The Curlew recovery project aims to promote the monitoring and conservation of Curlew - taking urgent action to stop the decline of this iconic species, and to prevent its local extinction.

When developing the Scheme – 97% of those asked told us they would support a project on Curlew recovery. Many people tell us that curlews are ‘a sound of their childhood’ which alludes both to why they are held so dear but also to their rapid decline within our lifetime!

The Eurasian Curlew has experienced drastic declines in recent decades and is now listed as globally near threatened. A large proportion of the global population (c.25%) breeds in the United Kingdom and even greater numbers spend the winter here. This makes the UK of international importance for this species.

The Stiperstones & Corndon Hill Country Landscape Partnership Scheme area still supports a significant proportion of the remaining Shropshire population, which is now below 200 pairs.

The decline in Curlew populations in the UK has been linked to a number of factors including:
- habitat fragmentation and a loss of habitat quality;
- agricultural operations, such as early cutting of silage and hay;
- predation which is known to be key in causing low productivity in some areas.
A deeper understanding of these different factors and their local relevance is needed to achieve a recovery.

The money raised will support the following aspects of the project:
• Nest surveillance and monitoring provided by a specialist ornithologist using nest/trail cameras and chick radio tags
• Work with three local Community Wildlife Groups and to feed the results of volunteer surveys into the project
• Work with the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to look at nest protection measures and targeted predation control where this is appropriate
• Work with local people and farmers/landowners to raise awareness and harness support for these special birds