New report reveals Orkney’s wildlife is recovering as project's final phase is in sight - Orkney Native Wildlife Project
A new report shows that in just four years the Orkney Native Wildlife Project is delivering on its mission to protect nationally important bird and small mammal communities found on the Orkney Islands. This ambitious partnership project is the largest stoat removal on an inhabited landscape anywhere in the world, and its success is critical to protecting Orkney’s wildlife.
- Orkney’s wildlife, including several threatened bird species and the endemic vole are showing signs of recovery with population numbers and nesting successes increasing since work began to remove stoats in 2019.
- Vulnerable ground nesting birds are also seeing increases with more successful nesting attempts and more young having the chance to fledge and rebuild the populations of Red-listed birds such as the Hen Harrier, Curlew and Lapwing.
- Signs of droppings and activity indicate that there has been a 200% increase in the numbers of the endemic Orkney Vole.
- The largest project of its kind ever attempted; the Orkney Native Wildlife Project is now at a critical stage as preparations are made that would see the final phase of work to completely remove stoats from the islands.
Conservation scientists monitoring the wildlife on Orkney are reporting that there are significant increases in successful nesting attempts of ground nesting birds such as the Hen Harrier and rare waders is a positive indicator that the work to remove an invasive predator from the islands is making a positive difference. And the team has observed more evidence of Orkney Vole activity.
The first time this work has been attempted in the Northern Hemisphere, the Orkney Native Wildlife Project was created after a stoat was recorded on the islands for the first time in 2010. An invasive predator that the wildlife of the islands was unaccustomed to, the arrival of fast breeding stoats presented a major new threat to many of Orkney’s native species and to the local economy. Work began in 2019 and a team of international experts have been working with the local community, RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Government to remove stoats from the islands.