Islay and Oronsay, Argyll

One of the RSPB Scotland reserves included in the LIFE 100% for Nature project is on Oronsay: located in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides, neighboured by the islands of Colonsay and Islay, and home to a suite of Special Protected Areas (SPA) for breeding chough. Unfortunately, chough numbers in Scotland are low due to numerous factors including competition for available nesting sites, and low first year survival rates.  The LIFE 100% for Nature project on Oronsay focusses on enhancing conditions for breeding chough by creating alternative artificial nesting sites and aiming to reduce medication in sheep dung, which can benefit invertebrates like dung beetles.

LIFE funding has enabled us to purchase an up-to-date sheep weighing and identification system. This allows us to keep more accurate records over extended periods of time, with a ‘personalised’ record for each sheep’s weight and medical history. This means we can move away from routine worming and each sheep is given precise doses of medication, when needed, to keep it healthy and ensure no ‘wasted’ treatment. RSPB Scotland already uses best practice management approaches for livestock, and this new system enables us to bolster our knowledge about the flock and further enhance sheep welfare as a result. At the same time, it is reducing our reliance on expensive medications.

Choughs traditionally nest in cave sites, but there aren’t any on these islands close to Chough feeding areas. To help Choughs survive, we’re building wooden shelters for them to nest in and we’re also working to increase the invertebrates that they feed on.