Threatened birds are more numerous at protected sites designated by UK legislation, especially those with the highest levels of protection.
The new research comes just weeks after the UK Government published its controversial Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill which risks the future of these vital regulations.
The papers reinforce the case both for retaining, and extending, the areas subject to the highest level of protection currently afforded to our protected sites.
Numbers of threatened birds are higher at survey sites with greater levels of coverage by protected area designations, especially those that have the highest levels of protection – afforded by the UK Habitats and Species Regulations (Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), according to new studies led by the RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
One paper, published today by the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science and the BTO in the journal Animal Conservation, used data from the annual BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) to see whether there was a link between bird abundance and site legal protection. They looked specifically at the most threatened birds (those species which were Red- or Amber- listed at the time of the analysis).
The authors found that numbers of these species – including many for which the sites were not originally designated – are higher where more of the survey site and a 5km buffer zone around it are within a protected area. This suggests that protected areas benefit more species and that these gains ‘spill over’ beyond their boundaries.
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Posted On: 06/12/2022