Reverse the Red: how we’re saving species at home and abroad

The White-rumped Vulture is one of four Asian vulture species on the IUCN Red List of Birds categorised as ‘Critically Endangered’. Named for the flash of white on their backs, White-rumped Vultures and other Asian vulture species have suffered devastating declines in the past three decades. There are now fewer than 10,000 White-rumped Vultures left.

The reason for the losses is because vultures were being unintentionally poisoned when they consumed the carcasses of cattle that had been given a common anti-inflammatory and pain relief drug called diclofenac, which is toxic to vultures. Unfortunately, several commonly used veterinary drugs are toxic to vultures but these birds also face a range of other threats – eating poisoned baits intended for mammals, being electrocuted or killed in collisions with power lines, nest destruction and food shortage.

A coalition of conservation partners, including the RSPB, known as Saving Asia’s Vultures from Extinction (SAVE) have been involved in securing the recovery of Asian vultures. This work includes long-term monitoring, research, awareness raising, and local and national advocacy to remove vulture-toxic drugs from the environment.

In 2025, alongside our partners Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) and Renewable World, we secured Darwin Initiative funding for a new project in Nepal. The project, ‘Vultures, Cows and People – Strengthening an Ancient Relationship’, launched in October 2025 and will create Nepal’s second official Vulture Safe Zone, helping to restore populations of Critically Endangered vultures.

The establishment of the first Vulture Safe Zone in Nepal in 2021 was a major milestone, driven by awareness campaigns and the removal of toxic drugs. Building on this success, the new project will scale up protection and recovery efforts in western Nepal.

A central element of the project is the support of “cow retirement communities” – shelters where unproductive or abandoned cattle are cared for, preventing them from becoming feral as well as providing safe carcasses after they die for vultures such as the White-rumped Vulture to feed on. The project will support five existing cow shelters around Shuklaphanta National Park in the west of Nepal, improving management and sustainability and even exploring income streams such as biogas and compost production. 

By the end of the project, together we aim to have Nepal’s second Vulture Safe Zone formally declared, providing further proof of how this approach can support vulture recovery across South Asia. 

The Darwin Initiative, which is funding this exciting new project, is a successful UK government grants scheme that awards grants that enable low and middle-income countries to conserve their unique biodiversity, reduce poverty and address climate change. Alongside the Darwin Plus grants scheme which helps deliver projects in the UK Overseas Territories, this government funding is a critical source of support for conservation projects that are securing the recovery of threatened species across the world. Unfortunately, the future of these funding streams is currently uncertain. 

Turtle Doves visit the UK in the spring and summer to breed and raise their chicks. For the remainder of the year, they are found much further south, in the savannah habitats of West Africa.  

With their distinctive purring ‘turrr turrr’ call, these birds were once part of the summer soundtrack of many people but sadly their numbers in the UK crashed by an estimated 99% between the late 1960s and 2021. And the reason for this decline? The single most important factor was a loss of breeding season habitats that provide seed for the doves – for example, due to changes in agriculture.

Despite the historic declines, positive action is being undertaken by Operation Turtle Dove, a partnership between Natural England, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, Fair to Nature and the RSPB. In East Anglia and south-east England (the species’ current UK strongholds), Operation Turtle Dove’s team of advisers support farmers, land managers, communities and volunteers to provide suitable habitats for the birds - seed plants and open ground for foraging, scrub and hedgerows for nesting and ponds for drinking and bathing.

Ramping up efforts to provide good habitat for Turtle Doves is critical to their recovery in the UK, particularly now that Turtle Dove hunting is under management in south-west Europe and has been since 2021. With the issue of hunting addressed, we have a real opportunity to capitalise on the gains that are already being seen from this process (the western European population has increased by over 30% since the introduction of hunting controls) and provide the much-needed breeding season habitats that will allow the species to recover. And there’s good news on that score.

2025 was Operation Turtle Dove’s most successful year since its launch. Funding from Tesco allowed our team of advisers to grow and the project worked with 291 farm holdings and 203 non-farm holdings, creating an impressive 425 hectares of foraging plots for the birds and 475 active supplementary feeding sites. Supporting this work was over 100 volunteers!  

The Curlew (or Eurasian Curlew) is a magical sight around our coasts in the winter with its long, downcurved bill and beautiful bubbling call. Come spring, Curlews head inland to breed, mainly in the uplands but also on lowland farms.

The UK is home to around a quarter of the world’s breeding Curlews but sadly we’ve lost nearly half (48%) of our breeding Curlews since the mid 1990s. With not enough young birds reaching adulthood, Curlew populations have been falling over time as the older birds die. Curlews face a variety of challenges including loss of suitable breeding habitat and pressure from predation.

Thankfully though, action is taking place across the UK to help these evocative birds, from managing habitats to learning more about their movements.

Within the first few weeks of 2026, Curlew conservation efforts marked a significant milestone with the launch of the UK Action Plan for Eurasian Curlew in the House of Lords. Hosted by Lord Randall of Uxbridge, the event brought together a broad range of stakeholders from environmental groups to land managers from across the UK, all calling for urgent and coordinated action on one of the UK's most pressing conservation challenges.

The key asks of the Action Plan are: 

• The establishment of a UK Curlew Recovery Taskforce 
• A strategic network of protected areas for breeding Curlews (SPAs) 
• Targeted and consistent support for Curlew-friendly farming and land management 
• Support for evidence-led predator management 
• Ongoing support for monitoring, research and innovation 

There’s more positive action on the horizon too, with work underway to develop a comprehensive online toolkit that will support communities eager to take action for Curlews – a key task within the UK action plan for Curlews.   

Community groups in Curlew hotspots across the country are already making a real difference, helping more chicks to fledge each year and the hope is that this toolkit will inspire even more people to get involved and support those ready to take action. 

The RSPB is among the partners expanding and updating the guidance on the Curlew Recovery Partnership website. 

This collaborative effort aims to establish good practice, agreed upon across local groups and stakeholders, and support newer projects with the practical knowledge and confidence they need to help one of the UK’s most threatened breeding birds. The toolkit is being developed over the coming months and will feature easy to follow advice, real life case studies, and step by step guidance—covering everything from forming and running a local Curlew group to surveying breeding birds and protecting nests. Watch this space and look out for the new guidance if your community is keen to support vital Curlew conservation efforts!