LIFE Project Number LIFE11 INF/UK/418 FINAL Report Covering project activities from 01/09/2012 to 31/03/2017 Reporting Date 30 June 2017 LIFE+ PROJECT NAME or Acronym Securing the Future of the Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus Throughout its Range in the UK Data Project Project location England, United Kingdom Project start date: 01/09/2012 Project end date: 31/08/2016 Extension end date: 31/03/2017 Total Project duration (in months) 48 months With 7 month extension: 55 months Total budget €1,654,692 Total eligible budget €1,646,064 EU contribution: €823,032 (%) of total costs 50% (%) of eligible costs 50% Data Beneficiary Name Beneficiary Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Contact person Mr Nick Folkard Postal address The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL Visit address The Lodge, Potton Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL Telephone +44 (0) 1767 693207 Fax: +44 (0) 1767 683211 E-mail [email protected] Project Website www.rspb.org.uk/securingthestonecurlew 1 LIFE11INF/UK/418 Stone-curlew Key words and abbreviations used in this report BBS Breeding Bird Survey BTO British Trust for Ornithology CAP Common Agricultural Policy CFE Campaign for the Farmed Environment CIL Community Infrastructure Levy CS New Countryside Stewardship (agri-environment) Scheme CSS Classic Countryside Stewardship (agri-environment) Scheme DIOR Direct Interventions (Off Reserves) RSPB Conservation Strategy Board DSTL Defence Science and Technology Laboratory EE Eastern England RSPB operational region EERO Eastern England Regional Office, Norwich EFA Ecological Focus Area- Greening requirements for CAP pillar 1 payments ELS Entry Level Environmental Stewardship (agri-environment) Scheme FC Forestry Commission FTE of full time equivalent Ha Hectare (100m x 100m area of land / 2.2 Acres) HLF Heritage Lottery Fund HLS Higher Level Environmental Stewardship (agri-environment) Scheme IPENS Improvement Programme for England’s Natura 2000 Sites (LIFE+) MU BTO two letter code for montagu’s harrier MoD Ministry of Defence MoU Memorandum of Understanding Natura 2000 European Network of protected sites- in the UK: SPA or SAC designated sites NE Natural England NFZ Nature Friendly Zone NNR National Nature Reserve NT National Trust NWT Norfolk Wildlife Trust RACI matrix List of staff Responsible; Accountable; Consulted; Informed for each activity RDPE Rural Development Programme for England SAC Special Area of Conservation (Natura 2000 site delivering Habitats Directive) SCARABBS The Statutory Conservation Agencies/ RSPB Annual Breeding Bird Scheme SIP Natura 2000 Site Improvement Plan (created by the IPENS LIFE project) SoE Statement of Expenditure SPA Specially Protected Area (Natura 2000 site delivering Birds Directive) SPTA Ministry of Defence, Salisbury Plain Training Area (Wessex) SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest (underpinning SPAs & SACs) STANTA Ministry of Defence, Stanford Training Area (Brecks, Eastern England) SW South West England RSPB operational region SWRO South West England RSPB Regional Office, Exeter SWT Suffolk Wildlife Trust TN BTO two letter code for stone-curlew UEA University of East Anglia 2 Final Report, June 2017 1. LIST OF CONTENTS 1. List of contents ............................................................................................................................................. 3 2. Executive summary ..................................................................................................................................... 4 3. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 9 4. Administrative Part ................................................................................................................................... 13 4.1. Description of the management system ...................................................................................... 13 4.2. Evaluation of the management system ....................................................................................... 30 5. Technical Part ............................................................................................................................................. 32 5.1. Actions undertaken ........................................................................................................................ 32 5.2. Dissemination actions .................................................................................................................... 77 5.3. Evaluation of project implementation ....................................................................................... 107 5.4. Analysis of long term benefits .................................................................................................... 112 6. Comments on the financial report ........................................................................................................ 117 6.1. Summary of Costs Incurred ........................................................................................................ 118 6.2. Accounting system ....................................................................................................................... 120 6.3. Partnership arrangements (if relevant) ..................................................................................... 120 6.4. Auditor's report/declaration ....................................................................................................... 120 6.5. Summary of costs per action ....................................................................................................... 121 7. Annexes..................................................................................................................................................... 124 7.1. Paper Annexes .............................................................................................................................. 124 7.2. CD Annexes ................................................................................................................................... 124 3 LIFE11INF/UK/418 Stone-curlew 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Project objectives The overall objective of this four year project was to secure the future of the stone-curlew (Burhinus oedicnemus) in the UK by making it much less dependent on conservation and intervention (rather than increase its population). This is because despite previous projects successfully increasing the UK stone-curlew population, a large proportion of the population still nested on cropped land where nests and chicks need protection from farming operations. The project hoped to address this by delivering a programme of advisory, communication and demonstration work to increase the amount of safe nesting habitat available to stone-curlews in the UK. This work included improving the condition of the three Natura 2000 sites designated SPAs for stone-curlews and surrounding areas, and increasing community support as a long term mechanism for its continued conservation. We aimed to achieve this by: - Advising farmers how to protect birds on cropped land (Action C1), and continuing to carry out interim nest protection in conjunction with population monitoring. - Advising farmers and other land managers how to create and maintain fallow plots on arable land for nesting stone-curlews (Action C2). - Advising farmers and other private land managers how to restore and create semi-natural habitat suitable for stone-curlews (Action C3). - Advising public bodies such as the Ministry of Defence and large organisations on the restoration and creation of suitable semi-natural habitat owned by them (Action C4). - Promoting the development and strengthening of agri-environment schemes and other long-term mechanisms to support stone-curlew conservation (Action C5) - Engaging local communities and decision makers to increase public understanding of stone- curlew conservation and generate widespread support for it (Action C6, F1-F4). - Building wider capacity for monitoring, protection and habitat management advice by developing and training volunteers and external advisors (Actions D2 and D3). Deliverables The key deliverables of the project were: - An introductory project leaflet (Action C6) produced in Summer 2013 and Summary (Layman’s) Report produced at the end of the project in February 2017, distributed online and in printed copy at the end of project conference. - Vehicle stickers (Action C1) which were replaced by stone-curlew postcards produced in Spring 2013, revised in Autumn 2014, and updated for new staff again in Spring 2016. - Winterbourne Downs trail guide (Action C6) and LIFE+ Information Boards (Action F2) - produced in Autumn 2014. - Regional Project Newsletters (Action C6); ‘The Brecks’ and ‘Chalk Country’, produced at the start of each project year (in Winter), with two additional summer editions of ‘The Brecks’ giving farmers more information on the new Countryside Stewardship scheme. - Opportunity maps (Action B1) to guide advisory actions, produced between summer 2013 and summer 2014 and elaborated on and updated in subsequent years. 4 Final Report, June 2017 - Annual reports on stone-curlew population and habitat (Action E1 and E2) evaluating progress towards project actions at the end of each project year. - In place of annual reports on awareness raising activities (Action E3), results of questionnaires were analysed annually assessing these and the impact of our awareness raising activities more generally. -