Farmer set to do their bit for birds

“It’s an opportunity for farmers to see and review what they are doing – and indeed can do – to aid biodiversity recovery,” said Ross Macleod, the GWCT’s head of policy Scotland, ahead of the count.

He added: “Looking after a small family farm myself, it’s really helpful to see how things are going from year to year. 72% of the UK’s total land area is used for agriculture, so farmers, land and woodland managers, and gamekeepers have a vital role to play in the future of wildlife.”

The count is the first UK-wide citizen science project to involve farmers in monitoring the state of farmland birds. Since 2014, more than 11,000 counts have been carried out by people working on the land across the UK.

Mr Macleod added: “There are multiple pressures on farmers, yet many of them do so much to support wildlife, often unnoticed by the public. The GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count is an opportunity for them to see just what impact their efforts are having and for us to celebrate that hard work,” says Ross Macleod.

By spending just half an hour between February 3 and 19, in one spot on their land, counting the birds they see and then submitting their results to the GWCT, they will help the trust to build a national picture of which species are benefiting from conservation efforts and which are most in need of help.

The latest assessment of the status of the UK’s birds, the Birds of Conservation Concern 5 list (2021), suggests that our farmland birds need all the help they can get.