For once, an eco success story - Threatened woodlarks' massive repopulation
A new national survey carried out by the RSPB, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), Woodland Trust (England) and Natural England shows the number of woodlarks in the UK has increased by 89% in the last 10 years. The rise has been thanks to an increase in work to provide suitable habitat - improving lowland heath and good management of forestry plantations. There has been a rise in the number of birds moving onto farmland to breed, with many settling on land which has been specially set aside. The woodlark was red listed as a species of conservation concern back in the 1980s, with much of the decline coinciding with loss of traditional, mixed farmland, and the loss of some heathlands.
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Greg Conway, Research Ecologist at the BTO, who organised the survey, said: 'It is marvellous to see that the breeding population has almost doubled since 1997 and the range has increased considerably, with large leaps to the west and north. This survey would not have been possible without the support of hundreds of birdwatchers, to whom we are all extremely grateful'.
