic species where it’s been practical to do so.    

Reflecting on the worthy winners and their journey over the last two years, estate manager and Working for Waders project partner Bruce Cooper said "it’s fantastic to hear that Kinclune have been awarded for their achievements in wader conservation. As a neighbouring land manager I was asked by the Working for Waders team to visit the farm to share some of my relevant wader conservation experience. This connection proved invaluable during the nesting season of 2021 when three different foxes were identified on nest cameras. Local knowledge and swift action resulted in the farm’s waders being able to re-nest and successfully hatch, helping in a small way to address what is a national decline in these iconic wading birds. 

If every farmer in the county took on board at least some of the management practices undertaken at Kinclune, I am absolutely sure we could begin to achieve some of the objectives Working for Waders set out to deliver some five years ago - it really is that simple!”