Cross-border project launched to save Hen Harriers

A new European Union-supported initiative has been launched with the aim of achieving a secure and sustainable future for Hen Harrier, Britain's most threatened bird of prey.

Focussing on seven designated sites in northern England and both southern and eastern Scotland, the Hen Harrier LIFE+ Project is a five-year programme involving direct conservation action, community engagement and awareness-raising measures.

In historical times Hen Harrier was a widespread and familiar species of the British uplands. Over the past 150 years this has changed considerably with persecution during the Victorian era driving the species to extinction on the British mainland by 1900.

Hen Harrier, Lincolnshire (Photo: Russell Hayes)

Although the species has since returned to some areas of the mainland, its propensity for frequenting grouse moors routinely brings it in to direct conflict with man despite legal protection and thus it continues to struggle. According to the National Hen Harrier survey, the species suffered a UK-wide 18 per cent population decline between 2004 and 2010, and 2013 proved the worst breeding season in England for decades as no chicks successfully fledged.

The situation was slightly better in 2014 with four nests in England, but only nine of the 16 fledged chicks are thought to remain alive: natural deaths have taken their toll but there was also the sudden, unexplained disappearance of three satellite-tagged birds. Though not quite as critical in Scotland the situation remains grim: for example, two orphaned chicks had to be hand-reared by experts this June after the female disappeared, feared shot, in East Ayrshire.

Blánaid Denman, Hen Harrier LIFE+ Project manager, commented: "Hen Harriers are in dire straits. Numbers are declining dramatically. The cross-border project provides a huge boost to our efforts to monitor and protect Hen Harriers. Working together with volunteers and other organisations, we'll have more eyes and ears on the hills than ever before, using satellite tagging, winter roost monitoring and nest protection to deter persecution, identify the important areas for these birds and highlight where they're most at risk."

The project combines two vital strands: practical conservation (protecting them here and now); and awareness-raising and education (protecting them for future generations). Denman added: "The project is not about RSPB fixing things on our own but about bringing together a whole conservation community, from organisations to individuals, working together to secure a future for Hen Harriers in our uplands. Building on the success of our award-winning Skydancer Project in England, this new project will enable us to share the stories of these remarkable birds with a wider audience than ever before, working with schools and community groups on the ground and allowing people to follow tagged birds online to see where they go."

The Hen Harrier LIFE+ Project also aims to work progressively with landowners and the shooting community, championing best practice where it occurs. It will link up and support the work of the PAWS Raptor Group 'Heads Up for Hen Harriers' project, which includes Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage, conservation and landowning interests.

Dr James Robinson, the RSPB's head of nature policy, added: "This EU LIFE+ funding means the RSPB and our partners can step up to do even more to stamp out the criminal acts that threaten the future of the iconic Hen Harrier in England and parts of Scotland. Actions speak louder than words and the RSPB is rolling up its sleeves to do the things that will secure a safe future for this 'ghost of the moor'."

Over the last 18 months, Defra have been consulting with RSPB and other stakeholders to draft an emergency recovery plan for Hen Harrier in England. While a final plan is still to be agreed, the initial draft has received widespread support from the shooting community. The Hen Harrier LIFE+ Project puts into action elements of the plan needed to achieve population recovery for the species by helping with the satellite tracking, monitoring of breeding and winter roost sites, and promotion of diversionary feeding, which will be needed to tackle illegal persecution.