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Important News about the closure of the RSPB Online Community Site 

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What is happening to the RSPB Online Community Site?

We will be closing the site in July 2025.  

We are committed to engaging you - our members and supporters - with the work you do with us, and enable us to do, through a variety of channels, including the RSPB Magazine, our other member and supporter communications such as Notes on Nature, the RSPB website, social media channels, and events, including our AGM and webinars.   

Use of the Community Site has been in decline for some time now and only around 12% of remaining registered users have logged in over the last year. It is independent of the RSPB website, hosted by an external company and needs considerable investment to bring it into line with new legislation and requirements. Our contract ends in July 2025 and we have therefore taken the decision to close the site on 1 July. This means we can then use your generous donations as effectively as we can for direct conservation delivery and focus on providing the communications, channels, and events more of our members and supporters prefer.  

We would like to express our thanks to all users of the RSPB community and especially our members and supporters who enable us to achieve so much for the birds and other wildlife we all love. Your continued support is greatly appreciated by everyone at RSPB.

Are there any other forums I can use?

Birdforum is the internet’s largest birding community. It has a wide range and number of forums covering subjects including bird identification, garden birds, birds of prey, photography, bird webcams, bird behaviour, other wildlife, your local patch and much more.   

You can continue to follow the Loch Garten Osprey nest stream on the RSPB Youtube channel (Live Osprey Nest) and (Live Osprey Nest Zoom Camera) and interact with other viewers in the chat.    

Many RSPB members, supporters and staff already use these forums and value the engagement they provide.

Will I still be able to share my nature photographs and sightings with the RSPB? 

RSPB members can share their photos with the RSPB Magazine and social channels. If you’d like us to consider your photos for publication in the print or digital magazines, please e-mail them to rs[email protected].  Members can opt in to receive the digital magazine at: https://www.rspb.org.uk/membership/digital-magazine 

Look out for future photo competitions in our regular Notes on Nature email newsletter, where you could win the chance for your photo to feature.  You can sign up to receive it at:  https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/together-we-fly 

We love seeing what birds and nature our supporters are enjoying, so remember to tag us in your photos on social media.  

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What will happen to my content and the other content on the Community? 

If you would like to retain any content you uploaded, you will need to download and save it before 1 July 2025. We do not own the copyright to it, so it is the responsibility of community site users to do this. Content that has been uploaded by the RSPB (e.g. blogs) will be saved and archived where appropriate. By July 2025, any content that has not been exported and saved by users will be permanently deleted.    

We will be providing users with guidance on how they can export and save their content, including images, videos, messages and forum interactions.

How will I be able to find out about activity and sightings on RSPB reserves? 

You can find out what's happening on the reserve pages on the RSPB website and by following our reserves on social media.    

We would like, once again, to express our thanks and appreciation to all users of the RSPB community over the years and especially our members and supporters who enable us to achieve so much for the birds and other wildlife we all love. Your continued support is greatly appreciated by everyone at the RSPB.

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