Contents

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Our work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

What a year! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Saving birds and wildlife . . . . . . . . .8

Saving special places . . . . . . . . . . .14

Saving the environment . . . . . . . . .20

Connecting people with nature . . .26

Northern Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Wales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Money matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Thank you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Stepping Up For Nature . . . . . . . . .55

Loch Garten by Mark Hamblin (rspb-images.com)

2010 was a significant year fornature conservation. At the turn ofthe millennium, the world’sgovernments had pledged to haltthe loss of biodiversity by 2010,but the global summit held inNagoya highlighted the fact thatthey had failed.

Meanwhile, back in England, Professor Sir JohnLawton led a review, Making Space for Nature,recommending to the Westminster Government theactions needed to help wildlife survive and adapt to agrowing range of pressures.

Both events make a strong case for the RSPB toredouble its efforts – to ensure that the natural world isprotected for future generations. Looking through thisannual review of the RSPB’s achievements in 2010–11, we have real hope that it is possible to restorebiodiversity, at home and overseas.

It’s clear that where conservation effort is applied,wildlife responds. In this review you can read aboutexamples from all over the UK, and indeed the world. Andwe are proud to highlight our successes in Wales, wherewe are celebrating our centenary and developing someexciting new partnerships.

Working together is a predominant theme of thisannual review. In doing so, we can scale-up ourconservation effort. The launch of Futurescapes clearlydemonstrates the power of collaboration. After the firstyear of this landscape-scale programme we are helping

conserve a million hectares more space for nature byworking together with other environmental charities,landowners and businesses. Birds and other wildlife willbe the beneficiaries.

It can’t have escaped many people’s attention that this was a year of major political and economicchange; a year of mixed fortunes for biodiversity, for theenvironment, and for education. We campaignedrelentlessly the whole year to ensure that nature’s voicewas heard and that politicians understood the value of thenatural world. Our Letter to the Future campaigndemanded that more be done for conservation. We canproudly say that over the past year we have helpedinfluence the outcome of many events in wildlife’s favour,including the spending review and the Nagoya biodiversitysummit. The launch of our Every child outdoors report,highlighting the importance of nature in young people’slives, is being used to convince governments and schoolsof the benefits of learning outside the classroom.

In a time of change, the chance to be at one with thenatural world is more important than ever. All across ournature reserves, our Date With Nature events and ourfield teaching centres, we work hard to give peopleunforgettable moments with something wild; momentsthat can create passionate advocates for nature. A littletern snatching fish from the sea, a peregrine soaringacross a city skyline, a red deer bellowing in the earlymorning mist – all moments that, when under threat,inspire people to write letters, send e-mails and wavebanners – and that’s just what nature needs right now.

However you support or work with us, thank you.Together we can make a real difference and havesomething to be proud of when we report back on futureachievements: a country, and a world, richer in wildlife.It’s time for us all to step up for nature.

Mike ClarkeChief Executive

Ian DarlingChairman

5

We pull threatened wildlife backfrom the brink. We’re doing it for

corncrakes, stone-curlews, great yellowbumblebees, hen harriers, water voles,

albatrosses, vultures, lapwings,skylarks...more than you could fit on

this whole page.

Saving wildlife means saving theplaces where it lives. We protect

special habitats and even recreate them where they’ve been lost.

We work on a landscape-scale, on ournature reserves, and through many

collaborative partnerships.

We campaign hard to get nature atthe heart of the decision-making

process. With our supporters, we influence policies on agriculture,

energy, transport, planning, fisheries,sustainable development and water use

– all of which affect the environment.

We believe that bringing peoplecloser to nature enriches their lives.

We create opportunities for people toexperience wildlife at first hand, at

our nature reserves, our outdoorclassrooms, our Date With Nature

events, and even in their own gardens.

Wherever you are right now, you

wouldn’t have to travel far, maybe

only a few metres if you’re in a

city, to find someone who is part

of the RSPB’s work for nature.

That person might be a farmer following our advice to help the wildlife inhis fields, it might be a bus driver who supported our Sumatra appeal, itmight be a seven-year-old who did the Big Garden Birdwatch and helpedgive us a picture of the state of the UK’s garden birds. That person mightbe you.

We work across the UK and around the world, from remote islands to busyurban centres, to save nature. As you’ll see from this annual review, thework we do, the people we work with, and the wildlife we save, is hugelyvaried. But broadly speaking, we do four different things, and we’re almostcertainly doing at least one of them in your local area.

OUR WORK • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

APRIL

2010

Our captive vulture breedingprogramme reported that 10 vulturechicks had fledged this year, with threelong-billed vulture chicks fledging incaptivity for the first time ever. These chicks were joined by threeslender-billed vultures and four orientalwhite-backed vultures, offering hope forthe future recovery of India’s vultures.

p 12

On 8 June, we launched ourFuturescapes programme in London.Lord Henley, the Defra Minister, wasthere to express the new coalitionGovernment’s enthusiasm for thelandscape-scale approach, and the need for more to be done to meet theambitious 2020 biodiversity targets.

p 14

In the run-up to the Westminsterelection, we used the hundreds ofthousands of signatures on our Letter to the Future to demand that more bedone for nature conservation. Themanifestos of all three main partiesfeatured elements of our Challenge 2010report. David Cameron said this wouldbe ‘the greenest government ever’.

p 20

On 19 September, after playingparents to 18 lanky chicks, it wasrelease day for the Great CraneProject. After an absence of 400 years, the bugling call of thecommon crane was once againheard on the Somerset Levels and Moors, thanks to thispartnership project.

p 10

WHAT A YEAR!The time sandwiched inbetween April 2010 and March 2011 is rich withstories of successesgained for nature.

Why did we blockenough drains tostretch from Vyrnwy toLondon and back?

Find out who matedfor the first time inNorthern Ireland for 200 years. Find out how we

brought bugles to theSomerset Levels.

2011

p 22p 24 p 87

Professor Sir John Lawton’s MakingSpace for Nature report was publishedon 24 September. It describes the badstate of England’s natural environment,and proposes 24 recommendations foractions that will benefit wildlife andpeople. Sir John, who is Vice Presidentof the RSPB, described it as a “repairmanual to help re-build nature”.

On 18 October, the Biodiversity Summitbegan in Nagoya, Japan. People werepessimistic after the disappointmentsof Copenhagen, so it was a relief whena set of ambitious targets was agreed.The RSPB and its supporters workedhard to influence the new NaturalEnvironment White Paper for Englandduring the consultation that followed.

More than 600,000 people took part inBig Garden Birdwatch, making it ourbiggest ever. We were glad to see thatthe numbers of goldcrests, long-tailedtits, blue tits and coal tits had allincreased a little, after the long harshwinter of 2009/10 had taken its toll on them.

The Albatross Task Force held one ofits 18-monthly workshop get-togethersin Uruguay. There was much good newsto be shared there – new methodsdeveloped to keep seabirds off thehook, and proof that seabird bycatchcan be reduced to zero (or near zero) inBrazil, Namibia, Argentina and Uruguay.

JAN MARCH

Find out how purpleherons helped ourcampaign against Lydd airport.

Why is there agolden curlew inWales this year?

How will cementhelp make 1,000new hectares ofwildlife habitat?

Find out why fishermenin Brazil are celebratingbecause they caughtnothing.

The Albatross Task Force has

shown that it is possible to

reduce the number of seabirds

caught by 80% or more in just

three to five years. Albatrosses

have a very slow breeding

cycle, and take years to reach

maturity, so it will take a few

more years before we start to

see the populations recover,

but I’m confident that we will.

Cleo SmallSenior Policy Officer,

Global SeabirdProgramme

My role is to bring toget

her the achievements of the

Albatross Task Force, a

nd to present their suc

cesses

to fishery managers wo

rldwide, particularly th

rough

the world’s tuna organ

isations. There I encou

rage

governments to adopt the Alba

tross Task Force’s

mitigation methods into

their own fisheries.

RSPB

Leo saves seabirds.

Out of the 22albatross species,17 are threatenedwith extinction.

For more info check out www.rspb.org.uk/albatross

The Albatross TaskForce has helpedstop seabirds beingcaught on vessels inUruguay, Namibia,Argentina and Brazil.

SAVING BIRDS AND WILDLIFE • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

9

It’s quite an experience when the Albatross Task Force (ATF)members get together. Afterspending many lonely weeks on some of the world’s roughest seas, they can’t wait to share theirexperiences. They have incrediblepassion for their work.

In March 2011, the Task Force met in Uruguay, and therewas much to share. New ATF research in Argentina hasdiscovered for the first time that many thousands ofseabirds are being caught and killed every year by theArgentinian hake trawl fishery.

Governments are often unaware that seabirds are beingaccidentally caught within their fisheries, or the implicationsof this for seabird populations around the world, sohighlighting the problem is usually the first step. But theATF doesn’t just go to the Governments with the problem, it also brings the solution. There are simple methods, suchas bird streamer (or “tori”) lines, and weights to make thebaited hooks sink faster, that can be used on their fishingboats to dramatically reduce seabird bycatch.

This year we’ve succeeded in demonstrating how thenumber of seabirds caught can be reduced to zero or nearzero in Brazil, Namibia, Argentina and Uruguay. As we rollthis out over the next 2–3 years, the ATF will be saving thelives of tens of thousands of seabirds every year.

To help fishermen, the Task Force is also improving themethods to reduce seabird bycatch. This year, Leo Taminifrom ATF Argentina finalised his “Tamini Tabla”, which willhelp the Argentinean trawl fleet to fly tori lines. A tori line is

attached to the back of the boat and has long streamers thatkeep albatrosses away from the baited hooks. But the toriline can sometimes get tangled with the fishing gear. Leo’sinvention, which acts a bit like a small surfboard in water,attaches to the end of the tori line and stops this happening.Leo devised the prototype while at sea, working with theboat’s engineer. The Tamini Tabla is proving so successfulthat we hope it will now be rolled out to the hundreds ofboats in Argentina’s trawl fleets around the world.

Another major ATF innovation this year has been createdby Global Seabird Programme Co-ordinator and ATFManager Ben Sullivan, who has worked with a UKengineering firm (Fishtek) to invent a new mitigationmethod called the ‘hook pod’. It’s a plastic pod that clipsover the tip of each hook to prevent seabirds from getting tothe hooks while the lines are being set. The hook pods havea pressure release, which can be set to different depths, sothey don’t pop open to expose the hooks until they havesunk below the diving depth of the seabirds. These hookpods are being tested right now in Brazil and early resultsare very promising.

This year the ATF has begun working in Ecuador too,with a quite different fishery. Here the boats are small, just10 metres or so long, manned by one or two people outfishing for hake. Their baited hooks aren’t sinking fastenough, and they’re accidentally catching criticallyendangered waved albatrosses. The ATF’s line weights arevery effective against this, and are popular with thefishermen also, as they are increasing the size of their catch.

Another major ATF success this year was the Braziliangovernment’s move to make it mandatory for all of theirlongline boats to use tori lines and line weights. This is theultimate aim of the ATF – once the mitigation measureshave become part of fisheries legislation, we’ll be on ourway to ensuring the albatross’s long-term recovery.

The most emotional

moment for me was not

release day, but a few

weeks later, seeing all the

cranes together, spiralling

high into the sky on a

thermal. These birds, that

had had the strangest

upbringing, were living as

a real wild population.

Damon BridgeGreat Crane Project

Manager

One misty morning, I watched aman dressed in a grey hoodeddress walk across a field, closelyfollowed by a bunch of lanky cranechicks – an odd sight, but one I gotused to over the summer of 2010.

The cranes were part of a group of 24, brought overfrom Germany at Easter while still in their eggs to kindle anew UK population – a major addition to the small residentpopulation on the other side of the country in Norfolk. Theman in the crane costume was an aviculture expert fromThe Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, who are working withthe Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), Viridor CreditsEnvironmental Company and the RSPB to bring back thesebeautiful, bugling birds.

The Great Crane Project started in 2009, but it took ayear of intense planning and preparation before we wereready to bring over the first eggs. We had to wait for theright moment to move them from the nature reserve inGermany – just before they hatched. Crane chicks takeabout 24 hours to fully emerge from their eggs after thefirst pipping moment, when they break through the shellwith their beaks. Travelling by road across Europe inspecially built incubators, some of the eggs began pippingen route.

The first cranes hatched at the WWT Slimbridge centreon St George’s Day, the remainder hatching over the nextfortnight. For the first four weeks of their lives, the chickshad to be kept in isolation from each other, as they arenaturally aggressive when first hatched, and in the wildwould have fought with their siblings for supremacy. The only living creatures they saw during this time werepeople in the grey full-length dresses – an odd but effectivefacsimile of a parent.

Crane chicks need a lot of exercise – in the wild theyfollow their parents for miles every day searching for food.Walking makes their long legs grow strong and straight. Toomuch standing around could result in legs growing crookedor to different lengths. So the team took turns to walk eachof the crane chicks around the paddock, one after the other,all day long. The chicks fed on insects they caught forthemselves in the paddock, alongside the supplementarypellets we gave them, which contained a perfect balance ofprotein, calcium, phosphates and minerals.

At five weeks old, the group were mature enough to bebrought together for communal exercise, and then fiveweeks later, we transported them to the release site on theSomerset Levels and Moors – a journey of a couple ofhours. We moved them in specially adapted flamingocrates, and took a spare van in case one of the vans shouldbreak down. The cranes travelled standing up, and copedremarkably well. When we opened the crates at the otherend, they seemed unfazed by their journey.

Here the cranes would spend three weeks in largeaviaries getting anchored to their new home in theSomerset Levels and Moors. One of the RSPB’scontributions to the project is to maintain and enhance thehabitats here, in partnership with local landowners, toprovide ideal conditions for the cranes.

Release day was intense and stressful for me and therest of the team. After living beside these birds for so long,we all had a huge personal investment in their safety. Whatif they just flew off and were never seen again? But ourconcerns were allayed when, on the first night, the birds allchose to roost together at the release site within a shallowpool, just as a wild population would do.

This successful first year was the beginning of a five-year release programme – we’ll go through the sameprocess with two batches of eggs every year until we have100 cranes in the area. Within the next three years, the firstarrivals should begin to breed, and, we hope, hatch out thisproject’s first truly wild cranes.

For more, visit www.thegreatcraneproject.org.uk or www.facebook.com/thegreatcraneproject

There are many people

involved in the Great C

rane

Project: partner organi

sations, volunteers, members

of the local community and R

SPB staff – one of my

key roles within the G

reat Crane Project is to

help

everyone work effectiv

ely together to achieve

the

project’s aim of putting

cranes back into the

UK’s skies.

Flocks of craneshad been missingfrom the South-West of the UKfor hundreds of years.

After the first year of the Great CraneProject, there are now 18 cranes living wild in Somerset.

SAVING BIRDS AND WILDLIFE • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

11

Richard Austin

First captive-bredlong-billedvultures

Crickets and stumpsWe have been helping to ensurethe future survival of several rareand threatened UK BiodiversityAction Plan (BAP) invertebrates.

In Spring 2010, we released field crickets onrecently created heathland at RSPB Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex, and Farnham Heath, Surrey. At ourAbernethy reserve in Inverness-shire, we speciallyprepared pine stumps for the re-introduction of pinehoverfly larvae in September 2010, to be followed by arelease of captive-bred adults in 2011. And the firstgeneration of pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies atRSPB Tudeley Woods, Kent, was also on the wing,following the release of over 100 butterflies in 2009.

The vulture programme in Indiacelebrated the first ever long-billedvulture captive breeding, fledgingthree birds with the aid of artificialincubation techniques.

Dr Vibhu Prakash, who was there at the historic hatchingsaid: “Our most exciting moment was when we kept theegg on a flat surface and it started twitching, and then

David Kjaer (rspb-images.com)

suddenly in the morning around 11 o’clock, the egg pippedand it cracked and out came a chick. We got reallyfrightened because the bird was not calling, but then thechick yawned and it looked fine. Oh it was such a satisfyingmoment, knowing that ‘yes, we could do it’.”

