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Curlew in Wales, �what does the future hold ? ��Y Gylfinir yng Nghymru, �beth yw ei dyfodol ?��Wales Biodiversity Partnership 16.10.25 �Partneriaeth Bioamrywiaeth Cymru��

Bethan Beech

Specialist Advisor – Species Recovery NRW

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Curlew in Wales /Y Gylfinir yng Nghymru

Main areas covered today

Population status
What is currently being done to help Curlew
Consideration of Headstarting of Curlew in Wales
2026 Wales Breeding Wader Survey

Photo courtesy of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Protected Landscape

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Changes in breeding Curlew abundance

2008-11

1988-91 to 2008-11

Balmer et al 2013

77% 1995-2023

46% 2012-2023

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Curlew – the most pressing bird conservation priority in the UK

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What do we know?

Modelled predictions from 2020 suggest a Welsh breeding population of between 1,100 – 1,700 pairs

Espert opinion 400-500 pairs

The decline rate of the Welsh breeding population is c.6% per year

A breeding Curlew population is predicted to be unviable in Wales by 2033

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Too few chicks

Current productivity in Wales 0.1-0.3 chicks per pair/year

Nationally productivity needs to be at least 0.5-0.6 chicks per pair/year for a stable population

Three key drivers of decline:

Habitat loss/degradation
Predation pressure on eggs and chicks
Unsuitable grassland management

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Important Curlew Areas (ICAs)

Twelve ICAs identified in the Action Plan

Focus strategic direction curlew recovery

Hold 60% of Curlew population in 2020

All have a Lead Organisation

Currently active projects in 6 ICAs

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What have we done in the last 7 years (2018-present)

Held a Wales Curlew Conference, 2018
Established the Partnership Gylfinir Cymru, 2019
Developed the network of 12 Important Curlew Areas
Launched the Curlew Recovery Plan for Wales, 2021
Commissioned and published the Curlew Multiple Benefits Evidence Report, 2023
Held five Welsh Ministerial Meetings, 2020-2025
Influenced the establishment of the NRW Species Recovery post
Developed position papers on; Predation and the need for predator control, Framework for Curlew head-starting, 2023-2025
Reviewed the AEWA ISSAP for Curlew, 2024

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Species translocation/reinforcement

IUCN Definition

Population restoration is any conservation translocation to within indigenous range, and comprises two activities:

Reinforcement is the intentional movement and release of an organism into an existing population of conspecifics

Reintroduction is the intentional movement and release of an organism inside its indigenous range from which it has disappeared.

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Curlew headstarting

Headstarting is the release into the wild of birds that have been hatched and reared from eggs which were removed from the wild

Gylfinir Cymru agreed;

Headstarting would aid Curlew recovery in Wales based on current population status and the need for species recovery
Recognised need for a Curlew headstarting framework

Photos WWT, Curlew Country and BTO

BTO paper

A review of Curlew headstarting projects in Europe | BTO

In England Release sites include the Severn Avon Vale, Dartmoor, East Anglia including Sandringham

A large headstarting project has been initiated by Natural England in 2019, which draws upon the learnings of the Curlew Country team and makes use of Curlew eggs laid on RAF airfields. These eggs would otherwise be destroyed as Curlews are considered a risk to aircraft, but Graham Irving from Natural England saw an opportunity to help Curlews.

At the start of the project, the eggs were hatched at WWT Slimbridge and fifty Curlews were released into the Severn and Avon Vale project area. After a hiatus in 2020, a number of headstarting projects got underway, increasing year on year, including at Pensthorpe in Norfolk where the birds are released at various sites in North Norfolk, including Wild Ken Hill and the Sandringham EstateEggs collected in Yorkshire, released Duke of Norfolk Estate.

GWCT collecting eggs in Yorkshire, released on the Duke of Norfolk Estate

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Guiding Principles for headstarting in Wales

The framework guided by 12 Principles:

There is a genuine need
Expected to contribute to Curlew recovery
All other methods to resolve poor productivity have been tried
Proposals adopt IUCN guidelines
Dedicated monitoring programme

The Framework will be guided by 12 Principles

One of the tools , to buy time NOT panacea.

Has to be in combination with other interventions ( Habitat management and predator control)

Buying

Report based on modelled predictions for a different scenarios of egg collection. Popn over time in relation to those scenarios.

NR will formally present the findings of that report to GC for discussion.

Report plus conversation will inform the next steps

Possible 5 year funded programme of headstarting in Wales.

Gylfinir Cymru 5^th March 2025

Principle 1: Curlew are protected by law, and derogations from that legislation may only be granted if there is a demonstrable and genuine need to deploy Curlew head-starting in a given geographical location under licence.

Principle 2: Any donor eggs (especially if derived from breeding Curlew outside Wales) should have a negligible or nil chance of resulting in chicks fledging in the wild.

Principle 3: The release of head-started Curlews can reasonably be expected to contribute to recovery in the context of the Recovery Plan. Even if Principle 1 is satisfied, any head-starting proposal should only be considered where there is reasonable evidence to expect that it will contribute to Curlew recovery within either a geographic location or Wales or both. Here, the intended benefits of head-starting must go beyond simply the preservation of individual birds, benefits must be measurable at a population or ecosystem scale. For example, priority may be given to sites that have the potential for the breeding population to expand and connect with other occupied areas where appropriate habitat and predator control measures are being implemented.

