AN international project, led by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), aiming to overturn the declining numbers of grey partridges and other farmland wildlife has received a boost.
Seed specialist company Oakbank has given a cheque for £1,860 to the NSR interreg project PARTRIDGE (Protecting the Area’s Resources Through Researched Innovative Demonstration of Good Examples).
The generous donation will pay towards two new rotational PARTRIDGE panels installed at Rotherfield Farms, which inform the general public about why providing habitats tailored to the conservation of grey partridges benefits farmland wildlife in general.
Oakbank raised the money through selling a range of PARTRIDGE mixes across the UK and parts of Europe.
The PARTRIDGE mixes, including margin, meadow, wild bird and nectar, are designed to deliver ideal partridge-tailored habitat all year round, for nesting foraging and winter cover, while aiming to maximise benefits for a wide range of other farmland wildlife such as yellowhammers, linnets, brown hare, native bees, butterflies and other insects.
For every hectare pack of the GWCT PARTRIDGE project mixes purchased, Oakbank donates £20 to the project.
The project's lead co-ordinator Dr Francis Buner, who is pictured above with Tim Furbank from Oakbank, said: “The generous cheque is testimony to the steadily growing number of well-informed farmers in the UK and across Europe, who are keen to provide high-quality wildlife habitats alongside their farming business.
“Serious farmers are driven by the quality of their work.”
“The PARTRIDGE mixes were developed to provide top-quality habitat for farmland wildlife. I am confident that all those who planted our new mixes will have noticed their supreme value for wildlife already.”
PARTRIDGE is a project co-funded by the North Sea Region Programme 2016 - 2020 which will look at how new management solutions can improve biodiversity and ecosystem services by up to 30%.
The programme aims to make the region more innovative, resilient and sustainable.
Dr Buner added: “There are still too many people who walk the countryside who look at wild bird seed mixes or beetle banks not having any idea what they are good for. Our beautifully-designed panels (by our PARTRIDGE project partner BirdLife Netherlands), explain the benefits of these measures using simple but very effective infographics."
Notes to editors
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust – providing research-led conservation for a thriving countryside. The GWCT is an independent wildlife conservation charity which has carried out scientific research into Britain’s game and wildlife since the 1930s. We advise farmers and landowners on improving wildlife habitats. We employ 22 post-doctoral scientists and 50 other research staff with expertise in areas such as birds, insects, mammals, farming, fish and statistics. We undertake our own research as well as projects funded by contract and grant-aid from Government and private bodies. The Trust is also responsible for a number of Government Biodiversity Action Plan species and is lead partner for grey partridge and joint lead partner for brown hare and black grouse.
For information, contact:
Eleanor Williams
Telephone: 07592 025476
Email: press@gwct.org.uk