Work continues to rid the vultures’ environment of thediclofenac veterinary drug that is killing them via the deadcattle they eat. We hope that in 10–15 years, we’ll be able to release the birds from the breeding centres, safely, intothe wild.

In 2010, we also launched ‘Saving Asia’s Vultures fromExtinction’ (SAVE) in Delhi and Kathmandu. This is a new

consortium of partners committed to securing the future ofthe three Critically Endangered species. And we all have ahuge challenge ahead of us. Outside the safety of theconservation breeding centres, vultures are still hurtlingtowards extinction. Fifteen years ago, there were around 40 million vultures in India – now just a few thousandremain, and declines have been continuing at a rate of 40% every year.

The captive vulture breeding programme is essential tosecuring the future of these species. To find out more,watch the short film at www.rspb.org.uk/vultures

Across the globe, 1,226 bird species are threatenedwith extinction. That’s more than a tenth of all birdspecies. Vultures are just one example of where we'refighting to save endangered species. Others includethe Henderson petrel, Jerdon's courser, 17 albatrossspecies, northern bald ibis and spoon-billed sandpiper,all of which are in serious trouble.

The RSPB was given special responsibility fornine non-bird Biodiversity Action Plans: • A mason bee, Osmia uncinata• Alpine sulphur tresses lichen, Alectoria

ochroleuca• The stump lichen, Cladonia botrytis• Stinking hawk’s beard, Crepis foetida• The pine hoverfly, Blera fallax• The dark bordered beauty moth Epione

vespertaria• Northern colletes bee, Colletes floralis• Great yellow bumblebee, Bombus

distinguendus• And the aspen hoverfly, Hammerschmidtia

ferruginea (which we discovered this year is able to fly up to 5 km to lay eggs in rotting aspen).

Chris Bowden (rspb-images.com)

Birdcrime 2009Launched in September 2010, Birdcrime2009 again presented a bleak picture ofbird of prey persecution in the UK.Headlines included 158 reports ofpoisoning, with 85 confirmed asdeliberate abuse cases, 268 reports ofshooting and destruction of birds ofprey, 63 reported egg-collectingincidents and 65 reports of illegaltaking, possession or sale of birds of prey.

Henderson Island On Henderson Island in the southPacific, rats are driving the endemicHenderson petrel to extinction. In 2010,we began raising the £1.7 millionneeded to eradicate these rats. At theend of March 2011, we’d raised £1.3mthrough major donor supporters, acontribution of over £400,000 from theBritish Government, and a receptionhosted at the Foreign Office by theMinister for Overseas Territories, Henry Bellingham MP, and addressedby Sir David Attenborough and seabirdexpert and wildlife artist Peter Harrison.Fundraising successes have continuedand work on the island has now begun.

Help us help swifts In the UK, we’ve lost around a third ofour swifts since 1995. In response tothis, we launched our ‘help us helpswifts’ campaign, which has so farbrought in over 30,000 records from thepublic. These will help us build up adetailed plan of the places swifts nestso that any building projects withinthose areas can take the swifts intoaccount, and, we hope, protect more oftheir nest sites. Please take part:www.rspb.org.uk/helpswifts

New laws to protect wildlife: RSPB lobbyinghelped push through the Wildlife and NaturalEnvironment Act in Northern Ireland and theWildlife and Natural Environment Bill inScotland. A huge step.

Purple herons nested at RSPB Dungeness,Kent – a first for the UK. The reserve alsocelebrated its first breeding bitterns.

Hen harriers at RSPB Lake Vyrnwy, Powys,fledged 17 young – a record for the reserve.

Bearded tits nested at RSPB Conwy – the firstpair to breed in North Wales for 40 years.

Habitat management on farms and RSPBreserves in Scotland has helped the corncrakepopulation increase for the first time in threeyears. There are now an estimated 1,200 callingmales – a rise of 66 on the previous year.

Slavonian grebes had the best breedingseason in Scotland for years – 17 fledged, six ofthem at RSPB Loch Ruthven, Highland.

We continue to fight bird hunting in Malta.The Maltese Government allowed a one-weekspring hunting season for quails and turtledoves, and illegal killing is still rampant,including a horrific night-hunt on a flock of 70 spoonbills, leaving just six alive by morning.

Staff at RSPB Arne, Dorset, made artificialosprey nests adjacent to Poole Harbour andpopulated them with polystyrene ospreymodels in an attempt to attract the real thing.

The RSPB’s Dr Paul Donald was awarded theprestigious Marsh Award for ConservationBiology. Paul’s early work on skylarks for theRSPB paved the way for the development ofskylark patches now included within the Englishagri-environment scheme. Congratulations Paul.

RSPB lobbying helped secure the £220,000needed to continue funding the NationalWildlife Crime Unit.

White-tailed eagles in Scotland passed themilestone of 50 breeding pairs in 2010 – thehighest number since their re-introduction.

The Maid of Kent beetle was rediscovered atRSPB Elmley Marshes, Kent.

SAVING BIRDS AND WILDLIFE • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

IN BRIEF

13Mike Lane (rspb-images.com)

Together with Birds Russia, WWT, BTO, theBirdLife Secretariat and BirdLife Partners in arange of countries, we have launched a newlast-ditch initiative to stop the extinction of thecharismatic spoon-billed sandpiper.

Red kites bred in Northern Ireland for the first time in 200 years after a successful re-introduction (more on page 33).

We helped to successfully introduce twonorthern bald ibises from Turkey into theminiscule Syrian population of just three.

Cranes bred at RSPB Nene Washes – the firstin Cambridgeshire for 400 years.

Nest protection at Dartmoor helped bring aboutthe first successful red-backed shrike breedingin 17 years.

A good year for little terns at Chesil Beach(nine fledged – the best on record), and atLangstone Harbour (at least 47 fledged).

Stone-curlew numbers continued to increaseon habitat re-creation areas at RSPB Minsmere,Suffolk, and RSPB Winterbourne Downs,Wiltshire, and they expanded their range intothe Marlborough Downs – the first confirmedbreeding there since 1976.

After 10 years of lobbying by the RSPB and23,000 signatures, there will be an EU SeabirdPlan of Action by the end of 2011. We hope thisshould address the 200,000 seabird deathscaused by fishing fleets every year.

David Kjaer (rspb-images.com)

Black grouse boost

Landscape-scale conservation

doesn’t just benefit wildlife;

it’s for everybody.

A landscape that’s looked after

in a sustainable way is a more

vibrant place to live. Fresh air,

bird song, green places to

explore – these are the things

we’re helping bring back into

the heart of communities,

even in urban areas.

Aidan LonerganFuturescapes

Programme Manager

I started working for th

e RSPB in 2001 as the

Country Programmes Manager in o

ur International

Division. I then becam

e Director of the RSPB

in Northern Ireland, be

fore returning to the

UK headquarters in 20

09 to run the RSPB’s

landscape-scale conse

rvation programme.

Andrew Parkinson (rspb-images.com)

You only have to spend a fewminutes at an RSPB nature reserveto realise just how great they are forwildlife. They’re buzzing with life.

The RSPB manages just under 142,000 hectares (ha) –that’s about 0.6% of the UK’s land surface. It’s a fairamount, but not nearly enough to help stop the loss inbiodiversity that’s happening right now, and not nearlyenough to provide the habitat needed to help wildlife adapt to the effects of climate change.

It’s been obvious to us for a while now, that if we’rereally going to solve the problems facing wildlife, we have tothink beyond the scale of protected areas. We have to thinkon a landscape-scale. We’ve reclaimed vast areas for wildlifeat our reserves at Lakenheath Fen and Minsmere (bothSuffolk), Forsinard Flows and Abernethy (both Highland), but still it’s not enough. That’s why in 2010, we launched our Futurescapes programme.

We can’t go buying up lots more land – it’s beyond ourmeans. The way forward is to work with the people whoown this land: the farmers, landowners, the state and itsagencies, businesses, water utilities companies and otherNGOs, to help them look after it in a sustainable way thatcreates more space for nature. This year, we launched 34Futurescapes, totalling a million hectares. At the heart ofthese are more than 60 RSPB nature reserves, providing the vital core from which wildlife can flourish.

At the Wiltshire Chalk Country Futurescape, we areworking within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site with the National Trust, the Ministry of Defence, and locallandowners to restore vital chalk grasslands. This habitat isso rich in plantlife, you could sit anywhere and sweep yourhands around you and touch more than 40 species of grass

and herb. It is also the home of rare stone-curlews andadonis blue butterflies. But more than three-quarters ofEngland’s chalk grassland has been lost. In this futurescapewe are connecting isolated fragments of chalk grassland, aswell as recreating 305 ha at our Winterbourne Downs naturereserve. This will result in the largest area of this habitat innorth-west Europe.

In the 90,000-ha Morecambe Bay Futurescape,Lancashire, we are working with Morecambe Bay WildlifeNetwork and local farmers to create a network of wetmeadows, reedbeds and reed-lined rivers and ponds. By creating space for bitterns, water voles, ospreys anddragonflies, we hope that the Morecambe Bay area willbecome one of the best places to experience wildlife in thecountry. In turn, local hotels, shops and cafés will benefitthrough the rise in ecotourism.

The Thames Futurescape is a 110,000-ha patchwork ofhabitats, stretching from Tower Bridge to the open water.This area includes 39 sites that have various designationsfor their value to wildlife. A new internationally importantmarine area is being proposed here too, which will includethe entire wider Thames Estuary, east of Sheerness – a vitalsite for 300,000 migrant birds. Here we are working withmore than 70 partners to benefit the wildlife and the peopleliving within the Futurescape.

And that’s one of the most important things aboutFuturescapes – they’re not just for the wildlife. They’re sobig that they incorporate whole communities; the ThamesFuturescape is the back garden of nine million people.Managing places for wildlife also means a better quality ofliving for people, and in places improvements in naturalservices, such as flood prevention and recreationopportunities.

We’ve got a long way to go, but with another 49 Futurescapes projects in development, we’re well on our way to changing the face of the UK landscape, for good.

For more info check out www.rspb.org.uk/futurescapes

We are working witha huge variety ofpartners to createmore space fornature across vastareas of the UK.

SAVING SPECIAL PLACES • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

15

To restore theUK’s biodiversity,reserves need tobe complementedby conservation ata landscape-scale.

I have one of the most

exciting jobs in the world.

When I visit the tropical

forests where we’re

working, I can see at

first-hand the positive

effects we’re having on

the rainforest wildlife and

the people who depend

on these forests.

Jonathan BarnardHead of Tropical

Forest Unit

I lead the RSPB’s Tropi

cal Forest Unit, which

includes our work in th

e Gola Rainforest in Sie

rra

Leone, and Harapan R

ainforest in Sumatra. I work

with our BirdLife Partn

ers, overseas governments

and local communities, as w

ell as with RSPB

colleagues in the UK,

to link up our conserva

tion

work at home and abroa

d.

When people think about SierraLeone, too often the first thing thatcomes to mind is the civil conflictthat occurred there a decade ago.But when you actually arrive in thecountry, you’re immediately struckwith what a friendly place it is.

The conflict is long over, and Sierra Leone has come along way since, especially in terms of nature conservation.The Government has just declared the Gola Rainforest,where we’ve been working for 20 years, a National Park.

The Sierra Leoneans call the Gola Rainforest “the greenjewel in Sierra Leone’s crown”, and when you arrive there it’seasy to see why. After travelling through mile after mile offields cleared for agriculture and charcoal (sometimes stillsmouldering), you’re suddenly surrounded by life. Insectsare buzzing everywhere. You hear the tremendousswooshing of huge hornbills flying overhead. Rare white-necked picathartes nest in mud cups on rocky overhangs,pygmy hippos gaze out from the rivers that flow through theforest, and many rare monkeys jump through the canopy.Much of the life here is found nowhere else in the world.

A hundred years ago, the whole coast of West Africa,from Guinea to Togo, was covered by Upper Guinea forestlike this, with trees so big it would take a dozen people toencircle their girth. But now, 70% of it is gone. Whatremains is fragmented and damaged by logging andunsustainable use. Few of those beautiful big trees are left.

Gola Rainforest is the largest remnant in Sierra Leone.It’s one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in theworld, and it also has a hugely important role in storingmillions of tonnes of carbon, thereby helping mitigate theworst effects of climate change. We work here with theSierra Leonean Government and our BirdLife Partner, the

Conservation Society of Sierra Leone, to keep this placesafe from illegal loggers, poachers and the companies whoseek to mine this area for its rich supply of iron ore. Fromthe Gola Rainforest, you can see, just across the border inLiberia, the fate that might have met this place if we’d notintervened. There is a great dusty hole where there wasonce a forest-clad hill. The whole thing was ripped apart foriron ore.

A large part of the Gola Rainforest is owned by thepeople of the seven chiefdoms surrounding the forest. All of it was earmarked for logging. Part of our work here hasbeen to work with them to improve their livelihoods andhelp compensate them for profits foregone from logging. In return they have given their approval for the forest to bedeclared a National Park. We’ve helped them build primaryschools, health centres and a hospital – the nearest goodhospital is a day’s journey away, so having local access tohealthcare will have an enormous impact on their lives.

Without this mutually beneficial relationship, thevillagers would have few chances to improve their lives.Previous experience from logging operations in SierraLeone shows that local people received few benefits, andlogging can degrade the forest so severely that it loses itsvalue to wildlife.

Right now, there are 100 staff at Gola Rainforest. Theyhave a tough job – it’s hot and sticky, and they have manyhills to climb. As well as the rangers who protect this place,there are also researchers who go out on week-long trips,deep into the 710 square kilometre forest (roughly twice thesize of the Isle of Wight), to monitor the wildlife here.They’ve already discovered three butterfly species and afrog that are new to science, and there are undoubtedlyplenty more waiting to be found.

With our partners, we’re working to link up the GolaRainforest National Park with two forest reserves in Liberia.This cross-border Peace Park, once completed, will beabout 3,000 square kilometres in size. We’ve accomplishedgreat things here, but there is potential for even greatersuccess in protecting these precious rainforests.

For more info check out www.rspb.org.uk/gola

70% of SierraLeone’s tropicalforest has beendestroyed.

The RSPB is workingwith local communitiesto protect an area offorest twice the size ofthe Isle of Wight.

SAVING SPECIAL PLACES • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

17

Caroline Thomas (RSPB)

Selling garri (a kindof tapioca) booststhe community’sincome andimproves livelihoods.

The indicator is made up of 19 species that depend onfarmland, and cannot thrive in other habitats. Species suchas grey partridges, lapwings and yellow wagtails are nowestablished on the farm. Skylarks, starlings, linnets andreed buntings have all at least quadrupled in number, andyellowhammers have more than doubled. We now plan toincorporate wider environmental objectives into ourmanagement, including the conservation of soil and water,and methods to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

This year we also developed the farmland bird advicepackage for farmers. This is the first time we have been ableto quantify how much habitat is needed to reverse farmlandbird declines. For arable farmland in the UK, this could be aslittle as 3–4% of the existing area if the highest qualityenvironmental measures are used.

Fanfareat the Farm

The RSPB celebrated the 10thanniversary of Hope Farm,Cambridgeshire, in style, with lastsummer’s breeding season resultsshowing a three-fold increase in theFarmland Bird Indicator since wearrived in 2000 – all withoutaffecting farm profits.

Edwin Kats (rspb-images.com)

Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Steve Knell (rspb-images.com)

Steve Knell (rspb-images.com)

19

CEMEX partnershipWe continue our two-year partnershipwith CEMEX – one of the leadingcement and aggregate productioncompanies in the UK. A dedicatedRSPB advisor is working with CEMEXto advise on biodiversity conservation.All of CEMEX’s sites have excitingopportunities for wildlife habitatcreation, including reedbeds,heathlands and wild flower meadows.Restoration and after-use plans forquarry sites have enormous potential.This year, CEMEX committed tocreating 1,000 ha of new habitat by 2020.

