The Future of Wiltshire's Waders

So you may have noted that breeding waders in Wiltshire are not in a great state. Massive population declines have led to local extinctions and the breeding sites that are left are fragmented. So we could just all give up and go home.

But thankfully that's not whats happening. All over the county people are working hard to try and protect what we have left. Bands of volunteers are being brought together to help survey for breeding waders so we know where to target our conservation actions. Groups of

farmers are forming cooperatives to help protect large areas of habitat, for the benefit of a whole range of farmland species not just waders. The wheels of conservation are moving.

So although the current situation in undeniably bleak, the future does look hopeful. It may take us a long time to get beck to the numbers of breeding waders that were present in the county 50 years ago, in fact we may never again reach that level. But every little helps, every action that protects a breeding pair of Curlew or encourages a land owner to manage their land more sympathetically makes a difference. So I believe that little by little we can help these species recover. And who knows one day, maybe sooner than it seems right now, we might once again be able to hear the pee-wit of the Lapwing, the cry of the Curlew, the drumming of Snipe and see the brightly coloured legs of the Redshank across the county.