Blogs

A lot of our local Farmer Clusters create habitats to help with breeding success and overwinter survival. One of these is the Cranborne Chase Farmer Cluster, where members of our Farmland Ecology team are monitoring their breeding success, to investigate their use of farmland habitats whilst foraging for invertebrate prey for their chicks.

As spring arrives in the Scottish Lowlands and the mornings start to creep earlier and earlier, it means it’s time for the Lowlands team to complete the annual partridge spring pair surveys at Balgonie Estate.

1 May marked the start of 2025’s No Mow May. This campaign, initiated by the conservation organisation Plantlife, encourages us not to mow our lawns during May as a way of supporting not only our country’s flora, but the wildlife that relies on it – particularly pollinators such as bees.

The year 2024 has officially been declared “the worst year for bumblebees since records began” by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. While out in the field surveying pollinators across southern England, GWCT researchers also noticed a shocking decline in bee numbers compared to previous years. And they were not alone. What’s behind these declines?

In this blog, Joe Stanley, Head of Sustainable Farming at the GWCT Allerton Project, explores why cutting agri-environment schemes like the Countryside Stewardship Capital Grant is a shortsighted move. He highlights how these cuts erode farmers’ trust, delay critical environmental progress, and risk pushing agriculture toward unsustainable intensification. Joe argues that investing in nature-friendly farming is essential for achieving climate, biodiversity, and food security goals, warning that failing to do so now will lead to far greater costs in the future.

Starting in 1970, the GWCT’s ongoing Sussex Study is the world’s longest running scientific study on invertebrates in the cereal ecosystem, providing a robust indication of the national picture.

The Scottish Lowlands team had a busy start to the autumn, with the past couple weeks filled with fieldwork, travel and more fieldwork.

While it may seem like wildlife is winding down for the year, there are still things we can do for our countryside neighbours. Now is the time to plant wildflower seeds! Planting them before the first frost gives them time to settle in, and germination can be triggered by the cold so that they are ready to flower next spring.

1 May marked the start of 2024’s No Mow May. This campaign, initiated by the conservation organisation Plantlife, encourages us not to mow our lawns during May as a way of supporting not only our country’s flora, but the wildlife that relies on it – particularly pollinators such as bees.

Over the last few weeks, the Scottish Lowlands team has been busy completing the tenth year of spring grey partridge pair surveys on Balgonie farm.