Archaeology on RSPB reservesWe have completed a project aboutmanaging archaeological sites on ourreserves and making them accessibleto our visitors. Match-funded by EnglishHeritage, this resulted in a database ofsites that we will be able to conservefor perpetuity. At Arne in Dorset, forexample, we are removing scrub andtrees from Bronze Age burial mounds,built by farmers on the emerging heathover 3,000 years ago. We are nowputting these monuments back intotheir original heathland landscape. Our work will be extended throughoutthe UK during 2011–12 with theappointment of Robin Standring asReserves Archaeologist.

The Indonesian Government awarded us thesecond management licence for HarapanRainforest in Sumatra, finally giving usmanagement control over nearly 100,000 ha of this stunning forest.

By invoking existing but unused legislation inBelarus with our BirdLife Partners, we havebrought 14,000 ha of peatlands under localprotection for the first time.

We supported our Tanzanian BirdLife Partnerto protect Lake Natron and the SerengetiNational Park from commercial developments.

Working with BirdLife Poland, we helped getformal protection for all 140 of its ImportantBird Areas.

RSPB Rainham Marshes in Greater London,celebrated its 10th birthday. The 200th birdspecies was also recorded there.

We acquired two new extensions to RSPBForsinard Flows, Highland: Forsinain and Dykeplantations. Now begins the hard work ofremoving around 1.5 million trees so the bogtrapped beneath can begin to restore itself.

RSPB lobbying finally led to the Government’spublishing a policy for restoring heathlanddamaged by forestry plantations.

The third annual Nature of Farming Award waswon by the Davison brothers in County Antrim– the second win in a row for Northern Ireland.

The new Forestry Act was passed in NorthernIreland, thanks to lobbying from the RSPB andWoodland Trust.

We acquired a new 520-ha upland reserve onDeeside: the Crannach.

We completed a five-year LIFE Active BlanketBogs in Wales project in March 2011. As part ofthis pioneering and internationally acclaimedconservation project, we blocked over 486 kmof drainage ditches on our reserve at LakeVyrnwy, on Penaran and on private land – that’sthe equivalent of the distance from LakeVyrnwy to London and back again! See page 43for more.

In Northern Ireland, we are leading on a new£1.6 million Interreg-funded project to helpCeltic species such as curlews, corncrakes,Irish damselflies and northern colletes bees.

In the Peak District National Park, on the hillsabove Sheffield, we are joining forces with theNational Trust to manage over 2,000 ha of bog,heath and woodland at Eastern Moors. Herewe will set up a new agreement with livestockfarmers to establish a grazing system to benefitthe wildlife living in this varied landscape.

Also in the Peak District National Park, we arenow the managers of over 4,000 ha of uplandhabitats at Dove Stone, in partnership withUnited Utilities. Here we are already meeting agrowing number of the 1.5 million people whovisit the park every year.

We co-ordinated one of the largestprogrammes of reedbed research, assessment,advice and knowledge-sharing for a decade:Bringing Reedbeds to Life. Intensivebiodiversity research on three study sites,coupled with reedbed habitat and managementaudits across a further 30 sites, has enhancedour understanding of these vital places. Wehave shared this new knowledge with partnersthrough a programme of training courses,workshops and a conference.

We led on promoting Wildlife and CountrysideLink’s 30th anniversary, drawing attention to thepossible impact of cuts to Defra’s budget onwildlife and habitats.

One of the finest birdwatching and wildlifeexperiences in Oxfordshire was unveiled inJune at RSPB Otmoor nature reserve. Theproject, made possible by £1.3 million from avariety of funders, has created a viewpoint,water meadows, lagoons and dozens of shallow pools over the last three years. New interpretation is helping visitors get the most out of the site.

Solar panels and a wind turbine were installedon Ramsey Island, off the Pembrokeshirecoast, providing power on demand there for thefirst time.

SAVING SPECIAL PLACES • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

RSPB reserves totalsOn 1 April 2011, the RSPB managed141,833 hectares on 211 reserves.During the 2010–2011 year, 8,446 hawere added – four new reserves plus 14 extensions. There has been areduction in the area managed over the last year as the agreement atHaweswater, Cumbria, expired. We arenegotiating a new agreement there.

IN BRIEFTana River Delta

We are still fighting the proposedbiofuel developments in the Tana RiverDelta in Kenya. This 130,000 ha area is arich mix of habitats supporting hippos,lions, elephants, buffaloes, manybreeding fish and amphibians, twothreatened primates found nowhereelse in the world, and thousands ofwetland birds. Right now, we arehelping prepare a land-use plan for thearea, and have challenged the proposedbiofuel development at DakatchaWoodlands.

Grahame Madge (rspb-images.com)

Many of the people who

signed the RSPB’s Letter to

the Future told us why

they’d signed it, too; one of

my favourites, which sums

up the campaign succinctly,

was: “individually we want

to make a difference,

collectively we can

make a difference.”

Martin HarperDirector of Conservation

My role is to harness the

collective brilliance of

my

teams across the UK to deliv

er the RSPB’s

conservation objectives

.

This image is madefrom the names of just some of the people who signed our Letter to the Future.

Photo by istockphoto/Rontech2000, additional manipulation by juanosborne.com

Without pressurefrom our supporters,the ComprehensiveSpending Reviewcould have meanteven moredevastating cuts tonature conservation.

For more info about our campaigns, visit www.rspb.org.uk/campaigns

361,869 peoplesigned the RSPB’sLetter to the Future,demanding thatmore is done toprotect nature.

SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

21

If you’re one of the 361,869 peoplewho signed our Letter to the Future,thank you.

On 9 March 2011, we presented your signatures to thePrime Minister. This moment came at the end of a dramaticyear in politics. The elections, and the ComprehensiveSpending Review, meant huge challenges for securingnature’s future, but also huge opportunities to raise nature’sprofile in the minds of our new MPs.

In the run-up to the General Election, we highlighted tothe political parties the six areas where we thought betterinvestment in nature was needed. And in Westminster TubeStation, we put up a series of posters asking MPs to “be avoice for nature”. We succeeded in getting more than 400parliamentary candidates to sign the Letter to the Future,more than 100 of whom went on to be elected as MPs –five of these in the cabinet.

After the election, we were pleased that the newcoalition agreement stated more would be done to protectwildlife and restore biodiversity. The Prime Minister evendeclared that this would be “the greenest government ever”.These were reassuring words.

But then on 22 June 2010, the Chancellor announced inhis emergency budget that there would have to be a 20%cut in public spending to help address the budget deficit. It became immediately clear that if we didn’t act fast, theComprehensive Spending Review could set back natureconservation by decades.

We began a period of intense public campaigning,bombarding cabinet ministers with 90,000 e-mails from oursupporters. We put huge banners saying “Don’t cut the lifefrom our countryside” within the constituencies of GeorgeOsborne and Oliver Letwin (members of the Star Chamber,which would decide where the budget axe would fall) andSecretary of State for the Environment, Caroline Spelman.

We also highlighted to Government the areas of publicspending that would need to be defended most vigorously.Chief among these was the higher level stewardship (HLS)agri-environment scheme, which rewards farmers inEngland who carry out targeted work to help wildlife.Participants in this scheme (and in similar schemes in thedevolved countries) are having a huge positive influence onwildlife, with species such as the turtle dove and cirl buntingdependent on it. Cutting it would have been disastrous.

On 20 October, when the spending review wasannounced, there were worrying cuts to Defra’s budget, butwe were relieved to see that the UK Government hadmanaged to maintain growth in the HLS scheme.

Despite this good news, there was still a £300 millionshortfall between the UK Government’s ambitions and theavailable funds, so we published our report Innovativefinancing in an age of austerity, which suggested ways newmoney could be found to protect nature without touchingthe public purse. The report explored options such as abiodiversity offset scheme, business partnerships, andpayments for ecosystems services. It also pushed for peatuse to be phased out by creating a peat levy, acting as adisincentive to compost suppliers while creating extrarevenue for habitat restoration. In the run-up to the budgetwe pushed these suggestions, but unfortunately the peatlevy was not adopted – although there is now greateracceptance that nature conservation isn’t free and that newsources of revenue will have to be found to support it.

While all this was going on in Westminster, activity inthe devolved administrations was intensifying in the run-upto their elections. The Westminster budget cuts had affectedthe money available to the devolved assemblies, so weworked hard in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast to raise thepolitical profile of the need to invest in nature.

Now we must build on the success of the Letter to theFuture campaign to help all the governments in the UK meetthe targets agreed in Nagoya, which is what my colleagueAlice Hardiman writes about on the next page.”

To meet the 2020

biodiversity targets, we’ve all

got to step up together –

governments, businesses,

individuals and

communities. It’s going to

be hard, but the end results

will be worth it: a healthier

environment, richer in

nature, with better natural

services for us all.

Alice HardimanActing Head of Planning

and Regional Policy

My job is to pull together

the efforts of the diffe

rent

RSPB policy teams, to help ad

vise the Westminster

Government on how it can do m

ore to help wildlife

and meet its biodiversity targ

ets. I have worked for

the RSPB for nearly sev

en years.

In 2010, RSPB supporters helped usmake a huge positive impact on thenatural world by influencing theWestminster Government.

This was a year of hard lobbying. In the run-up to theWestminster General Election, we put pressure on theparties to commit to taking action for the naturalenvironment. Elements of our Challenge 2010: politiciansmust cut waste and invest in nature report made it into thethree main party manifestos. After the election, one of thefirst things that Defra announced was that the CoalitionGovernment would begin developing a White Paper on thenatural environment for England – something that we hadpushed hard for, alongside other environmental NGOs.

In October, the Nagoya Biodiversity Summit was held.There was concern that these talks would go badly, afterthe poor outcomes of the Copenhagen climate changetalks, and the global failure to meet the 2010 biodiversitytargets. But thanks in part to Secretary of State CarolineSpelman’s efforts, the attending countries walked out of thetalks committed to some pretty ambitious targets – in somecases maybe even more ambitious than those for 2010.

The targets had to apply to a huge range of countries,so their wording was necessarily vague. The RSPB beganwork suggesting specific strategic goals which, if met,would mean that the UK could report back in 2020 with itshead held high. Ideally, the UK Government’s White Papershould both outline these goals for England, and provide thepolicy framework for meeting them.

A three-month consultation process began in July,during which we worked on an RSPB response. At thesame time, we urged members and supporters to write tothe UK Government to tell them how valuable the natural

world is to them. Defra received 15,000 responses to theNatural Environment White Paper consultation – the most it has ever received. Many of the responses from ourmembers and supporters were very personal, and we knowthese were influential in persuading government to do theright thing for wildlife.

Near to the end of this process, I’d been working allhours for months preparing our response and I wasabsolutely exhausted. But then a colleague brought in acopy of a letter that a member had written to governmentabout how important nature was to her. The letter washandwritten, and it was so moving. It inspired and re-energised me. Sometimes policy work can seemremoved from the natural world we’re trying to protect, butthat letter reconnected me.

In March 2011, on the same day that we handed in theLetter to the Future signatures, we launched our SteppingUp For Nature campaign to Westminster politicians andpresented them with a roadmap of targets that they’ll needto meet if we’re going to achieve our 2020 commitment.

Stepping Up For Nature recognises that if we’re reallygoing to stop biodiversity loss, we’re all going to have topull together and take steps to make it happen. The RSPBwill gather millions of steps taken for nature – from feedinggarden birds to digging ponds, campaigning or managing afarm for wildlife – and we will use these to demonstratepublic commitment to biodiversity restoration. At the heartof the UK’s approach to the decade ahead must be acontract between government, civil society and businesses.We will be doing more, and will expect others, includinggovernment, to do more, too.

At the time of writing, we’re waiting for theWestminster Government’s Natural Environment WhitePaper and are hoping it will firmly commit England to our2020 obligations.

For more info about our campaigns, visit www.rspb.org.uk/campaigns

The UK failed tomeet the 2010biodiversitytargets.

With our supporters,we’re working hard tohelp UK governmentsmeet their obligationsand to bring the lifeback to our cities,countryside and seas.

SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

23

David Tipling (rspb-images.com)

Making Space for Nature: A reviewof England’s Wildlife Sites andEcological Network was publishedin September 2010.

The report was prepared for Defra by Professor Sir JohnLawton and a panel of experts including ex-RSPB ChiefExecutive Sir Graham Wynne, and with significantcontributions from RSPB staff. Its ambitious, but achievable,recommendations would take us a long way towardsmeeting our 2020 biodiversity targets. Sir John launchedthe report saying: “There is compelling evidence thatEngland’s collection of wildlife sites are generally too small

Making Spacefor Nature

End of the barrage On 18 October 2010, we werehugely relieved to hear that theGovernment had dropped its plansfor a tidal power barrage across the Severn Estuary. We had beenfighting alongside a consortium of environmental NGOs for this outcome.

This year, we have been involved in anunprecedented number of public inquiries,including Lydd airport and housing schemesaffecting the Thames Basin and DorsetHeaths. For more on our casework, visit:www.rspb.org.uk/casework

Martin Harper, RSPB Director of Conservation, said ofthe announcement: “Climate change threatens anenvironmental catastrophe for humans and wildlife.Harnessing the huge tidal power of the Severn has to beright, but it cannot be right to trash the natural environmentin the process. A barrage like the one proposed betweenCardiff and Weston-super-Mare would not only destroy hugeareas of estuary marsh and mudflats used by 69,000 birdseach winter, and block the migration routes of countlessfish, but, as confirmed by this report, it would dramaticallyincrease risk of flooding to residential properties.

"The Government study needed to demonstrate that abig barrage could form a cost-effective part of a radical planto tackle climate change. It is clear today that a barragedoes not make economic sense. It's a great shame that wehave been fixated on outdated environmentally destructivetechnology. The RSPB has consistently called for investmentin more innovative and potentially less destructive schemeson the Severn which take environmental considerations intoaccount in their design.”

Geoff Simpson (rspb-images.com)

David Kjaer (rspb-images.com

and too isolated, leading to declines in many ofEngland’s characteristic species. With climatechange, the situation is likely to get worse. This isbad news for wildlife but also bad news for us,because the damage to nature also means ournatural environment is less able to provide themany services upon which we depend. We needmore space for nature. Our 24 recommendationsin this report call for action which will benefitwildlife and people. They provide a repair manualto help re-build nature.”

Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State forDefra, welcomed the report, saying; “Sir John isright to challenge us over what it takes to addressthe loss of biodiversity but he is also clear thiscannot be done by Government alone. Everyonefrom farmers, wildlife groups, landowners andindividuals can play a role in helping to create,manage and improve these areas, so if ever therewas a time for the Big Society to protect ournatural environment, this is it.”

25

An end to seabirddeaths in sight?After 10 years of lobbying by the RSPB, including a petition of 23,000signatures presented to FisheriesCommissioner Maria Damanaki in June 2010, the European Commissionpledged to develop and propose an EUSeabird Plan of Action by the end of2011. The RSPB and BirdLifeInternational urged the Commissionerto deliver a robust plan to address theunacceptable toll (estimated at around200,000 birds a year) that the fishinggears of EU vessels have onshearwaters and other species. The“shadow” plan we submitted has beenhighly influential in shaping theemerging framework of the plan,drawing attention to, notably, the GranSol longline fishery that accounts forthe highest total annual deaths(including 40,000 great shearwaters) ofany discrete global fishery, and theBaltic gillnet fisheries, which kill at least100,000 ducks, divers, grebes and otherbirds every year.

Nature at the heart of planningIn 2010, the Westminster Governmentintroduced radical proposals for thefuture of the planning system inEngland. The aim of the proposedLocalism Bill and the National PlanningPolicy Framework is to stop planningfrom being a constraint to developmentand economic growth, but this couldmake it much harder to argue againstdevelopments that threaten specialplaces for wildlife. We worked hard this year to influence the debate, andsucceeded in helping to get theproposal changed, but the latest draft ofthe proposal contains a whole new setof challenges for us.

We continue to campaign for a Marine Bill inNorthern Ireland, while working to ensure thatthe new marine legislation in the rest of the UKis effectively implemented.

We hosted a stand at Ecobuild 2010 to advisedevelopers on how planning can be done withwildlife in mind.

