A Curlew Conference with the title “Call of the Curlew” was held at Slimbridge in February 2017.
The one-day workshop was held at Slimbridge on 2 February 2017, with the aim of bringing together those interested in studying, monitoring and conserving breeding Curlews in the southern half of England. The 80 participants included birdwatchers from the English regions still holding breeding Curlew populations, landowners and farmers, and representatives of government organisations including the Environment Agency, Joint Nature Conservation Committee and Natural England, national NGOs like the BTO, the Game and Conservation Trust, National Trust, RSPB, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and several county Wildlife Trusts. A general picture of the status of the Curlew at international and national level was followed by presentations on the status of regional populations in southern England. A general discussion was held on measures needed to conserve these populations; this generated considerable interest and enthusiasm for more active measures to conserve these regional populations, and the participants called for greater study and monitoring of the populations. A series of conclusions and pointers to future action was circulated after the workshop.
Agenda for 2nd Feb 2017 WWT Slimbridge (PDF)
Biographies of the contributors (PDF)
(PDF pages with speaker’s notes have a speech bubble at top left; move your mouse over it to read the notes.)
Walk for Curlews: Mary Colwell (PDF)
The National Picture: Samantha Franks, BTO (PDF)
RSPB Curlew Recovery Programme: Sarah Sanders, RSPB (PDF)
New Forest: Russell Wynn, New Forest Wildlife Group (PDF)
Upper Thames Farmers’ Conservation Group: Kirsty Brannan, RSPB (PDF)
Somerset Levels and Moors: Harry Paget-Wilkes, Site Manager, RSPB West Sedgemoor Reserve (PDF)
Predator exclusion research in Germany: Natalie Meyer, Michael-Otto-Institut, NABU (PDF)
Conclusions and pointers to future action: Call of the Curlew Conference – key points (PDF)
Slimbridge Curlew Conference 2017