As and when new peer-reviewed evidence emerges it may be necessary to update/review the parameters referenced above.

Principle 4: The proposal will contribute to wider cooperation and synergies to improve both the transfer of technical knowledge and the scientific evidence base. It is imperative that to strengthen capacity-building, development and scientific cooperation there is enhanced collaboration, cooperation, knowledge and data transfer between other UK and European based Curlew head-starting initiatives. This view is commensurate with the ambition to demonstrate how head-starting aids Curlew recovery.

Principle 5: Other methods of resolving insufficient productivity, as practically possible, within an area are in place and have not increased productivity to at least 0.6 fledged young per pair per annum (this is the level of overall breeding success that is considered to prevent further population decline, see Gylfinir Cymru / Curlew Wales, 2021). Should this not be the case or continuing effort is required, action to meet the ecological needs of breeding Curlew (i.e. sufficient suitable habitat, habitat management and predator management) must run continuously with the head-starting project. The proposal should demonstrate how these other interventions will continue to be funded to work at scale, alongside head-starting in the area of release, commensurate with the aim of head-starting ‘buying time’ for the benefits of those interventions to be realised.

Principle 6: All head-starting proposals should follow the IUCN guidelines for reintroductions and other conservation translocations. The IUCN guidelines are designed to be applicable to any conservation translocation and are based on principle rather than example. The guidelines are a response to the present era of accelerating global ecological change and present a logical process from initial concept to design, feasibility, risk assessment, decision making, implementation, monitoring, adjust, evaluation and governance. NRW has adopted the IUCN guidelines when assessing any species translocation proposal (see para 11 above).

Principle 7: Security of funding can be demonstrated, for both head-starting and a parallel package of other interventions. Any proposal requires a demonstration of adequate and accessible financial resources (includes domestic, international, public and private funding sources) with a costed finance plan to cover a minimum of five years (as many Curlew do not breed until their 4th year, this would increase the likelihood of recording the breeding of any head-started birds). A costed work plan will include a contingency and a five-year post-release monitoring plan – see Principle 8.

Principle 8: Ensure a dedicated monitoring programme is built into any proposal. This will include marking/tagging to ensure the movements of released birds can be determined. Such an approach will support Principle 4. It is critical that outcomes are monitored so that lessons can be learned, shared and adaptations made. As a minimum: i) the size and productivity of the recipient population (and the donor population where translocation between sites is involved) should be monitored in order to understand the impact that headstarting is having; ii) released birds should be metal and colour-ringed, field readable colour marks (colour rings, leg flags that are standardised in locals or a national marking scheme) and where possible GPS tagged; iii) the recipient population should be closely monitored in subsequent breeding seasons to determine survival and recruitment rates of head-started birds and their subsequent breeding success compared to wild bred birds and consequently changes in population size; iv) detailed records should be kept of the birds during the rearing process, including hatch date, sex, condition and health, so that the links between rearing and subsequent fitness can be learned. Additionally it will be critical to:

closely follow birds in the immediate post-release period in order to assess whether they are behaving appropriately and detect any early mortality;

GPS track a proportion of birds so that their survival and movements can be directly monitored, and lessons learned about the behaviour of that population, and;

monitor the breeding success of head-started birds relative to that of wild birds, in order to understand their relative fitness for life in the wild.

Principle 9: Any proposal must demonstrate that those involved have the skills and experience to manage disease and biosecurity risk, and to achieve health and welfare standards that maximise the number of Curlews released in good condition.

Principle 10: A Welsh head-starting project may be proposed and considered where donor eggs have been taken under licence in England or Scotland and subsequently hatched, reared and released in Wales, on the provision that Principle 2 is not violated.

Principle 11: The inclusion of a community and landowner engagement plan to encourage and strengthen capacity for societal involvement through education and awareness of the critical measures that are required to safeguard breeding Curlew in Wales. If a proposal involves translocation, a communication plan should cover both the donor and release areas.

Principle 12: An exit strategy will be an integral part of any head-starting proposal. The decision to discontinue maybe defendable if the design includes indicators of measures of success and intolerable limits. In support of Principles 7 and 8 a costed work plan will include a contingency and a minimum five-year post release monitoring plan after the last cohort of released birds.

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What Next

NRW have commissioned WWT to provide a feasibility report for a Curlew headstarting programme in Wales

NRW to discuss the findings of the WWT Report with the Welsh Government

NRW will present the findings of the report to Gylfinir Cymru in December 2025

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2026 Wales Breeding Wader Survey

This will target Curlew. All other breeding waders recorded

NRW commissioned BTO to produce prioritised survey squares based on the probability of Curlew occupancy

Twin track approach:

Professional Survey estimated 700 1-km squares

Supporting Survey NRW staff and partners of Gylfinir Cymru additional 300-500 1-km squares

Funded by the Welsh Government to inform decisions on new woodland creation proposals

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Diolch yn fawr/ Thank you