We commissioned sand artist Jamie Wardley tocreate an enormous sand drawing on Irvinebeach to raise awareness of our Hunterstonpower station campaign.

We contributed to the Wildlife andCountryside Link assessment of Governmentperformance against the 2010 targets to haltbiodiversity loss.

For the first time, RSPB Cymru used theSenedd’s (National Assembly for Wales)petitions process to convince AssemblyMembers to conduct an Inquiry into the missed2010 biodiversity targets. Wales was the onlyadministration to do so (more on page 40).

The Department of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment in Northern Ireland awarded us anew contract to monitor the effects of theCountryside Management Scheme on keyfarmland bird populations. This adds to ourongoing monitoring programmes in England,Scotland and Wales.

We won a public inquiry at Cliffe, resulting inthe removal of a neighbouring industrial site.

The RSPB, along with six project partners in fiveEuropean countries, secured €2.2 million fromthe European Regional Development Fund forthe Future of the Atlantic Marine Environment(FAME) project. The three-year project will usethe latest electronic bird tagging technology toreveal important foraging areas of kittiwakes,shags, fulmars, guillemots and razorbills fromcolonies along the Atlantic coast of the UK. Thisinformation will help inform the designation ofthe new Marine Protected Areas – vital to thelong-term well-being of marine life.

SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

Hope for rainforest

protection

In December 2010, the world moved

closer to halting tropical deforestation

by concluding an agreement reducing

emissions from deforestation at the UN

Climate Convention meeting in Cancun.

The RSPB was closely involved in the

negotiations and led international NGOs

in this area. As a result, we successfully

ensured that this agreement includes

important biodiversity safeguards that

will see the conservation of natural

tropical forests prioritised. We also led

ongoing NGO effort to ensure the rules

agreed in a global climate deal will

result in emissions from forestry and

land-use being accurately accounted for.

IN BRIEF

Nigel Blake (rspb-images.com)

At our Date With Nature

events, we’re meeting a

different group of people.

These aren’t people who’ve

made a decision to come to

a reserve. They’re people in

town centres and parks

who may have mistakenly

thought that they weren’t

interested in nature at all.

Richard BashfordSenior Project Manager,

People Engagement

I work at the RSPB hea

dquarters as part of the

12-person People Enga

gement Team. The team

makes sure that people g

et the most out of their

encounters with wildli

fe, whether that’s on o

ur

reserves, at a Date With Nature

event, or by taking

part in one of our surv

eys, such as Big Garden

Birdwatch and Make Your Na

ture Count. I have

worked for the RSPB f

or 22 years.

Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)

People feel moredisconnectedfrom nature thanever before.Some even fearthe countryside.

I love surprises – how about you?It’s the element of surprise thatmakes our Date With Nature eventssuch a big success.

You’re walking through a busy city, your mind on ahundred different things, and then you practically bump intoa lady standing beside a telescope on a tripod. “Want to seea peregrine?” she says. And you do. Everyone always does.And when you look through the telescope and see theperegrine perched on a ledge high up above the city, youcan’t quite believe that it’s here, sharing the same space asyou. For a moment all those things that had been jostling forattention in your mind fall away, and you have a moment ofsimple pleasure.

That’s the magic that an unexpected encounter withnature can bring, and it’s why this year, for the first time, wedecided to bring our learnings from Date With Nature eventsto our nature reserves.

If you visited our Lodge reserve in Bedfordshire thissummer, at the swimming pool you would have met avolunteer, there to point out to you the different species ofdragonfly and damselfly zipping over the water, and explaina little of their fascinating lives. Then further down the path,you would have met another volunteer, there to point outthe hole in the tree where the green woodpeckers werenesting, and if you waited a moment, you would have seenone of the adults return to the hole to feed them. Withoutthe volunteer there, you might have walked straight past.

We did this at several of our reserves this year, to greatsuccess: at Lake Vyrnwy, Powys, and our new reserve atDove Stone in the Peak District National Park, we pointedout peregrines; at Dunnet Head, Highland, we showedpeople the guillemots and razorbills that were nesting on

the UK mainland’s most northerly cliffs; at Titchwell inNorfolk, we took families on nature trails and got them ponddipping and dissecting owl pellets; we helped people to seecommon terns bringing fish back for their chicks atSaltholme, Teesside; and at Sumburgh Head, Shetland, wegave people around the world views via a webcam thatwould otherwise be impossible – puffins inside their burrow.In all, our regional teams and volunteers organised 66 DateWith Nature events, both on and off reserves.

Often, these events run year after year, wildlife faithfullyreturning to the same spot, such as the ospreys at Glaslyn,North Wales, but we also take advantage of surpriseappearances, such as the breeding purple herons at RSPBDungeness in Kent this year. This is the first time thisspecies has bred in the UK, so we quickly set up a DateWith Nature and attracted 1,000 visitors. This event alsogathered hundreds of signatures for our petition against theexpansion of Lydd Airport.

All of this is helped enormously by the support of VikingOptical Ltd, who make sure that people get the best viewsof the wildlife by supplying excellent optical equipment toour events. And of course we couldn’t put on these eventswithout our RSPB volunteers, who love nature and want toshare their enthusiasm with other people. This enthusiasm,coupled with a spectacular encounter with wildlife, is aneffective way to help people appreciate the value of nature.Our Date With Nature events have a big role in supportingour conservation work, recruiting thousands of newmembers (5,000 this year) and getting tens of thousands ofsignatures towards our campaigns, such as our bird of preyappeal and Letter to the Future.

The RSPB has been surprising and delighting peoplewith stunning experiences of wildlife since the Loch Gartenospreys in the 1950s, and we’ll continue to find more waysto do it, because every one of those surprised, delightedpeople is another possible voice for nature.

To find out about this year’s Date With Nature events, visitwww.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature

This year, we gave nearly half a million people an unforgettableexperience withwildlife at our DateWith Nature events.

CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH NATURE • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

27

Wildlife Explorers, the

RSPB’s junior members,

aren’t just passive

observers of nature,

they’re willing to do

things to help it too.

Wildlife Explorers have

raised more than £200,000

in the last few years to

support our work.

Jennie BaileyRegional Youth Officer

This is my first year of

working for the RSPB.

As

Regional Youth Officer

for Northern England

, I

support the hundreds o

f volunteers running th

e

20 RSPB Wildlife Explo

rers and Phoenix (teen

age)

groups that exist in the

area from Cheshire all the

way up to Hadrian’s Wall.

I light fires. That’s my job, basically.And there’s nothing like it. Themoment when you see a child’sface light up, their enthusiasm fornature kindled by an encounter withsomething wild, is magical.

I had a very special moment like that this year. A brand new Wildlife Explorers club had just started up inMalhamdale, North Yorkshire. For their first meeting, thechildren were going on a walk in a bluebell wood. It waspouring with rain, but 15 of them still turned up, got soaked,and had tremendous fun. They took ‘Bird Bingo’ sheets withthem – laminated pictures of various wild creatures andplants, which they tick off every time they see the realthing. One girl had ticked off everything except for a sandmartin, and she was looking round frantically for it. Andthen, one whizzed by, right in front of her. It was so closeshe was startled for a moment, and then her face changedas she realised what it was. That look is what I live for.

Experiences like this are so important for children,especially if they’re living in an urban area. We have a clubin Liverpool, and I’m sure that if we weren’t there, the kindsof experiences we offer to children just wouldn’t beavailable to them. They recently had a meeting where aherpetology student from Liverpool university brought in aboa constrictor and a coral snake – the children were thrilledto be able to touch these gorgeous beasties. The samegroup went out to a wood in the middle of Liverpool to dothe Big Schools’ Birdwatch, and were so excited to see awoodpecker for the first time. The group gets so much outof the varied range of activities, and the story is the sameacross all of our groups.

Once our younger members become teenagers, theybegin to get really involved in actual hands-on conservationwork. The Saltholme Phoenix group in Teesside is just one

year old, but already they’ve done lots of habitatmanagement on the reserve, such as scrub clearing, all rewarded afterwards with a big bonfire and a heartybarbecued feast.

And, of course, our Wildlife Explorers clubs are just onepart of how the RSPB connects children with wildlife. Morethan 6,000 children are now taking part in our WildlifeAction Awards, doing activities at home and school to helpwildlife. This year we’ve also been putting our 36 outdoorclassrooms through the Learning Outside the ClassroomQuality Badge to reassure schools that their pupils will besafe here as well as inspired and excited by nature.

They say that in the last 10 years, the ‘home range’ ofchildren – that’s the distance they’re allowed to wanderoutside of their home – has shrunk from 800 metres to just50 metres. With such a small area to explore, children justaren’t going to regularly come across wild things they’venever seen before. Those moments of discovery are soimportant. Not only do they enrich children’s lives, and givethem a real sense of their place in the world, but they arealso essential to making sure that nature still has peoplewilling to speak up for it in the future.

The girl that had the moment with the sand martinmight be switched on to wildlife for the rest of her life. Shemight do things in her home and garden to protect it. Shemight work in conservation – you’d be amazed at how manyRSPB staff began as junior members of the YoungOrnithologists’ Club (the forerunner of Wildlife Explorers).She might even run a group like this and switch other kids’lights on – it happens.

The Macclesfield Wildlife Explorers group has beenrunning since 1986. They are a big group of more than 30 children, and are one of the most active and dedicatedgroups we have. They’ve won the RSPB Wildlife Explorersclub of the year award several times. There are parentvolunteers running the group now who were memberswhen they were children. Here, that torch really is passedon from generation to generation. It’s my job to help keepthat torch alight, and I feel very lucky to be doing it.

For more info, visit www.rspb.org.uk/youth

Today’s childrenare less connectedwith nature than ever before.

This year wecelebrated our200,000th member of RSPB WildlifeExplorers.

CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH NATURE • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

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David McHugh (rspb-images.com)

The report draws together findings from a wide range ofresearch into the positive impacts that contact with naturehas on children. These include the educational benefits,contributions to physical health and mental well-being, aswell as the development of personal and social skills.

Every child outdoors also explores what happens whensuch experiences are reduced – the increasingly used termof Nature Deficit Disorder.

The report includes new independent research wecommissioned from Ipsos MORI on the most rememberedchildhood experiences of nature amongst the generalpublic. This discovered that 92% of people agree that theseexperiences are still important to children today, and that82% agree that schools should play a role in providing themto all children.

You can read the full report at:www.rspb.org.uk/childrenneednature

Every child outdoors supports ourpolicy objective for the WestminsterGovernment to highlight to schools the benefits of learning outside the classroom.

Every childoutdoors

We believe that every child shouldbe entitled to regular contact withthe natural environment, so inSeptember 2010 we launched ourEvery child outdoors report at a parliamentary reception.

Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)

Chris O'Reilly (rspb-images.com)

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International schoolraptor projectPrimary school pupils from Glasgowand Lahore in Pakistan have teamed upto learn about endangered birds of preyin a new project called “Raptors atRisk”. The children will study the re-introduction of white-tailed eaglesand red kites in Scotland, and the captive breeding project of white-backed vultures in Pakistan. Each school will learn about the birdsfrom their own country and post a boxof facts, poems, drawings and storiesabout the birds for the other children tosee. The project has been funded by theTalk Talk Innovation in The CommunityAwards, and links the RSPB in Scotland with WWF.

Wild Place, Your Space Wild Place, Your Space is a three-yearsocial inclusion project connectingcommunities living in some of thesouth-east of England’s most deprivedboroughs to nature. In partnership withthe Lee Valley Regional Park Authority,staff also offer training for individualswho have dropped out of formaleducation, conduct outreach into localprimary schools and deliver fieldteaching for secondary pupils. Its legacywill be an increase in people using theLee Valley, and the creation of a nationalforum for social inclusion practitioners.

53,000 children visited our reserves in school groups.

165,000 people are now taking part in HomesFor Wildlife.

Just under half a million people visited our Date With Nature projects. The nine WelshDate With Nature sites alone attracted 70,000people – enough to fill the whole of theMillennium Stadium in Cardiff.

190,000 new RSPB members joined, bringingthe total at the start of April 2011 to 1,096,015.

We had a record-breaking year for our citizenscience surveys. More than 707,000 peopletook part in Big Garden Birdwatch and MakeYour Nature Count combined.

Teenagers from RSPB Phoenix and the FerrersSpecialist Arts College (of which the RSPB is atrustee) took part in a mock Select CommitteeInquiry in the House of Commons. RSPBPresident Kate Humble chaired the event. The teenagers quizzed politicians from thethree main parties about their plans for theenvironment, including climate change,safeguarding our sealife, stopping extinctionand how to engage young people with nature.

The RSPB is working with the CalousteGulbenkian Foundation on a project to find away of measuring the incidence and extent ofNature Deficit Disorder – a term which refersto the effects of the loss of connection withnature, particularly in young people.

The RSPB in Wales had its highest ever total ofschools participating in our Big Schools’Birdwatch – a total of 132 taking part andreaching well over 4,500 children.

In 2010 we concluded a successful three-yearenvironmental education partnership with theCity of London Corporation on HampsteadHeath. This Heritage Lottery funded projectengaged 7,670 children with nature, many fromdeprived areas.

We now have 30 reserves with the LearningOutside The Classroom Quality Badge.

We launched RSPB “Love nature” chocolate.It contains no soya or palm oil, is organic andFairtrade, and every penny of profit goes directto our conservation work.

We are making great progress on the DiscoverNature project at Minsmere, Suffolk, whichwill make the reserve accessible and appealingto as wide a range of people as possible.

We launched our new reserves pages on theRSPB website to give people a better idea ofthe range of experiences on offer.www.rspb.org.uk/reserves

Our stand at the 2010 BBC Gardeners’ WorldLive won “Highly Commended”. It showed theparallels between wildlife gardening andreserve management.

Sandwell Valley field teaching resumed atSandwell Valley Country Park, West Midlands,after our reserve visitor centre was destroyedby fire.

A red kite from the Chilterns turned up at theArgaty Red Kites Date With Nature, Perthshire.

We began a survey of visitors at 34 of ourreserves to find out how to make theexperience even better for them.

More than half the schools in Northern Irelandhave joined the Breathing Places programme.

We launched our schools ladybird survey –the seventh and last BBC Breathing PlacesSchools project.

The Green Talent project, in partnership withthe Eden Project and Kew Gardens, gave morethan 150 15-16-year-olds a unique two-dayenvironmental learning experience, whichcombined technology, business and nature.Unfortunately, delivery was cut short due topartial withdrawal of Government funding.

We are working on three internationaleducation programmes, in Belarus, Bulgariaand Malta.

CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH NATURE • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

RSPB-watch The 2010 series of Springwatch on BBCTV was packed with RSPB mentions,most notably the live broadcasts fromArne, Dorset, which featured nightjars,wood ants and raft spiders. Other RSPBmentions included items on avocets,bitterns, Big Garden Birdwatch, a plugfor Make Your Nature Count and RSPBstaff in the Springwatch pub quiz. Later in the year, Autumnwatch devoteda programme to the Isle of Mull. RSPB staff and our partners on theisland were closely involved in thepreparations for the BBC crew. Theprogramme celebrated the range anddensity of birds of prey on the islandand in particular focused on hen harriersand the Mull Eagle Watch project, whichsees the island community cometogether each year to protect thenesting eagles. More than 2 millionpeople watched the programme.

IN BRIEFLondon sparrows

The London House Sparrow ParksProject is working with eight partnersacross 19 London Parks to create insectand seed-rich meadows. Researchershope the food that these 25 newmeadows will provide will benefitsparrows, which are decliningnationally. Early indications have beenencouraging. Some of the seed mixesand management techniques are beingadopted by partners on other land-holdings. Funding is being sought toextend the project beyond August 2011.

One of the highlights of the year for me was a trip to the woodedhillsides of County Down.

Just after lunchtime, on a baking hot day, my colleagueand I crept round the edge of a plantation with a telescopeto get a clear view of the nest high up in an oak tree. Sittingon the nest, and turning its beady eyes towards me as Ilooked through the scope, was one of the 80 red kites thatwe’ve re-introduced to Northern Ireland over the last threeyears with the help of the Golden Eagle Trust and the WelshKite Trust. What made this moment especially wonderfulwas that the behaviour of the male and female kites clearlyshowed that there were eggs in the nest. These were thefirst red kites to nest in Northern Ireland for 200 years. At the end of the breeding season, four pairs of red kiteshad fledged five young. A tremendous success after manyyears of hard work.

