GWCT News Blog

The GWCT is assisting with an exciting new project initiated by the Norfolk Estate, Sussex, to establish a breeding curlew population on the South Downs. The project involves a technique called headstarting, whereby eggs are taken from the wild, incubated artificially, and then chicks are reared to fledging age in enclosures before release into the wild.

According to the Curlew Recovery Partnership, around two thirds of all curlew pairs breeding in the English lowlands occupy agricultural grassland habitats affected by seasonal grass-cutting.

Read our letter to the Secretary of State regarding the shooting of woodcock, written in response to the letter sent by Wild Justice.

We are aware of Wild Justice's letter to the Secretary of State about woodcock shooting. The GWCT has undertaken more research into woodcock ecology and conservation than any other organisation in the UK and we will be writing to the Secretary of State with our views on this matter.

The GWCT Wetlands department is studying the breeding ecology of redshank in the Avon Valley and are aiming to discover more about this fascinating bird’s breeding behaviour and ecology.

Earlier this year, British Birds posted a letter by Leo Smith, making various claims not just about the impact of pheasant releasing on curlew, but also about the GWCT. This month, the journal published a response written by our Head of Research, Dr Andrew Hoodless, which we have summarised here.

We respond to a piece in The Field on the subject of shooting woodock.

The plan, launching later this year, sets out how to avoid curlew becoming extinct as breeding bird in Wales by 2033 and the wider benefits to society, benefits for key species of conservation concern and benefits for climate change that flow from management for Curlew.

Please help us work towards better advice and support mechanisms for curlew by sharing your experience through our survey.

Watch this short video produced by The Fieldsports Channel on our Waders for Real project, which aims to reverse the decline of breeding waders in the Avon Valley, with the help of farmers, keepers and land managers.