Conserving species

Close-up of singing corncrake

In these pages, you can learn about the efforts of the Society and partner organisations to recover species that have suffered significant declines in population or range

Species recovery techniques range from hands-on management – literally, in the case of stone-curlews – to measures incorporated into land-use policies, such as the adoption of skylark plots into the Environmental Stewardship Scheme for farmers in England.

Recent successes have included the stone-curlew population reaching 300 pairs, in doing so meeting its Biodiversity Action Plan target five years ahead of schedule, and numbers of bitterns rising from 11 to over 50 booming males in just seven years.

Lifeline to recovery, published in 2005, outlines and celebrates the RSPB’s species recovery success in the UK. In a world where decline, loss and extinction are all too frequent, the stories in this review show that recovery is often possible – given the right approach. Lifeline is available to download from the right-hand side of this page.