As I think back over this year, that seems to be acommon theme – years of dedicated effort finally rewardedwith success. In 2010, we got to see the Wildlife AndNatural Environment Act passed through the Assembly –something I’ve been working towards since I started at theRSPB in 2004. Some of my colleagues have been workingon it much longer than that, since the original, inadequatewildlife protection laws came out in 1985. For 25 years wehave been working with civil servants and politicians,pressing for better laws to protect wildlife, and now wehave them. We’re a relentless bunch, but that’s what’sneeded to get results. Thanks to our efforts, wildlife will fare better in Northern Ireland: there are now custodialsentences for wildlife crimes, providing a proper deterrent;the curlew has now been taken off the shooting list; andnests of birds of prey will now be protected all year round,

not just while they’re sitting on the nest. Our newlyintroduced red kites will stand a much better chance offlourishing here with the legal framework in place to givethem the protection they need.

Another place we’ve been working for years, and areseeing our efforts richly rewarded, is Lower Lough Erne inCounty Fermanagh where we look after 39 of the islands inthe heart of Northern Ireland’s Lake District. For decadeswe’ve been carrying cattle across the lough in flat-bottomedboats to the islands that we look after in the middle. There,the cattle munch away in the meadows, creating just theright conditions for wildlife. In spring, the islands arecovered in orchids and other wild flowers, and the birdsreturn to breed – this year, in greater numbers than everbefore. We had 26 pairs of lapwings, 51 pairs of redshanks,35 pairs of snipe, 34 pairs of curlews and the first pair ofdunlins since 2003. You won’t find these species in thisgreat a quantity anywhere else in Northern Ireland.

And we’ve had other successes on our reserves thisyear. At the south-east corner of Lough Neagh (the largestlough in the UK), is our wetland reserve Portmore Lough,County Antrim, to which we added 12 hectares this year.When I first visited this place, there was a small lake heresurrounded by fields infested with rushes. After years offocused management, we’ve transformed this place intoone of the most important wetlands in the country, buzzingwith dragonflies and damselflies in the summer. There reallyis nowhere else quite like it. We have lapwings increasinghere, when elsewhere they are not faring so well. We haveIrish hares – lovely creatures that are easy to spot in thewinter when they turn white. It’s also an important placenow for whooper swans and great crested grebes. We’veadded more ditches and wetland features this year in thehope that the rare Irish damselfly, which is found nearby,will spread onto the reserve.

James RobinsonDirector, Northern Ireland

Thanks to our efforts, redkites bred in Northern Irelandfor the first time in 200 years.

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NORTHERN IRELAND • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11David Kjaer (rspb-images.com)

Lower Lough Erne by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

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Over at the north end of Lough Neagh, is Lough Beg,one of our Futurescapes projects, which my colleague Aidanwrote about earlier in the review. Here there are 500 ha ofwet grassland on the banks of the River Bann, which floodsin winter and makes this a really important habitat. The landis owned by livestock farmers, with whom we are workingto make this place ideal for all sorts of wildlife, includinghuge numbers of wintering waterbirds and the rare Irishlady’s tresses orchid and pennyroyal.

Together we make sure that the rushes (which canquickly grow up to shoulder height) are kept under controlso that the cattle can still graze, and we’re working with theRivers Agency to make sure the flooding that occurs on theland doesn’t happen during the breeding season, whenchicks are in the nest and vulnerable. We want to see thisachieved by restoring natural flood defences, such as peatbogs, and carefully managing the sluices that control water levels.

This year we published the management plan for LoughBeg, and were thrilled and honoured to have the wonderfulSeamus Heaney, Nobel Prize-winning poet, write theforeword to it. He described what we’re doing here farmore eloquently than I’m able to (see left). The farmers herehave such pride and affection for the place, and it’s such apleasure to work alongside them, advising on floodmanagement and livestock grazing, to help make this

“country of the mind”, as Seamus Heaney describes it, areality once again. It’s what I and the 50 colleagues and 300 volunteers I work with at the RSPB Northern Irelandoffice are trying to do at all of our sites – to createsustainable land-use for everyone, so that wildlife can flourish.

Another highlight of the year was one of our educationprojects. To mark the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity,we worked with the Northern Ireland Environment Agencyand BBC Breathing Places on a schools project thatpromoted the biodiversity of Northern Ireland, highlightingthe importance of the country as a geographic hub formigrating species. Young people in Northern Ireland carriedout projects on migratory bird species and reported theirfindings at a special event at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall usingonline digital images, videos and mobile phone technology.

One of the key parts of the project was the RSPB'songoing education link with Ghana. Our common ground isthe common tern – a bird that winters off west Africabefore returning to Belfast Lough to breed in the spring. Wevideo-linked with a school in Ghana when we presented allof the projects to the Environment Minister and a room fullof other decision-makers in Northern Ireland.

This year has seen many years’ work come to fruition,but another year is already underway and there is plentymore to be done!

For more info check out www.rspb.org.uk/northernireland

NORTHERN IRELAND • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

Excerpt from poet Seamus Heaney’s forewordto the Lough Beg management plan:

“In the following pages, those names areto be found on a map showing the local wildlife habitats, but for me and for anyone of mygeneration brought up in the Lough Beg area,they belong first and foremost in memory andimagination. They evoke a dream land that wasonce the real land, a shore at evening, quietwater, wind in the grass, the calls of birds,maybe a man or woman out in a back field juststanding looking, counting cattle, listening.

“The Lough Beg Management Plan intendsto make that country of the mind a reality onceagain. It wants to bring back a landscapewhere the peewit and the curlew and thewhirring snipe are as common as they used tobe on those 1940s evenings when I’d go withmy father to check on our cattle on the strand.”

Stuart HousdenDirector, Scotland

Scotland’s amazing environment isrenowned the world over, so it isimportant that we continue toprotect and invest in its care – our global reputation is at stake.Although there is more to do andthe road ahead is not easy, we have much to be proud of.

I was reminded of this during a visit last June toBalranald – one of our nature reserves situated on thebeautiful Hebridean island of North Uist, which is run inpartnership with the crofting community.

The machair habitat there is very rare and special, foundonly along the windswept coast of north-west Scotland andwestern Ireland where the sandy soil is uniquely composedof ground-up seashells. As we walked through the richflower meadows searching for (and finding!) the rareHebridean marsh orchid that grows here, the air was thickwith birdsong – corncrakes, curlews, redshanks, dunlinsand corn buntings. There was also the buzzing of manybees, including great yellow bumblebees – one of the 36rare or declining Biodiversity Action Plan species on whichthe RSPB leads. The wildlife here would not be so richwithout our work in partnership with Scottish NaturalHeritage (SNH), Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, and the ScottishCrofting Federation.

We walked across to Vallay Island, a place that onlybecomes accessible on foot when the tide is out, to meetAngus MacDonald, a crofter with whom we’re working.Angus rears organic beef cattle, grazing them on themachair to keep it in top condition for wildlife. He even usesseaweed he collects from the beach as a natural fertiliser.On the beach at Vallay Island, while we discussedconservation matters, Angus barbecued some of the most

delicious steaks I’ve ever tasted. And while we enjoyed this feast, we watched hundreds of bar-tailed godwits in the bay, and a hen harrier and an Arctic skua flying by us.But most heartening of all was the sound of corncrakescalling nearby.

When we first began work in this area in 1999, therewere no corncrakes here, but now, thanks to the targetedmanagement we’ve been doing with Angus and histraditional crofting techniques, there are now 14 callingmales. We’ve enjoyed similar corncrake success acrossmuch of the country, which is a relief given the hard workand investment we have made. There are now an estimated1,200 calling males – that’s a rise of 66 on last year – proofindeed that great things come from great partnerships.

We were part of another partnership this year for analtogether different reason. We joined alongside a group ofenvironmental NGOs to re-ignite the fight against aproposed coal-fired power station at Hunterston. In June2010, a planning application for the development wassubmitted. Part of the proposed development includesbuilding on 32 hectares of Southannan Sands – an SSSI anda vital place for wintering birds – one of the few remainingintertidal flats on the outer Firth of Clyde. If the ScottishGovernment were to give the go-ahead for this powerstation, the additional emissions from the plant would make a mockery of their commitments to sustainabledevelopment and CO2 reduction. But equally important, the waders would lose vital feeding grounds.

To raise the profile of this campaign, we commissionedworld-renowned sand and ice artist Jamie Wardley to createan artwork along the shoreline at Irvine beach. His sanddrawings illustrated the effects of emissions on climatechange and habitat loss, focusing a good deal of mediaattention on our fight, before being swept away by the sea.We hope the Scottish Government will sweep thedevelopment proposal away in a similar fashion.

We had a major success this year in helping influencethe creation of new legislation to protect wildlife. At the endof last year, we went to Holyrood to present the 22,000

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SCOTLAND • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

Richard Revels (rspb-images.com)

Eleanor Bentall (rspb-images.com)

Forsinard Flows: a trueScottish wilderness, and oneof our first Futurescapes.

SCOTLAND • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

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For more info check out www.rspb.org.uk/scotland

signatures gathered in Scotland calling for betterprotection for our birds of prey. This was followed inJune 2010 by the announcement of the Wildlife AndNatural Environment (WANE) Bill, which provides thelegal framework to help prevent wildlife crime affectingsome of our most vulnerable species.

In particular I’m thinking about the prospects of hen harriers. A survey earlier in 2011 revealed that thisspecies has declined by 23% in Scotland since 2004,leaving just 489 pairs, but this new legislation may helpremedy that. Thanks to the WANE Act, employers arenow liable if their employees commit wildlife crimes ontheir land. This should, we hope, help stop the instancesof bird of prey persecution that occur on some drivengrouse moors and allow hen harriers to begin to recover.

We’ve clearly demonstrated this year that birds of preycan thrive in Scotland, and that people enjoy having themaround. Our Aberdeen red kites, re-introduced between2007 and 2009 with the help of a whole host of partners,are now breeding well, this year rearing 15 young. It’swonderful to see the population become self-sustainingafter so many staff and volunteers spent so many monthshand-rearing those original 101 chicks, sometimes eventaking rain-bedraggled chicks home in the evening to keepthem warm overnight. It’s that level of dedication that hashelped this new Aberdeen population establish so well. Ifyou’re in Aberdeen, they’re there for you to see right now.

Results of a recent economic analysis have shown justhow valuable a sight like red kites can be for the localcommunity. Since 2004, visitors to the red kite trail inDumfries and Galloway have spent £21 million in the area.We’re hoping the new Tollie red kite viewing centre that weopened this year at Brahan Estate near Inverness will be ahit with wildlife tourists, too.

In Scotland, the RSPB does everything it can to provideopportunities like this so that people can have memorableencounters with wildlife. This year, in partnership withPromote Shetland, we showed something that had neverbeen seen before. Our puffin-cam at Sumburgh Headrevealed the private lives of puffins for the first time ever,via a camera in a puffin burrow. There were a few shockingmoments – when an adult came into the nest and attackedthe chick, for instance – but there were moments of greattenderness, too, with the parent puffins preening theirpuffling. This was fascinating viewing, enjoyed by hundredsof thousands of people from all around the world.

As well as inspiring people across the globe, wecontinue to make sure, through our education projects, thatfuture generations remain passionate about wildlife. Thisyear we teamed up with The Gannochy Trust and A & JStephen (Builders) Ltd to launch an exciting new projectcalled ‘Growing Up With Quarrymill’. Designed to

encourage pupils and teachers to explore their naturalenvironment and further their understanding of the valueand beauty of local green spaces, the scheme saw schoolsin Perthshire take a trip out of the classroom to explorenature on their doorstep. Our hope is that this experienceinspires young people to take an interest in theenvironment right through their life.

We share the same aspirations for our WildlifeExplorers. Around 500 young people in Scotland meet upevery month as part of these clubs to get out and enjoy ourreserves and other green spaces, and they do some prettyamazing activities to benefit wildlife. We now have WildlifeExplorer groups from as far north as Shetland, to thedeepest south at Mersehead.

One of the biggest stories this year was the launch ofFuturescapes. In Scotland, we have Futurescapes plannedfor more than 22 different areas, covering large swathes ofdiverse habitat, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest,Special Protection Areas and RSPB nature reserves such asForsinard Flows in Caithness and Sutherland. Thanks to oursupporters, and with help from The Tubney Charitable Trust,we were able to acquire new extensions to Forsinard Flowsreserve this year. The Forsinain and Dyke plantations addnearly 1,500 ha to this true Scottish wilderness. We have ahuge task ahead of us – there are about 1.5 million trees toremove to help restore these areas to precious blanket bog.It’ll take years, but we’ve done it before, and the curlewsand greenshanks that now fill this place with their calls areproof that together we’ll do it again.

Lastly, as the year ended, we completed the purchaseof the Crannach, a new reserve on Deeside, home to blackgrouse and many other species. An exciting conclusion tothe year!

Wildlife can bringhuge economicrewards, providingmemorable personalexperiences whilecontributing significantsums to the Scottisheconomy.

This year I have experienced thevalue of nature in a more personalway than ever before.

Nature helped save the life of my two-year-old daughter,Carys. In March 2010, she was diagnosed with a very rarecancer. The RSPB kindly allowed me to take time off work –seconding Laurence Rose from the North of England Teamand sharing out responsibilities amongst staff at the WalesHeadquarters, who all rallied round and made this a hugelysuccessful year for the RSPB in Wales.

I spent eight months at my daughter’s side, going backand forth to hospitals, fighting for her life. I have just foundout that her cancer is now in remission. I can’t tell you howgrateful I feel. And now that I’m back at work, I feel moregalvanised than ever before to protect our natural world,because one of the key drugs that saved Carys wassynthesised from a flower. It’s a pretty pink flower called theMadagascan periwinkle. Most of the drugs that kill cancercells also kill healthy cells, and are especially harmful tochildren, but this natural drug only targets the cancer cells.Now, thanks to this plant, many children survive cancer andget a chance at a full life; and one of them is my little girl.

The interconnectedness of human health and the naturalworld has never been clearer to me, and it’s firmed myresolve to do everything I can to protect biodiversity,because who knows how many more life-saving drugs are out there right now, in some of the world’s mostthreatened habitats.

It’s been a year of highs and lows. This was supposed tobe the year the world stopped biodiversity loss, but thosetargets were not met. And afterwards, Wales was the onlycountry in the world that held an inquiry to find out why.And the reason the National Assembly for Wales held thatinquiry was the RSPB. We used the new petition systemand the voices of our members to demand one. Dozens of

people, including the Environment Minister, were called to give evidence at the inquiry, and at the end of it, 20recommendations were made to help restore biodiversity inWales. These should hopefully give us the traction we needto achieve the 2020 targets agreed at Nagoya. It’s a cleardemonstration that people can really make positive changesto the world when they speak in unison.

And in Wales, we really need some positive changes inthe way the environment is managed. The latest Birds ofConservation Concern report, which we launched this year,shows that 45 of the bird species in Wales (representingalmost one quarter of the total) are now on the red list,which means they’re in big trouble. This year, 18 newspecies were added to the red list, seven of these speciesmoving straight from green (low concern) to red.

But we’ve proved that it’s possible to turn the fortunesof these species around. I have some great success storiesto share with you.

It’s been a fantastic year for black grouse in Wales.We’ve been working with the Countryside Council for Wales(CCW), Forestry Commission Wales (FCW), and many localauthorities and landowners, including three shootingestates, to create ideal habitat and conditions for blackgrouse, and the work is really paying off. In 1997, when wefirst started our black grouse project, we had 126 lekkingmales. This year, we had 238. The populations in the areaswhere we’re working are now stable.

