UK farming projects

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UK farming projects

The RSPB works directly with and provides conservation advice to more than 3,000 farmers and crofters every year to find ways to improve yields of farmland birds.

The large number of contacts we have in the farming and crofting community means that we can learn about the barriers that prevent them from taking action for wildlife and ensure that the advice we give is practical and realistic.

Many of the projects we work on have already made a real difference, for species such as the stone-curlew, corncrake and cirl bunting. In addition to over 100 existing projects with farmers across the UK, we are committed to establishing many more.

This is part of our continuing work with the farming community to ensure a healthy, viable, living countryside for people and for wildlife.

Below are some detailed examples of projects we're working on with farmers.

Cayton and Flixton Carrs wetland project

This partnership project in the Vale of Pickering aims to rehabilitate a nationally-important wetland landscape through sensitive farm management. More...

Cornwall corn bunting recovery project

Our focus is on conserving Cornwall's vulnerable population of corn buntings on the north coast between Hayle and Bude (and up to 5 km inland from coast). More...

Cumbria wetland bird recovery programme

This RSPB project is working with farmers to help stem the decline and start the recovery in numbers of breeding wading birds in Cumbria. More...

Farming for Cornish choughs

Choughs are specialists of the bird world and the habitat they require to thrive needs to be managed. More...

Long Preston Deeps

The project aims to improve the wildlife value of the floodplain of the River Ribble at Long Preston in North Yorkshire, through managing and restoring floodplain wet grassland to benefit a wide range of wetland birds and other wildlife. More...

Pastures for Plovers

'Pastures for Plovers' is a three-year initiative operating in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which covers parts of County Durham, Northumberland and Cumbria. More...

RSPB Cymru Upland Lapwing Recovery Project

January 2007 saw the start of RSPB Cymru’s four-year Lapwing Recovery Project in the Hiraethog area, a 330 square kilometre area of mostly upland grass farming systems, located within Conwy, Denbighshire and the Snowdonia National Park. More...

RSPB Geltsdale reserve - Stagsike meadow re-wetting

Wading birds need wet areas in which to find food. We are creating these conditions at the RSPB Geltsdale reserve in Cumbria. More...

The cirl bunting project

We promote extensive, mixed farmland management to farmers and land managers within the cirl bunting's existing range - the 10 km coastal and farmland strip between Exeter and Plymouth - and advise farmers in east Devon and south east Cornwall to encourage range expansion. We help with FEPs and applications to the Higher Level scheme of Environmental Stewardship. More...

The Lough Neagh wetlands tree sparrow project

The population of tree sparrows across the UK has undergone a very large decline, but in NI they are still found in good numbers around Lough Neagh. A two-year project has been set up to see if we can expand the tree sparrow population outwards from Lough Neagh by providing nestboxes and seed food on farms radiating out from the Lough, in areas close to and further away from rivers. More...

Wessex farmland birds

This project works with farmers, landowners and volunteers to help reverse the decline of farmland birds in Wessex. Our work with farmers is aimed at population recovery of the lapwing, tree sparrow, corn bunting, turtle dove and other farmland birds. More...