GWCT News Blog

In April 2023, the Lowland Gamebird research group finished a full year of walking 3km transect routes across a number of sites every three weeks, looking for fox scats and recording wildlife sightings.

If shoots follow the Code and the Principles then a net biodiversity gain will be the result – that is surely what the RSPB want to see. 

“Good commercial farming can work hand in hand with nature”, reiterated The Earl of Caithness, as he challenged the idea of designating wild belts, the subject of an amendment to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.

It’s very welcome to see Defra develop the concept of Nature Markets in its recently released report Nature Markets Framework. As the Agricultural Transition Period progresses and direct support payments drop away, it’s vital for farms to assess alternative income streams.

Jess Brooks looks deeper into the 2023 GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count data…

Please join us for some exciting events throughout May including an evening with the inimitable Sir Johnny Scott at Hopetoun House.

We are delighted to announce that the 2023 GWCT Scottish Auction is now live with over 80 varied and exciting lots available to bid on.

The GWCT is all about science (indeed our charitable objectives include educating the public as to the outcomes of our science) and we regularly call for policy to be based on sound science. In the first quarter of 2023 the England policy team has sought to emphasise that message.

With Breeding Woodcock Survey visits due to start from the 1st May, the GWCT Wetlands placement student, Anna Thompson, reflects on her first ‘recce’ roding count.

After two consecutive years of intensive curlew nest monitoring in the New Forest, it’s now clear that foxes pose the greatest threat to curlew nest survival in our study area. Of the 41 curlew nests monitored with cameras in 2021 and 2022, 25 failed due to predation, and 17 of these were attributed to foxes.