In Wales, we have a great relationship with the ownersof several shooting estates, who act as admirablecustodians of the countryside. Free from the persecutionfound in some areas of Britain, hen harriers have donetremendously well here. On the North Wales MoorsFuturescape area, we had 57 breeding hen harriers – the highest figures since the 1950s when hen harriersrecolonised Wales. The work in Wales provides a model forupland partnerships, demonstrating that hen harrierrecovery can co-exist alongside other moorland interests.

Katie-jo LuxtonDirector, Wales

Where we’re working inWales, the black grousepopulation is now stable.

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WALES • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11Mark Sisson (rspb-images.com)

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RSPB

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For more info check out www.rspb.org.uk/wales

WALES • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

Another great success was the LIFE Blanket BogProject, which we completed after years of hard work. In 2005, when we began, the 10,000-hectare uplandmoorland around the Lake Vyrnwy estate in Powys hadbeen drained and was in a poor state. Restoring itlooked like an impossible task. We would have to block100 km of drains that were leaching the life from thebog, at a cost of half a million pounds – an amount wethought we’d never be able to raise. But in partnershipwith CCW, FCW, Snowdonia National Park, UnitedUtilities and local landowners, and with EU LIFEfunding, we actually managed to raise £3.23 million andhave now blocked 486 km of drainage ditches – that’stwice the distance from Vyrnwy to London.

We took 1,100 schoolchildren up onto the bog toshow them this amazing place as part of our fieldteaching work here (which, incidentally, won the‘outstanding’ grade in the Learning Outside TheClassroom Quality Badge Scheme). These children hadlived right by the bog all their lives and most had no idea

of its value to wildlife or its important role in regulating thewater and carbon cycles. One landowner got in contactwith us and said that his daughter had just come back froma class visit to Vyrnwy and demanded that he do the samething, so we helped him block the drains on his land too.And he wasn’t the only one – 15 landowners in the area gotin touch wanting to do their bit.

The restored bog at Vyrnwy is now absorbing carbonagain and the water that comes off the mountain has lesssuspended sediment and is less coloured, meaning that thewater company needs to spend less on cleaning it before itcomes out of people’s taps in Liverpool.

As part of our work to win more voices for nature, we asked more people to support our work by joining, andwe are delighted that so many did: 3,800 new memberssigned up in Wales last year – that’s a 20% rise and our bestever. One of these was our 10,000th Wildlife Explorer – anall-time high. A good number of these new members wererecruited at a brand new RSPB café at South Stack in Anglesey. For years, there had been a greasy-spoon caféright in the middle of one of Wales’ most iconiclandscapes – a place that’s awash with gorse and pink seathrift, with spectacular views of the Irish Sea and choughswheeling above the cliffs. We’d been trying to acquire thiscafé for ages, and finally the opportunity presented itselfthis year. We completely revamped the place in a matter ofweeks, making it worthy of its wonderful surroundings, andcreated lots of new jobs for the local community at thesame time. In its first year of opening, our South Stack cafébecame one of the RSPB’s top-grossing cafés. Quite a feat!

This year, we had 898 volunteers working in Wales –that’s equivalent to more than 32 extra full-time staff. We’reso grateful to them. The volunteers working on RSPB

Ramsey Island, off the Pembrokeshire coast, got quite atreat this summer – hot water! Up until now, the generatoron the island only provided one hour’s worth of power, asour diesel supply was so limited, it being so difficult to getfuel across one of the UK’s fastest tidal currents. Duringthis hour of power, the volunteers on Ramsey had to get alltheir cooking and washing done. Often they would miss outon hot water. We’ve now installed solar panels and a windturbine on the island, so the volunteers can wash in luxury,and sustainably too.

It’s been such a good year for the RSPB in Wales, youmight wonder how we can match it next year, but I’m surewe’re going to do even better. In 2011, the RSPB celebrates100 years of working in Wales. We’ve already had lots ofcelebratory events, including an exciting new partnershipwith the Girl Guides movement.

Twenty-thousand Welsh Girl Guides – Rainbows,Brownies and Guides, will have the chance to Step up fornature by visiting one of our reserves or futurescapes, andtaking part in Big Garden Birdwatch. We launched this newpartnership at our Newport Wetlands reserve in autumn2010, when 600 Girl Guides came for a day of pond dipping,nestbox-making and exploring on the reserve.

As part of our centenary, we’ve also created a special‘golden curlew’ badge, which will be awarded to anyonewho can raise £50 or more to support the RSPB’s vital work on wader conservation in Wales. With only 600 goldencurlew badges made, these are as rare as the real thing inWales, which has seen declines in breeding curlews inrecent years.

Do come along and help us celebrate the centenary at one of our Welsh reserves or Date With Nature events in 2011.

20,000 Girl Guidesare stepping up fornature with theRSPB in Wales.

Eleni rydw i wedi profi gwerth bydnatur mewn ffordd fwy personolnag erioed o’r blaen.

Cynorthwyodd byd natur gydag achub bywyd fy merch dwyflwydd oed, Carys. Ym mis Mawrth 2010, canfuwyd ei bodyn dioddef o ganser prin iawn. Yn garedig iawn, cefaisganiatâd yr RSPB i roi’r gorau i’m gwaith dros dro. Yn fy lledaeth Laurence Rose o Dîm Gogledd Lloegr a rhannwydcyfrifoldebau ymysg staff Pencadlys Cymru, a weithiodd ynddygn i sicrhau bod hon yn flwyddyn hynod o lwyddiannusi’r RSPB yng Nghymru.

Treuliais wyth mis gyda fy merch, yn teithio’n ôl acymlaen i ysbytai, yn brwydro am ei bywyd. Rydw i newyddgael gwybod bod ei chanser erbyn hyn wedi cilio. Ni allafgyfleu pa mor ddiolchgar ydw i. Bellach, a minnau’n ôl wrthfy ngwaith, rydw i’n fwy brwdfrydig nag erioed o’r blaen iwarchod ein byd naturiol, oherwydd daeth un o’r prifgyffuriau a achubodd fywyd Carys o flodyn pinc tlws o’renw perfagl Madagascar. Mae’r rhan fwyaf o gyffuriau sy’nlladd canser hefyd yn lladd celloedd iach, ac yn arbennig oniweidiol i blant, ond mae’r cyffur naturiol hwn yn targedu’rcelloedd canser yn unig. Yn awr, diolch i’r planhigyn hwn,mae llawer o blant yn goroesi canser ac yn cael cyfle i fywbywyd llawn; ac mae fy merch fach yn un ohonynt.

Ni fu’r cysylltiad agos rhwng iechyd dynol a’r bydnaturiol erioed yn fwy amlwg i mi, ac mae hyn wediatgyfnerthu fy mhenderfyniad i wneud popeth posibl iwarchod bioamrywiaeth, oherwydd pwy a ∑yr faint ogyffuriau eraill a all achub bywydau sy’n bodoli’r eiliad hon,yn rhai o gynefinoedd mwyaf bregus y byd?

Bu’n flwyddyn o ennill a cholli. Y flwyddyn hon roedd ybyd i fod i ddod â cholledion mewn bioamrywiaeth i ben,ond methwyd â gwireddu’r targedau hynny. Yn dilyn hyn,Cymru oedd yr unig wlad yn y byd i gynnal ymholiad iddarganfod pam. A’r rheswm y cynhaliodd Cynulliad

Cenedlaethol Cymru’r ymholiad hwn oedd yr RSPB.Defnyddiwyd y system ddeisebu newydd a lleisiau’nhaelodau i fynnu bod ymholiad yn cael ei gynnal. Galwyd arddwsinau o bobl, yn cynnwys y Gweinidog dros yrAmgylchedd, i gyflwyno tystiolaeth yn yr ymholiad, ac ar eiddiwedd, cyflwynwyd 20 o argymhellion i helpu i adferbioamrywiaeth yng Nghymru. Rydym yn obeithiol y bydd yrhain yn rhoi inni’r grym i wireddu targedau 2020 agytunwyd yn Nagoya. Mae hyn yn dangos yn glir bod poblyn gallu sicrhau newidiadau positif i’r byd wrth ddod at eigilydd.

Yma yng Nghymru, rydym wir angen newidiadau positifyn ein dulliau o reoli’r amgylchedd. Dengys adroddiaddiweddaraf Adar o Bryder Cadwraethol, a lansiwyd gennymeleni, bod 45 o’r rhywogaethau o adar yng Nghymru (sy’ncynrychioli bron i chwarter o’r cyfanswm), bellach ar yrhestr goch, sy’n golygu eu bod mewn perygl mawr. Eleni,ychwanegwyd 18 o rywogaethau newydd at y rhestr goch,gyda saith o’r rhywogaethau hyn yn symud yn syth o’rrhestr werdd (pryder isel) i goch.

Ond rydym wedi profi ei bod yn bosibl sicrhau ffyniant yrhywogaethau hyn. Mae gennyf straeon gwych amlwyddiannau i’w rhannu gyda chi.

Bu’n flwyddyn ragorol i’r rugiar ddu yng Nghymru.Rydym wedi bod yn cydweithio gyda Chyngor Cefn GwladCymru (CCGC), Comisiwn Coedwigaeth Cymru (CCC), allawer o awdurdodau lleol a thirfeddianwyr, yn cynnwys tairstad saethu, i greu cynefin ac amodau delfrydol ar gyfer yrugiar ddu, ac mae’r gwaith yn talu ar ei ganfed. Ym 1997,pan roddwyd ein project y rugiar ddu ar waith, roedd 126 ogeiliogod yn arddangos eu hunain. Eleni, roedd 238. Bellachmae’r poblogaethau wedi sefydlogi yn yr ardaloedd lle’rydym yn gweithio.

Yng Nghymru, mae gennym berthynas arbennig gydapherchnogion amryw o stadau saethu, sy’n gweithredu felgwarchodwyr penigamp o gefn gwlad. Heb yr erledigaethsy’n digwydd mewn rhai rhannau o Brydain, mae’r bodatinwyn wedi gwneud yn arbennig o dda yma. Yn ardal Tirlun

Katie-jo LuxtonCyfarwyddwr, Cymru

Mae Llyn Efyrnwy’nffynnu wedi inni gwblhauein project adfer.

45

CYMRU • ADOLYGIAD BLYNYDDOL YR RSPB 2010–11Guy Rogers (rspb-images.com)

Danny Green (rspb-images.com)

47

Am fwy o wybodaeth ewch i www.rspb.org.uk/cymru

eto’n storio carbon ac mae llai o waddod mewn daliant yn yd∑r sydd hefyd yn oleuach ei liw. Golyga hyn bod y cwmnid∑r yn gwario llai ar ei lanhau cyn iddo lifo o dapiau poblLerpwl.

Fel rhan o’n gwaith i sicrhau mwy o leisiau dros fydnatur, gofynnwyd i fwy o bobl gefnogi ein gwaith drwyymuno â ni, ac rydym yn falch iawn bod cymaint wedigwneud: ymunodd 3,800 o aelodau newydd yng Nghymru'rllynedd - dyna gynnydd o 20% a’r canlyniad gorau eto. Uno’r rhain oedd y 10,000fed Fforiwr Bywyd Gwyllt - y rhifuchaf erioed. Ymaelododd nifer fawr o’r aelodau newyddyma mewn caffi newydd sbon yn Ynys Lawd ar Ynys Môn.

Ers blynyddoedd, safai caffi bwyd cyflym yng nghanolun o dirluniau mwyaf eiconig Cymru - man sy’n cynnal eithina chlustog Fair, gyda golygfeydd godidog o Fôr Iwerddon abrain coesgoch yn chwyrlïo uwchben y clogwyni. Roeddemwedi ceisio prynu’r caffi hwn ers blynyddoedd, ac o’rdiwedd daeth y cyfle eleni. Adnewyddwyd y lle’n gyfangwbl mewn ychydig o wythnosau’n unig, a sicrhawyd ei fodyn haeddu ei leoliad hyfryd. Crëwyd llawer o swyddinewydd i’r gymuned leol yr un pryd. Yn ei flwyddyn gyntaf,daeth ein caffi yn Ynys Lawd yn un o gaffis mwyaf proffidiolyr RSPB. Dipyn o gamp!

Eleni, gweithiodd 898 o wirfoddolwyr yng Nghymru -mae hynny gyfystyr â 32 o staff llawn amser ychwanegol.Rydym yn hynod o ddiolchgar iddynt. Cafodd ygwirfoddolwyr ar Ynys Dewi, oddi ar arfordir Sir Benfro,tipyn o hwb yr haf hwn - d∑r poeth! Hyd yma, roedd ycynhyrchydd trydan ymlaen am awr yn unig bob dydd,oherwydd ychydig o ddisel oedd ar gael gan ei bod ynanodd ei gludo ar draws y swnt sydd yn un o’r rhai cyflymafyn y DU. Yn ystod yr awr yma o b∑er, roedd yn rhaid i hollwirfoddolwyr Ynys Dewi goginio a golchi eu dillad. Yn amlnid oedd digon o dd∑r poeth ar gael. Bellach rydym wedigosod paneli haul a thyrbin gwynt ar yr ynys, felly mae’rgwirfoddolwyr yn gallu ymolchi mewn moethusrwydd, a

hynny’n gynaliadwy hefyd.Gan ei bod wedi bod yn flwyddyn mor dda i’r RSPB yng

Nghymru, efallai eich bod yn ystyried sut y gallwn sicrhaublwyddyn debyg y flwyddyn nesaf, ond rydw i’n si∑r ygallwn wneud yn well eto. Yn 2011, mae’r RSPB yn dathlu100 mlynedd o weithio yng Nghymru. Eisoes rydym wedicynnal llu o ddigwyddiadau i ddathlu, yn cynnwyspartneriaeth newydd gyffrous gyda Geidiau Cymru.

Bydd ugain mil o Geidiau Cymru – Rainbows, Browniesa Geidiau, yn cael cyfle i Gamu ’Mlaen Dros Natur drwyymweld ag un o’n gwarchodfeydd neu dirlun i’r dyfodol, achymryd rhan yn yr arolwg Gwylio Adar yr Ardd. Lansiwyd ybartneriaeth newydd hon ar ein gwarchodfa ar WlyptiroeddCasnewydd yn hydref 2010, pan ddaeth 600 o GeidiauCymru draw am ddiwrnod i rwydo’r pwll, gwneud blychaunythu ac archwilio’r warchodfa.

Fel rhan o’n canmlwyddiant, rydym hefyd wedi creubathodyn ’gylfinir aur’ arbennig, a gyflwynir i unrhyw un sy’ncodi £50 neu fwy i gefnogi gwaith hanfodol yr RSPB argadwraeth rhydwyr Cymru. Gan mai dim ond 600 ofathodynnau gylfinir aur a grëwyd, mae’r rhain mor brin â’rgylfinir ei hun yng Nghymru, sydd wedi prinhau cymaint feladeryn sy’n nythu yn y blynyddoedd diwethaf.

Cofiwch ddod draw i’n helpu i ddathlu’r canmlwyddiantar un o’n gwarchodfeydd yng Nghymru neu ddigwyddiadauAmser i Fyd Natur yn 2011.

CYMRU • ADOLYGIAD BLYNYDDOL YR RSPB 2010–11

i’r Dyfodol Rhostiroedd Gogledd Cymru roedd 57 ofodaod tinwyn yn nythu – y ffigur uchaf ers yr 1950aupan ddychwelodd y boda tinwyn i Gymru. Mae’r gwaithyng Nghymru yn darparu model i bartneriaethau arucheldiroedd, ac yn dangos bod modd sicrhau adferiad yboda tinwyn ochr yn ochr â buddion eraill y rhostir.

Llwyddiant arall oedd Project Gorgors Fyw LIFE, agwblhawyd gennym ar ôl blynyddoedd o waith dygn.

