A new project designed to reverse the serious decline in the population of one of Scottish farmland’s most loved birds is reporting significant early progress.

Led by SAC Consulting, the group behind the campaign includes farmers, RSPB Scotland and NatureScot, who have come together to boost the population of Lapwings (also known as the Peewit).

Population figures for the birds had plummeted across Scotland - and the rest of the world - in recent years, despite being the focus of agri-environmental schemes.

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“Farmland is critical for the birds’ future as they nest in a variety of rural habitats including wetlands, grasslands and crops,” said SAC Consulting’s senior consultant and area manager Jennifer Struthers.

“As the birds’ nest on the ground, they can be prone to predation, disturbance from curious livestock and agricultural operations. The result is they typically experience very low breeding success.”

However, a glimmer of hope has emerged through a nesting management trial which has been led by the Clyde Valley Wader Group (CVWG) with funding from NatureScot.

“Lapwings had very high levels of hatching success in the plots which were specifically introduced onto the farms to help them. About 75% of nests hatched across five trial fields, compared to typically 20% or less in grazed pastures,” added Ms Struthers.

Kenny Johnstone from Boghouse and Eastertown farms at Crawfordjohn has been heavily involved in the project from the beginning.

“The Clyde Valley Wader Group has given stakeholders a much more productive, reactive, honest and enjoyable environment to work together in the best interests of wader birds,” he said.

“Having seen the success of a local brassica plot in the area for Lapwings, we were happy to try a brassica crop on an 18-acre field at Eastertown farm which we hoped would also benefit our farming business.

“We have been able as a group with funding to be flexible with grazing and ploughing to encourage as much nesting and hatching success as possible and are delighted the results are looking good.

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“It feels very good to be able to work together and react effectively to create projects which ultimately lead to better nesting and hatching success for ground nesting birds in our area. That is something we all want to see!”

RSPB Scotland’s senior conservation advisor, Dan Brown, said: “We have followed 600 nests in the last few years. Using trail cameras and tiny devices that record nest temperatures, we’ve massively improved our understanding of where and why nests did well, and where they don’t.

“This new data, combined with regular meetings and discussions with the farmers involved and the SAC Consulting team, allowed us all to discuss key issues and start developing trials. We are delighted this year to find such high hatching success on trial plots.”

Gail Foster from NatureScot, which provided funding for the trials, said: “It’s been great to work more closely with the CVWG farmers and advisors on the first year of this project.

“It is really encouraging to hear about the higher hatching success on the trial fields and we hope that the next stage of the project will show even more benefits that can bolster Scotland’s populations of Lapwing, and other farmland waders.“

Patrick Laurie, Galloway farmer, author and part of the national Working for Waders forum, said “This is a really significant piece of work which has been proven to show positive results for Lapwing breeding success.

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“Crucially, it has been designed by farmers to work alongside existing businesses, and it shows that while farmers are often blamed for the decline of biodiversity on farmland, the truth is that they are part of the solution. The farmers involved in the Clyde Valley Wader Group have put a huge amount of time and resources into this project, and their determination to make it work has been hugely encouraging.”

The next step for the campaign group will be to expand the trial onto a greater number of farms to further refine the management, understand the economics of the management, and start working towards the measure to be supported in future agri-environment schemes.

“They will also continue to try and find additional solutions to the low breeding success they’ve already recorded in pastures, and it is impressive that groups which would normally have been seen as on the opposite sides of conservation campaign debates can come together and deliver really positive results for one of this country’s best loved birds,” added Ms Struthers.