Autumn Activities
Golden Plover returning to wintering grounds around the Solway Firth
The last few weeks have been busy at Working for Waders. Having welcomed a number of project proposals from various partners across Scotland, it was hard to narrow down a list of applicants to match the budget allocated for spending. Each proposal offered to develop different strands of wader conservation in a unique and interesting parts of the country, and the diversity of ideas and opportunities show that people continue to be inspired by a desire to do more for wader conservation across the country. No two sites are ever the same, and different projects require various levels of support and input depending upon local conditions. Some need facilitation and support to get started, while others require help with monitoring wader numbers or technical advice on habitat works.
Three main projects were selected for funding, and we hope that these projects will allow us to build on ideas we’ve been prioritising over the last few years. The first of these projects is based on Skye, where excellent facilitation and communication work has developed a really exciting level of interest amongst birders, farmers and crofters on the Island. Waders have seen some devastating declines on Skye over recent years, and we were delighted to support the establishment of a new wader cluster there in March and April this year. Funding from Working for Waders will help them to develop their ideas and trial some ideas around predator control and habitat management over the next few months.
The second project builds on the success of work undertaken in Angus, where birds like lapwings and curlews have held on better than in many other parts of Scotland. But they’re still under pressure, and in the face of land use change and pressures to intensify agriculture continue to gnaw away at wader habitats. By supporting a project facilitator who has a background in predator control and estate management, we hope that interest and momentum will continue to grow in this important part of the north east.
A final project is based in the Borders, where a group of farmers has been informally working together for waders for the past five years. In this case, we hope that financial support will allow them to develop their plans for the future, including a move to establish an “official” wader cluster, which should help them to access funding and further help from other sources to ramp up activity through the existing grant and payment schemes.
We’ll be sharing more on these projects over the coming months, but at this point, we’d like to thank everybody who approached Working for Waders for support in 2023, and we wish it had been possible to help everybody in this way.