Yn 2005, pan roddwyd y project ar waith, roedd y10,000 hectar o rostir uwchben Llyn Efyrnwy wedi eiddraenio ac roedd mewn cyflwr gwael. Roedd hi’nymddangos yn orchwyl amhosibl i’w adfer. Byddai’nrhaid i ni gau oddeutu 100 cilometr o ffosydd a oedd yncludo bywyd o’r orgors, ar gost o hanner miliwn obunnoedd – swm nad oeddem yn credu bod modd eisicrhau. Ond mewn partneriaeth gyda CCGC, CCC, ParcCenedlaethol Eryri, United Utilities a thirfeddianwyr lleol,a gyda nawdd LIFE yr UE, llwyddwyd i godi £3.23miliwn a bellach rydym wedi llenwi 486 cilometr offosydd draenio – dyna ddwywaith y pellter o Efyrnwy iLundain.

Cludwyd 1,100 o blant ysgol i’r orgors i ddangosiddynt yr ardal anhygoel hon fel rhan o’n gwaith maesyma (gyda llaw, enillodd y gwaith hwn raddfa ‘ragorol’yn y Cynllun Bathodyn Ansawdd Oddi Allan i’rDosbarth). Roedd y plant yma wedi byw’n agos i’rorgors ar hyd eu hoes ac nid oedd gan y rhan fwyafohonynt unrhyw syniad am ei gwerth i fywyd gwyllt na’irôl bwysig mewn rheoli cylchoedd d∑r a charbon.Cysylltodd un tirfeddiannwr gyda ni gan ddweud bod eiferch wedi dod yn ôl wedi ymweliad ag Efyrnwy gyda’idosbarth a mynnu ei fod yn gwneud yr un peth, fellycafodd ein cymorth i lenwi ffosydd ar ei dir ef hefyd. Nidef oedd yr unig un - cysylltodd 15 o dirfeddianwyr yrardal â ni a oedd yn dymuno gwneud eu rhan.

Bellach mae’r orgors a adferwyd yn Efyrnwy unwaith

Mae 20,000 oGeidiau’n camu ‘mlaendros natur gyda’r RSPB yng Nghymru.

Overview for the year 2010–11The year ended with a surplus of £4.7 million. With so muchconservation work to be done, the RSPB generally likes to putits money to work straightaway, but that is not always possibleor even desirable.

The surplus reflects, in part, the somewhat arbitrary timingof the year-end. For example, included in the £4.7 million, £1.2 million was received shortly before the year-end and wasearmarked by the donor for a specific project: restoring BowersMarsh in South Essex. In this case, poor weather preventedthe work from being completed but the donor was goodenough to endow funds to the RSPB so that work couldprogress towards completion in the new financial year.

Financial reservesIn fact, about half of the surplus is expected to have been spentbefore the 2011–12 year-end, still leaving a reasonable sum toadd to financial reserves. It is an opportune time to replenishfinancial reserves a little because the ambitions in our newcorporate strategy require investment. Trustees are also mindfulof the continuing economic uncertainty and the threats to grantincome as a result of the public sector expenditure cuts.

The trustees consider the current level of financialreserves – representing nine weeks’ expenditure – to beadequate. There is a fine balance to be struck between holdingsufficient to allow work to progress without fear of interruptionand leaving money idle in the bank. Financial reserves aredivided into those held for specific purposes, and “freereserves”. Trustees focus on the latter and measure themin terms of the number of weeks’ expenditure that theyrepresent. The RSPB Council has set an acceptable range of 8–16 weeks.

The Charity Commission brought out new guidelines in2010 (CC18 Charities and reserves) and this prompted thetrustees to review RSPB practice and to make somemodifications to designated reserves. The guidancerecommends that reserves should only be designated where

there is a clear understanding of when and how the suminvolved will be spent. As the designated nature reserves funddid not fit well with these criteria, the trustees resolved thatthe designated status be dropped. The trustees will continue torecognise the special long-term obligations that come with landownership, but recent recessionary experience has shown thatpriorities will vary at such times. The trustees therefore wish to retain the flexibility to direct financial reserves to where the need is greatest, and to this end will earmark withinunrestricted reserves a ‘threat’ fund. In view of the broaderremit, the threat fund will be calculated by reference to income.

IncomeNet income fell slightly compared with last year because wereceived a large corporate donation in the previous year. Theunderlying position is that income was flat in real terms – heldup by the generosity of members who were kind enough toincrease their contributions in spite of challenging economiccircumstances. This has compensated for reductionselsewhere. As in 2009–10, we also benefited from significantgrants towards our international work – not least from £2.5 million to fund the restoration of peatlands in the Ukraine and Belarus.

With unprecedented conservation challenges andopportunities, a sharply upward income curve would bedesirable. But in the real world this is not realistic, so thetrustees are both proud and grateful to have been able tosustain major work programmes in spite of the economicturmoil and will endeavour to steer a similar course through thegrant cuts following the Government’s ComprehensiveSpending Review.

In this report last year, concern was expressed about theprospects for legacy income, but so far, this has proved to beunfounded. It is fantastic that so many people want to helpsafeguard nature for the benefit of those who follow in theirfootsteps but, as legacy income is notoriously difficult to

Alan SharpeDirector of Finance

Alan MartinHonoraryTreasurer

49

MONEY MATTERS • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

forecast, committing to expenditure that we could notafford if legacy income fell must be avoided.

The importance of the RSPB’s diversity of income cannot be overstated. It continues to hold us in good steadbut it can’t be taken for granted. In previous reports wehave mentioned the investment in a new approach tomember recruitment and more recently, mail order hasbenefited from a customer service ‘makeover’. We knewthat our confidence in the Trading Team and in the RSPB’ssupporters had been completely justified when the annualbudget was exceeded after just nine months andcustomers gave lots of positive feedback. People’sexpectations of organisations are rising all the time andthat applies as much to supporters of charities as tocustomers of companies. We must continue to beprepared to invest to fulfil these expectations.

ExpenditureTurning to conservation expenditure, we felt that it wasright to keep up our recessionary driven challenge to theorganisation – that is, to continue to increase conservationwithout significantly increasing costs. Staff and volunteershave again responded magnificently and we areparticularly proud of the RSPB support services, such asHuman Resources, Finance and Information Systems,where costs as a proportion of overall expenditure fell forthe fifth consecutive year.

In total, charitable expenditure fell by £2.9 million;almost entirely due to reduced land purchases. This isperhaps one of the first and most obvious consequencesof grant reductions, although the high price of land is alsoplaying a part. After a run of several years at a historicallyhigh rate of expenditure, a single year at a more modestlevel gives opportunity to draw breath. But we wouldquickly become concerned if this proved to be longerlasting. Acquiring land is the most enduring way ofsafeguarding habitat; it would be a disaster for nature

conservation if future generations were forced to witnessfurther loss of biodiversity as a consequence of ourgeneration’s financial woes.

International work represents a modest proportion ofour total expenditure at about 12%; albeit a very exciting12%. Spending significant sums in far off places alsobrings a new dimension to financial control. We areparticularly proud of our work on rainforests in SierraLeone and Sumatra, on peat restoration in Belarus and theUkraine and our work in the southern oceans in aid of thealbatross. A new and bold initiative is about to getunderway in the Pacific Ocean: the eradication of ratsintroduced by boats visiting Henderson Island. It is urgentthat we halt the rat predation of ground-nesting birds thatis happening on an alarming scale – but it is a costlybusiness. Tribute must be paid to the perseverance of theteam who refused to accept that funds could not be foundfor this project – just over £1.7 million. They and theirfundraising colleagues applied themselves to finding newsources of income. This is just one example of thedetermination and ingenuity essential for all of our work –but especially on the international stage. And thosesupporters who gave so generously to this project cantake enormous credit for making possible a project thatlooked likely to fall victim to economic circumstances.

Topical issuesThe pension deficit fell broadly in line with our deficitrecovery plan. An essential piece of the jigsaw fell intoplace in July 2010 when all active members of the finalsalary section accepted a reduction in the rate at whichtheir benefits build and a sharing of the risk of increasedlongevity – and we would just like to acknowledge theconstructive manner in which staff accepted thesechanges. Looking to the future there is another triennialreview on the horizon as well as the Government’s auto-enrolment into occupational pension schemes,

both of which will bring retirement benefit provision backinto the spotlight.

Stock markets were reasonably kind to the pensionfund and as a charity it is right and proper that we too holda modest proportion of our financial reserves in the stockmarket. The rest is held in forms closer to cash, mainlybonds and bank deposits. Anybody who has savings willknow that the returns from cash over the last couple ofyears has been low, so we have recently started putting alittle more into equities and bonds – but rest assured wewill always keep in cash sufficient to cover our likelyrequirements for the next two to three years.

Future prospects2011 will see the publication of the first strategy producedunder new Chief Executive, Mike Clarke, and it will containchallenges that add fresh impetus and focus to our work.Perhaps the most important is the need to increasemembership because, quite simply, the more memberswe have, the more conservation we can achieve.

In the continuing economic doom and gloom, it wouldbe easy to become downhearted – grants threatened, gift aid benefits reduced, some costs increasing ahead of inflation (for example, the postage cost of mailing tomembers is set to increase by almost 20%); each anelephant trap for the unwary. To succeed we mustcontinually challenge ourselves to find new and moreefficient ways to deliver our work programmes and tospread the income-generating net even wider.

The hard work and creativity of staff and volunteers,combined with the wonderful support that the RSPBenjoys, continues to serve well the interests ofconservation and birds. The continued development of thispotent mix is an essential part of the foundation on whichthe RSPB’s next (and every) medium-term strategy mustbe built.

Money raised for conservation this year was similarto last year at £94.0 million. This sum is net of the£15.7 million cost of generating income and a further£12.8 million cost of goods for resale for our tradingoperation. The majority of products sold, such as birdfood and feeders, optics, wildlife books and videos,relate directly to our charitable objectives.

More than two-thirds of RSPB income comesfrom individuals, and with the adult membershiprenewal rate approaching 90%, the loyalty of ourmembers provides a robust foundation for our work.Much of the remaining third comes from grants,corporate relationships and land-related income.Whilst each of these sources fluctuates, the diversityprovides reasonable stability.

This year we spent £83.4 million on our charitable activities, a fall of £2.9 million on lastyear. This was due to a £6.1 million reduction in the purchase of nature reserves following theexceptional acquisition of Wallasea in the previousyear, and an increase of £3.2 million in spending tofurther nature conservation.

We deliberately maintain a modest level of freefinancial reserves to maximise the funds available for immediate conservation needs. These currentlystand at £13.5 million and represent nine weeks’expenditure. This is towards the lower end of therange set by the trustees of between eight andsixteen weeks.

4% Land rents,farming andadvisory

1% Financial income –interest and profiton sale of fixedassets

17% Commercialtrading

22%Legacies

24%Grants, corporatesand trusts

32% Membershipsubscriptions anddonations

3% Acquisition of nature reservesand operating assets

40%Conservation – research,policy and advisory services

16%Education,publications andfilms

5%Membershipservices andenquiries

1%Governance

35%Conservationon RSPB naturereserves

90pConservationobjectives

5p Admininstrationoverheads

5p Membership costs

We do everything we can to make sure thatalmost all of every £1 goes directly to fund ourconservation objectives. Only 5p from yourpound goes to administrative overheads,including governance, and another 5p on ourmembership related costs. This leaves 90p ofyour £1, which makes all of the successes inthis annual review possible.

Where your£1 goes

90p

inevery£1

direct

lyfun

ds RSPB conservationobjectives

51

MONEY MATTERS • RSPB ANNUAL REVIEW 2010–11

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S STATEMENT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THEROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS

We have examined the summarised financial statements set out on page 52.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and auditorsYou are responsible as trustees for the preparation of the summary financialstatements. We have agreed to report to you our opinion on the summarisedstatements’ consistency with the full financial statements.

Basis of opinionWe have carried out the procedures we consider necessary to ascertainwhether the summarised financial statements are consistent with the fullfinancial statements from which they have been prepared.

OpinionIn our opinion, the summarised financial statements are consistent with thefull financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2011.

Crowe Clark Whitehill LLPChartered Accountants and Registered Auditors, St Bride’s House, 10 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8EH, UK

28 June 2011

OPERATING STATEMENTfor the year ended 31 March 2011 2011 2010

£m £mINCOME

Membership subscriptions and donations 39.2 37.0

Grants, corporates and trusts 29.7 32.5

Legacies 27.5 27.9

Commercial trading 20.9 18.9

Land rents, farming and advisory services 4.5 4.6

Financial income – profit on sale of fixed assets and interest 0.7 1.0

TOTAL INCOME 122.5 121.9

COST OF GENERATING INCOME

Cost of goods for resale 12.8 12.0

Other cost of generating income 15.7 15.2

TOTAL COST OF GENERATING INCOME 28.5 27.2

NET INCOME AVAILABLE FOR CHARITABLE PURPOSES 94.0 94.7

EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE PURPOSES

Acquisition of nature reserves and operating assets 3.0 9.2

Conservation on RSPB nature reserves 28.9 27.6

Conservation – research, policy and advisory services 33.7 32.0

Education, publications and films 13.3 13.3

Membership services and enquiries 4.0 3.8

Governance 0.5 0.4

TOTAL EXPENDITURE ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES 83.4 86.3

NET OPERATING INCOME 10.6 8.4

OTHER MOVEMENTS

Gain on investment assets 0.9 1.8

Pension scheme (2.4) (1.9)

Stock, debtors and creditors (4.4) 1.1

TOTAL OTHER MOVEMENTS (5.9) 1.0

MOVEMENT IN AVAILABLE CASH AND INVESTMENTS 4.7 9.4

STATEMENT OF NET ASSETSas at 31 March 2011 2011 2010 £m £m

Nature reserves 121.7 118.8

Operating assets 4.3 4.2

Cash and investments 34.8 30.1

Stock, debtors and creditors 7.2 2.8

Pension liability (33.5) (34.7)

NET ASSETS 134.5 121.2

FINANCIAL RESERVESas at 31 March 2011 2011 2010 £m £m

Available reserves 42.0 32.9

Held for specific purposes (28.5) (21.2)

FREE FINANCIAL RESERVES 13.5 11.7

Representing future expenditure cover of 9 weeks 8 weeks

THE FULL AUDITED ACCOUNTS were authorised for issueon 28 June 2011 and, together with the Annual Report,have been submitted to the Charity Commission. Theopinion of the auditor was unqualified. These summarisedaccounts may not contain sufficient information to allowfor a full understanding of the financial affairs of thecharity. For further information, the full accounts, theauditors’ report on those accounts and the Trustees’Annual Report should be consulted. Copies can beobtained, free of charge, from the Director of Finance, TheRSPB, UK Headquarters, The Lodge, Sandy, BedfordshireSG19 2DL.

Signed on behalf of the Council:

Ian DarlingChairman

28 June 2011

MembersThe support and loyalty of our members iscritical to the success and achievements ofthe RSPB. Meeting the rigorousconservation targets that we set wouldnot be possible without the enormouscontributions that members make.Members help in many ways, each ofthem equally important: financially,through volunteering, by supportingRSPB campaigns through letter writing,and by helping to deliver RSPB projectson the ground through local groups.

Community groupsRSPB local groups, RSPB WildlifeExplorer groups and RSPB Phoenixgroups worked unstintingly over the year.Local groups provide a great focus for usin local communities, involve manypeople in our work, and this year raisedover £274,000 for RSPB conservationprojects. Wildlife Explorers (our juniormembers) raised more than £23,000through their “I'm on the Sea's Side”annual fundraiser, to help protect theUK’s marine life.

On behalf of the RSPB, RSPB localgroups and Wildlife Explorer groupsthroughout the UK, we would like tothank Awards For All (supported by the

Diana Marie AldersonMarjorie May AylwardAudrey Louie May ButlerMavis Gillian ChrystallJeannie Isabella DavidsonRosa Warburton DavisAlan Geoffrey GillhamEsther Baird McAlpine GrayRichard Martin LeeFrances Eva NicksonHelen Hermione SandwithRuby Eileen (aka Girlie) StimsonHerbert Henzell Kidson WallacePeter WarrenViolet Patricia Wolterson

Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery FundThe Heritage Lottery Fund has providedessential support for RSPB projects torestore and secure natural heritage forcurrent and future generations to enjoy. It has also provided funding for trainingthe wildlife experts and interpreters ofthe future. Big Lottery has helped uscreate opportunities for people from allbackgrounds to have greater access tothe natural environment, involve localcommunities and provide sustainableenergy initiatives. The RSPB is indebtedto HLF and BIG for their continuedsupport for our work.

