Conservationists laud UK recoveries but warn slump in wildlife continues
Patrick Barkham · 29 Dic 2023
‘When we give nature space, wildlife can recover. It’s as simple as that. We must act faster’ Dr Lissa Batey Wildlife Trusts
Spectacular feeding frenzies of Atlantic bluefin tuna, surging numbers of glow-worms, and a record-breaking breeding season for pied flycatchers are among the British wildlife highlights of 2023.
But conservationists warned that overall wildlife continued to decline, with one in six species at risk of extinction, and that wildlife was being challenged in new ways by global heating, disease and other destructive human activities.
There were multiple reports of “bait ball” feeding frenzies from Scotland to the Isles of Scilly involving whales, dolphins and bluefin tuna. These spectacles occur when predators force fish such as mackerel to cluster in a dense ball before cetaceans and tuna as well as opportunistic seabirds plunge in to feed.
The rise in sightings of bluefin tuna, once common in British waters, is linked to restrictions on fishing over the past 15 years, as well as warming seas. Bluefin tuna has now been removed from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of endangered species and limited fishing in British waters has resumed.
Dr Lissa Batey, head of marine conservation at the Wildlife Trusts, said: “This fantastic fish has returned from the brink of extinction. The risk of decimating the population for a second time remains high, so it is vital commercial fishing quotas be set realistically and enforced. When we give nature space, wildlife can recover. It’s as simple as that. We must act faster to protect the UK target of [conserving] 30% of seas by 2030.”
On land, success stories included the highest number of glow-worms – 303 glowing females – at the Whitecross Green Wood nature reserve in Oxfordshire since recording them began there in 1999, and record numbers of natterjack toadlets in Cheshire. In both cases the rare and declining species were boosted by targeted conservation management.
In 1975 not a single military orchid was counted at the Homefield Wood reserve near Marlow, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). This year a record 1,111 were counted, helped by volunteers painstakingly fitting shields around each plant to stop deer and rabbits devouring the rare flowers.
A southern migrant hawker dragonfly was recorded breeding in Oxfordshire for the first time, with many dragonfly species expanding their range in Britain because of global heating.
Colin Williams, a BBOWT senior ecology officer, said: “This is almost entirely down to decades of incredible work by our staff and thousands of tireless unpaid volunteers creating robust and diverse habitats. “The wider picture for wildlife in our three counties is incredibly distressing, and nature is in crisis across our region.”
While winter birdwatchers were cheered by large numbers of migratory waxwings, in summer record numbers of migratory pied flycatchers were recorded nesting in some RSPB woodlands.
Volunteers installing specially designed nest boxes and clearing the dense holly understorey has helped the flycatcher, with woodland management enabling flowers such as wood anemone and wood sorrel to flourish, attracting more insects on which the acrobatic flycatchers feed.
At RSPB Haweswater in the Lake District, 29 singing males of the amber-listed species were counted, suggesting a total population of 50 to 60 pairs across the reserve, the highest number for a decade. A record 66 birds were recorded at RSPB Coombes Valley and Consall Woods in Staffordshire.
Spike Webb, an RSPB warden at Haweswater, said: “This summer we had the best number in 10 years. Given that these birds come all the way from west Africa in spring to breed here in the Lake District, it’s always a joy to see them back in the forests of Haweswater and especially when their numbers are so good.”
But many British seabirds are continuing to decline. A survey of the Isles of Scilly by the RSPB and the Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust found a 20% decline in seabirds since 2015 in what is one of England’s most important colonies. Common terns vanished as an annual breeder, with kittiwakes set to follow, and there were big declines for lesser black-backed gulls (58%) and the red-listed herring gull (40%).
Although there were signs of some birds showing immunity to avian flu – gannets on Bass Rock in Scotland which have black instead of pale blue irises were more likely to have survived – large numbers of seabirds continued to die from the disease.
The tern colony at Cemlyn nature reserve in north Wales has halved in size since 2022 because of avian flu, with 1,200 dead terns collected there in 2023. Dorset Wildlife Trust recorded 600 dead birds on Brownsea Island during the breeding season, mainly sandwich and common terns, and black-headed gulls.
Exciting marine sightings included 156 of Risso’s dolphins in Cornwall, compared with 45 last year, and more than 20 fin whales off Cornwall alone, versus fewer than five in 2022. A male orca was spotted three miles offshore from Bempton Cliffs, the first sighting off Yorkshire’s coast since 2007.
Most of Britain’s existing marine conservation zones are dismissed as “paper parks” by conservationists because they do not prevent highly destructive fishing such as trawling. But the government this year created a scaled-back list of the first ever highly protected marine areas in English waters, with protected zones at Allonby Bay in Cumbria, Dolphin Head in Sussex and north-east of Farnes Deep in the North Sea.
Batey said: “This gold-standard of protection will stop damaging activities such as trawling and enables marine wildlife to recover. These special places cover less than half a percent of English seas, so it’s a tiny first step towards more designations.”