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Wales
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Image: Ben Hall
Wales has a wonderful variety of habitats and wildlife, offering many opportunities for people to enjoy the benefits of fresh air and the countryside.
RSPB nature reserves in Wales incorporate many different habitats, from oak woodlands and estuary to Internationally Important seabird colonies. They attract many visitors and are home to exiting birds.
Wetlands are important and exciting places for wildlife and people. The creation of wetlands in Wales will help bitterns, lapwings, redshanks, wildfowl and other wildlife like otters and water voles. We are working with the Environment Agency to identify breeding wader sites where conservation effort would bring the most benefit to floodplain grazing marsh and the birds that rely upon it.
Our new pioneering partnership project Aren't Welsh Birds Brilliant! has enabled thousands of people to enjoy birds from ospreys and red kites to honey buzzards. We have been able to appoint staff to work with communities in key conservation areas.
Increasing the populations of key, threatened species is vital. In Wales, the black grouse has been fighting its way back from the brink of extinction for around fifteen years. We have been working with our partners on a Black Grouse Recovery Project since 1998. Survey results show that numbers of black grouse have increased by a third on the key sites where the project focussed its attention.
We are keen to demonstrate that modern farming can go hand in hand with good environmental practices to create a healthy environment for people, birds and other wildlife, as on our Lake Vyrnwy farm. Our Volunteer & Farmer Alliance involves volunteers surveying bird populations across farmland and the response has been tremendous.