Charitable trusts, non-governmentalorganisations and individual donorsWe are grateful for the support receivedand would particularly like toacknowledge the following:

A&K PhilanthropyAdessium FoundationAgreement for the Conservation of

Albatrosses and PetrelsH B Allen Charitable TrustArrowgrass Capital Partners LLPA J H Ashby Will TrustMrs Mary Eileen Back Discretionary Trust

'good cause' Lottery distributors acrossthe UK) for their continued support oflocal projects through their communitygrants scheme.

Volunteers The RSPB enjoyed the support of over16,775 volunteers this year, giving theRSPB a gift of time of 916,998 hours.This is equivalent to an extra 536 full-time staff working for natureconservation. These volunteers helpedwith virtually every aspect of the RSPB’swork, and we cannot thank them enoughfor their generous support. Additionally,more than 707,000 people participated inthe RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch andour new Make Your Nature Count survey.

LegaciesOnce again, we are deeply moved by thegenerosity of people who remember theRSPB in their wills. This income makes atremendous difference to the amount ofconservation work the RSPB is able toundertake. We are grateful to each andevery one, and we would like torecognise them all by name, but this isnot practicable. However, there are a fewpeople who we would like to mention:

Our successes this year are not just oursuccesses – they belong to the thousands ofsupporters, members, businesses, charities andlandowners who’ve worked alongside us, fornature. Thank you all so much.

Geoff BallBasel Zoo – Across the RiverBBC Wildlife FundBirdLife InternationalBirdLife Preventing Extinctions

Programme Lost Species FundBoston Environmental ResearchBritish Birdwatching FairBritish Trust for OrnithologyCambridge Conservation InitiativeCare-for-Nature TrustSir Charles Chadwyck-HealeyCheshire Wildlife TrustCity Bridge TrustConservation International – Global

Conservation FundMarjorie Cooper Discretionary TrustBetty Cooper-Lane Discretionary TrustHelen Jean CopeCritical Ecosystem Partnership Fund

(CEPF)Leslie Pamela Donovan Discretionary

TrustDunard FundEllem FoundationThe European Climate FoundationEsmée Fairbairn FoundationFrankfurt Zoological SocietyMr and Mrs C M FroodThe Gannochy TrustThe Helen and Horace Gillman TrustsMrs Bettine E Goldberg Discretionary

TrustDavid and Sarah GordonThe Greensands Ridge PartnershipThe Greensand TrustThe Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Peter Harrison MBEMiss Grizel R Hume Discretionary TrustInternational Union for Conservation of

Nature (IUCN) through Countdown2010

Henry KennerChristopher and Alida LathamLenfest Ocean ProgramThe A G Leventis FoundationThe Charles Littlewood Hill Trust

53

Louisoder FoundationThe MacRobert TrustAndy MaloneyRobert McCracken QCThe Elizabeth C.F. McGregor-Dziniak

Charitable Trust for AnimalsMrs Jean Mitchell Discretionary TrustMull and Iona Community TrustMull Eagle WatchThe Nature Trust (Sandy) LimitedAlan David Neate Discretionary TrustRichard NewellNorfolk Wildlife TrustThe Nutwell TrustOglesby Charitable TrustSusan and Franklin OrrThe David & Lucile Packard FoundationPaignton Zoo Environmental ParkThe Peacock Charitable TrustPensthorpe Conservation TrustPeople's Postcode TrustPew Charitable TrustsPrince Albert of Monaco FoundationRestore UK Miss Joyce Ridding Discretionary TrustThe Robertson TrustRose FoundationThe Rufford FoundationScottish Agricultural CollegeScottish Crofting FoundationScottish Environment LINKScottish Power Green Energy TrustThe Shears FoundationMr Mark Bjarne Sheperd Discretionary

TrustNick and Sarah SherwinMiss Kathleen Beryl Sleigh Charitable

TrustThe Jessie Spencer TrustStaffordshire Wildlife TrustNini Isabel Stewart TrustMr Eric & Mrs Pauline Stuttard

Discretionary TrustSussex Ornithological SocietyThe Tanner TrustTeesside Environmental TrustThe Tree Council

The Tubney Charitable TrustUlster Garden VillagesUniversity of LeedsUniversity of ZurichVodafone FoundationMichael and Rosemary WarburgWaterloo FoundationWhitley Animal Protection TrustWildfowl & Wetlands TrustJohn Young Charitable Settlement

Landfill Communities FundWe are grateful for funding support fromthe following organisations through theLandfill Communities Fund:

Angus Environmental TrustBarr Environmental LtdBiffawardCounty Durham Environmental Trust Ltd Down District CouncilFalkirk Environment TrustGlasgow City CouncilGrantScapeHighland CouncilIbstock Cory Environmental TrustMillion Ponds project in association with

BiffawardNewport City Council Landfill

Communities FundNewry & Mourne District CouncilPerth & Kinross Quality of Life TrustShanks First Fund and Argyll and Bute

CouncilSITA TrustSmith Skip LtdSolway HeritageSouth West Environmental Action Trust

(SWEAT)Staffordshire Environmental FundTrust for Oxfordshire’s Environment with

funds from Viridor Credits’Oxfordshire Fund

Ulster Wildlife Trust Landfill CommunitiesFund

Veolia Environmental TrustVeolia Havering Riverside Trust

Veolia Pitsea Marshes TrustViridor CreditsWaste Recycling Group Ltd (WRG)

through Suffolk Environmental TrustWaste Recycling Group Ltd (WRG)

through Waste RecyclingEnvironmental Ltd (WREN)

Business supporters and trading partnersThe RSPB enjoys successful partnershipswith business supporters to our mutualbenefit. We would particularly like toacknowledge the following:

A&C Black LtdAKABarclaysBP through the Scottish Forest AllianceThe Caravan ClubCEMEX UK LtdCentrebusChevronConcept Research LtdCo-operative BankCo-operative Financial ServicesCrossrail LtdCumnock and Doon Valley Minerals TrustDorling Kindersley LtdThe Down Chemical CompanyEarthwatchEssex and Suffolk WaterThe Famous GrouseFirst Capital Connect LtdFulham Heating Merchants LtdGoldman SachsThe Green Insurance CompanyHanson Aggregates LtdHoseasons GroupHSBCHurtigruten LtdICB-DiademIneos ChlorJarrold CalendarsJust Go! HolidaysLafarge Aggregates LtdLockwoods Promotional Products Ltd

Lush LtdNorthern Ireland ElectricityThe Puppet Company LtdQuestmark LtdReally Wild Publishing Co. LtdRedeem plcSABIC UK PetrochemicalsScarecrow Bio-Acoustic SystemsScottish & Southern EnergyScottish PowerScottish Power RenewablesSmart Solar LtdSwarovski OptikTalisman EnergyTarmac LtdThe Telegraph Media GroupTurcan ConnellUnited Utilities plcViking Optical LtdVolvo Ocean RaceWaitrose LtdWild Republic (UK) LtdW. Moorcroft plcWoodmansterne Publications LtdYorkshire WaterZegrahm ExpeditionsZeon Ltd

Support from statutory sector andother public bodiesWe are grateful for co-operation andsupport from organisations of manykinds, and would especially like to thankthe following:

Advantage West Midlands NaturalAssets programme in partnershipwith Natural England

Babergh District CouncilBasildon District CouncilBig Lottery Fund – Awards for All

ProgrammeBig Lottery Fund – Community

Sustainable Energy Programme,distributed by BRE

Big Lottery Fund – CommunityWildlife Programme

Bonn Convention for Migratory Species(CMS)

Cairngorms National Park AuthorityCairngorms LEADER 2007-2013, jointly

funded by the Scottish Governmentand the European Commission

Central Bedfordshire CouncilCeredigion County CouncilCIM (Centre for International Migration

and Development – a joint operationof GTZ and the German FederalEmployment Agency)

Countryside Council for WalesThe Crown Estate’s Marine Communities

FundDartmoor National Park AuthorityDedham Vale Area of Outstanding

Natural Beauty (AONB) SustainableDevelopment Fund

Department for EducationDepartment for International

Development (DfID) – Civil SocietyChallenge Fund

Department for Environment, Food andRural Affairs (Defra)

Defra, through the Aggregates LevySustainability Fund, administered byNatural England

Defra – Darwin InitiativeDefra / Flora & Fauna International

Flagship Species FundDepartment of Agriculture & Rural

Development (DARD)Department of Energy and Climate

Change (DECC)DECC under the Low Carbon Buildings

Programme Phase 2 E, distributed byBRE

Department of Environment, Heritageand Local Government in theRepublic of Ireland

Department of Environment in NorthernIreland

Devon County CouncilDumfries and Galloway CouncilDumfries and Galloway LEADER 2007–

2013, jointly funded by the Scottish

Government and the EuropeanCommission

East of England Development AgencyEnergy Saving Trust through the Low

Carbon Buildings ProgrammeEnglish HeritageEnvironment AgencyEnvironment Agency WalesEnvironment WalesEstyn LlawEuropean Agricultural Fund for Rural

Development (EAFRD)European Commission – DG

EnvironmentEuropean Commission – LIFE+European Commission – LIFE-NatureEuropean Commission – LIFE-

Information and CommunicationsEuropean Commission (Seventh

Framework Programme) –EuroGEOSS project

European Commission – Tropical Forestsand Other Forests in DevelopingCountries budget line

European Regional Development Fund(ERDF)

ERDF – INTERREG IVA 2 Seas Cross-Border Cooperation Programme2007–2013

ERDF – INTERREG IVA administered bythe Special European UnionProgrammes Body (SEUPB)

ERDF – INTERREG IVB Atlantic AreaTransnational Programme 2007–2013

ERDF – INTERREG IVB North Sea RegionTransnational CooperationProgramme 2007–2013

ERDF – INTERREG IVB North WestEurope Transnational CooperationProgramme 2007–2013

Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) /DfID – Overseas TerritoriesEnvironment Programme (OTEP)

Forestry Commission EnglandForestry Commission ScotlandForestry Commission WalesForestry Commission Wales (Better

Woodlands for Wales grant)Forest of Dean Local Action Group,

through the Rural DevelopmentProgramme for England (RDPE),jointly funded and supported byDefra, Forest of Dean Partnership,Leader, South West RegionalDevelopment Agency, and EAFRD:Europe Investing in Rural Areas

Forth Valley & Lomond LEADER 2007–2013, jointly funded by the ScottishGovernment and the EuropeanCommission

French Government’s Fonds Françaispour l’Environnement Mondial (FFEM)

The German Ministry for theEnvironment (BMU), via the Germanstate development bank (KfW)

Global Environment FacilityHeritage Lottery FundHighland LEADER 2007-2013, jointly

funded by the Scottish Governmentand the European Commission

Homes and Communities Agency’sParklands Funding administered byEssex County Council

Joint Nature Conservation CommitteeLake District National Park AuthorityNatural EnglandNatural England – Access to Nature, part

of the Big Lottery Fund’s ChangingSpaces programme

Natural England – Action for Birds inEngland partnership

Natural England – Countdown 2010Biodiversity Action Fund

Natural England – Wetland Vision GrantScheme

Natural Environment Research CouncilNorthern Ireland Environment AgencyNorthern Ireland Tourist BoardNorth Pennines AONB Sustainable

Development FundNorthumberland Coast AONB

Sustainable Development FundNorthumberland Coast and Lowlands

LEADER

Northumberland National Park AuthorityNorthwest Development Agency,

through the RDPEOrkney Islands CouncilPeak District National Park AuthorityPembrokeshire Coast National Park

Authority Sustainable DevelopmentFund

Renfrewshire LEADER 2007–2013, jointlyfunded by the Scottish Governmentand the European Commission

Sandy Town CouncilScottish Environmental Protection

AgencyScottish Government Rural Payments

and Inspections DirectorateScottish Government Science

Engagement Grants SchemeScottish Government Third Sector

Enterprise FundScottish Natural HeritageSnowdonia National Park AuthoritySouth Downs Joint Committee

Sustainable Development FundSouth East England Development

Agency (SEEDA)Staffordshire County Council through

Defra’s Aggregates LevySustainability Fund

Strathclyde PoliceSuffolk County Council Corporate

Regeneration FundTeinbridge District CouncilUSAID STEWARD ProgrammeUS Fish and Wildlife ServiceWelsh Assembly GovernmentWelsh Assembly Government through

the Department of Economy andTransport

West Cornwall Local Action Group,through RDPE, jointly funded andsupported by Defra, CornwallDevelopment Company, Leader,South West Regional DevelopmentAgency and EAFRD: Europe Investingin Rural Areas

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

I look after myfarm for wildlife

I volunteer at

my

local RSPB reserv

eI campaigned to

stop climate chaos

We did the BigGarden Birdwatch

Please step upfor nature.

something big.part of Do something small today and be

Campaigner by David Levenson, Big Garden Birdwatch participants by Eleanor Bentall, volunteer by Kaleel Zibe,farmer by Andrew Hay, great yellow bumblebee by Mike Edwards, turtle dove by Bob Glover, house sparrow byRay Kennedy, water vole by Ben Hall (all rspb-images.com)

Nature is in big troubleThe signs are everywhere, from ourback gardens to the rainforests. Stepping Up For Nature is your chance to help the RSPB save nature.There are simple steps each of us can take, which, when we acttogether, will help the UK’s wildlife thrive once again. It’s also aboutenjoying the wild outdoors, because it’s great to be out in the fresh air,doing something to help the wildlife you love, isn’t it?

www.rspb.org.uk/steppingup

ENGLANDMidlands Office46 The Green, South Bar,Banbury, Oxfordshire OX16 9ABTel: 01295 253330Eastern England OfficeStalham House, 65 ThorpeRoad, Norwich NR1 1UD Tel: 01603 661662London Area OfficeSecond Floor, 65 Petty France,London SW1H 9EU Tel: 020 7808 1240Northern England OfficesWestleigh Mews, WakefieldRoad, Denby Dale,Huddersfield HD8 8QD1 Sirius House, Amethyst Road,Newcastle Business Park,Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 7YL 7.3.1 Cameron House, WhiteCross Estate, Lancaster LA1 4XQFor all offices, ring 0300 777 2676 South East England Office2nd Floor, Frederick House, 42 Frederick Place, Brighton,East Sussex BN1 4EA Tel: 01273 775333South West England OfficeKeble House, SouthernhayGardens, Exeter, Devon EX1 1NT Tel: 01392 432691

NORTHERN IRELANDNorthern IrelandHeadquartersBelvoir Park Forest, Belfast BT8 7QT Tel: 028 9049 1547

SCOTLANDScotland Headquarters2 Lochside View, EdinburghPark, Edinburgh EH12 9DH Tel: 0131 317 4100East Scotland Office10 Albyn Terrace, Aberdeen AB10 1YP Tel: 01224 624824North Scotland OfficeEtive House, Beechwood Park, Inverness IV2 3BW Tel: 01463 715000South and West Scotland Office10 Park Quadrant, Glasgow G3 6BS Tel: 0141 331 0993

WALESWales HeadquartersSutherland House,Castlebridge, Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff CF11 9ABTel: 029 2035 3000North Wales OfficeUnit 14, Llys Castan, Ffordd yParc, Parc Menai, Bangor,Gwynedd LL57 4FDTel: 01248 672850

UK HEADQUARTERSThe RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL. Tel: 01767 680551

CONTACT US However you support theRSPB, whether it’s withyour membership donation,by volunteering your time,or speaking up for nature inboardrooms, thanks forhelping make possible the enormous range ofsuccesses you’ll read about in this annual review.

Please help us win even morevictories for wildlife this year:www.rspb.org.uk/supporting

www.rspb.org.ukRed kite in Wales by Andrew Parkinson (rspb-images.com)The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England & Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654 350-0608-10-11

The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife,tackling the problems that threaten ourenvironment. Nature is amazing –help us keep it that way.

We belong to BirdLife International, the global partnership of bird conservation organisations.