3 days ago
- General
- Edinburgh Reporter
New fund launched to save seabirds
A £1.6 million fund has been launched to help safeguard the future of Scotland's globally important seabirds.
The Seabird Resilience Fund was announced by The Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) hosted by NatureScot.
Scotland's seabird numbers have fallen dramatically since 1986, with the number of birds on coastal breeding grounds now nearly half of what it was 40 years ago.
Funded by voluntary donations from offshore renewable energy developers, the new fund will support practical projects to protect seabirds from the threats they face at sea and on land.
Cathy Tilbrook, NatureScot's Head of Sustainable Coasts and Seas, said: 'The Seabird Resilience Fund will support action to address some of the many threats our seabird populations are facing.
'Funding on this scale comes at a crucial time. The challenge is significant but there are small signs of hope, with some populations stabilising. We want to support that trend and deliver innovative projects to help seabirds to recover and thrive.'
Scotland is home to globally important seabird populations, with regular breeding grounds for 24 species.
Around 60% of the world's breeding population of great skua, nearly half (46%) of the world's northern gannet and 16% of the world's Manx shearwater exist around Scotland's coast.
Scotland's seabirds are under pressure from a range of factors including climate change, invasive species and food availability, however.
Recent figures showed the Arctic skua has undergone the steepest decline, linked with reductions in the availability of sandeels and increased predation from great skuas.
The UK Red listed Arctic skua, known as the 'pirate of the seabird world' because it steals its food from other seabirds, has suffered an 83% decline since 1986.
Others to suffer a dramatic decline include the great black-backed gull (72%) and Arctic tern (49%).
NatureScot reports signs of a brighter future for some species, with short term trends showing increased populations of black-legged kittiwake, European shag and common guillemot.
With renewable energy helping Scotland work towards net zero targets, the Seabird Resilience Fund is designed to support more direct action to help recover healthy populations and contribute to global conservation goals.
Funded through voluntary donations from nine offshore wind farm developers, it is not linked to any formal requirement upon them relating to the development licensing and consenting process.
All donations are assessed by an Ethical Contributions Board and decisions on which projects to fund are made by a Grants Panel with an independent chair and input from Scottish Environment.
Andrew Blyth, Development Director on behalf of Ossian Offshore Wind Farm, one of the donors to the fund, said: 'We are delighted to contribute to this fund – our seas are a vital resource for us all.
'Scotland provides important breeding grounds for internationally significant populations of seabirds, an important indicator of marine health.
'We want to contribute to a healthy and resilient marine environment where nature can thrive alongside sustainable development such as clean energy.'
Photo by Nikolai Kolosov on
Like this:
Like
Related
