Written question WQ87150
- Asked by
- Natasha AsgharConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Climate Change
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 8 days
Question
What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the numbers of curlew at (a) Lake Vyrnwy and (b) Beacon Hill moor, and what reasons can be provided for any discrepancy?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Climate Change
Detailed information on the plight of a range of birds including the curlew has been provided by the Welsh Ornithological Society in their publication “The Birds of Wales/Adar Cymru” (2021 edition). It has drawn on data from many sources, but the local scale data required to make an assessment on the two sites you refer to is not currently available.
Gylfinir Cymru (GC) has identified landscape-scale Important Curlew Areas (ICAs) in Wales and members have reported in terms of those areas. Both the sites you mention are part of these larger ICAs that carry low numbers of Curlew, the continued decline of which in many cases is of great concern.
We are addressing factors we understand to be contributing to that decline through initiatives such as our Nature Networks Programme and the NRW led Natur am Byth, which aim to help many endangered species thrive, including Curlew.