| The tenth UK report for
Article 12 of the EU Birds Directive
2013
Please cite as:
Joint Nature Conservation Committee 2013. 10th Report by the United Kingdom under Article 12 on the implementation of the Directive on the conservation of wild birds (2009/147/EC) from January 2008 to December 2012. JNCC, Peterborough.
Available to download from http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/UKBirdsDirectivereports-2013
Please see page linked above for information about the process to compile this report.
Please note three additional spreadsheets present species-related data and information as part of this Article 12 report.
Annex 1:
General report format, ref. Article 12 of the Birds Directive, for the 2008-2012 report
1. Main achievements under the Birds Directive
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Describe briefly the main achievements under the Birds Directive during the reporting period with a special emphasis on the SPA network. If a Member State wishes to add further documentation to what is requested in this format, please mention these Annexes and their file-names at the end of this free text section and upload respective files in the Reportnet together with the rest of the report. If possible, please provide a translation into English.
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1.1. Text in national language
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The UK’s geographic position – a north temperate island close to a major continental land-mass – results in its particular European importance for a number of groups of birds. Whilst many species or populations occur in internationally important numbers, there are various groups of birds that are of outstanding importance.
The UK is exceptionally important for many populations of breeding seabirds, many of which also use UK waters in significant numbers in the non-breeding season. Together with Ireland, the UK holds over half the relevant biogeographic (and in some cases, the world) populations of Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus, Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus, Gannet Morus bassanus, Great Skua Stercorarius skua, Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus and Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica.
The UK is the wintering area for many waterbirds (divers, grebes, ducks, geese, swans, waders) breeding throughout Arctic and sub-Arctic areas. Birds visiting the UK come from as far afield as the central Canadian Arctic and central Siberia. The UK has significant international responsibility for high proportions of total populations.
For many other waterbirds, the UK is not their final destination but is a critical stepping-stone on their migratory flyways to ultimate winter destinations in Africa. For many waders – such as Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula, Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa, Redshank Tringa totanus, Sanderling Calidris alba, Dunlin Calidris alpina and Knot Calidris canutus– the coast of the UK is of crucial importance during the spring and autumn migration periods.
The British uplands have a unique and characteristic bird community that is ecologically distinct in many respects from those found in other European montane environments. Several Arctic breeding birds, such as Red-throated Diver Gavia arctica, are at the southern edge of their global breeding range.
The ancient Caledonian pine-forests of the central Scottish Highlands contain Britain’s only endemic bird, the Scottish Crossbill Loxia scotica.
A high proportion – in some cases all – of the national and international populations of such species occur in the UK SPA network. In summer, the network holds nearly five million breeding seabirds, whilst in winter it supports an average of over two million waterbirds. The habitat protection provided for these birds by the network is a major contribution to their international conservation.
Continued work has been undertaken since 2008 to consolidate the terrestrial and marine UK SPA Network. This has been through a major review of terrestrial SPAs, which has assessed the content of SPA suites for each of the species for which SPAs have been classified. The first phase of this review is due to report to government in 2014 (see section 2.2).
Alongside the current review of terrestrial SPAs, work continues to identify and classify marine SPAs, and there are plans for a review of marine SPA provision to be made by 2015 – a significant task given the major extent of the UK’s marine environment and challenges involved in obtaining supporting evidence.
With respect to Article 10, work has continued to consolidate and further improve surveillance of birds in the UK (in both terrestrial and marine environments), typically through support of monitoring schemes co-funded by both government agencies and the non-government sector working in partnership. Bird surveillance and monitoring in the UK depends critically on the inputs of volunteers. Particular emphasis has been given to maintaining levels of surveillance in times of economic constraint – essential to maintain basic levels of data collection of value not just for bird conservation but also wider environmental monitoring needs. Article 10 has recently been transposed into UK law through the placing on appropriate authorities of the obligation to encourage research and scientific work that they consider necessary for the implementation of the Birds Directive.
Future monitoring options for marine birds is anticipated to include:
A summary of existing monitoring schemes which provide annual trends in abundance and breeding success of seabirds; and trends in the number of waterbirds using coastal sites to breed, stopover on migration or to over-winter; along with options to improve their precision;
Options for monitoring and surveillance of inshore and offshore aggregations of seabirds and waterbirds at sea and how these options can best be integrated with the above existing surveillance schemes (including whether coordinated monitoring of the existing/proposed marine SPA network) can contribute to these;
Integration with assessment of seabird sensitivity and vulnerability, and indicator development work for Marine Framework Strategy Directive (e.g. monitoring invasive mammal presence on offshore seabird islands and assessing the scale of marine bird bycatch in fisheries (as proposed indicators of Good Environmental Status).
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Considerable emphasis has been given to the development and implementation of agri-environment schemes to address declines of formerly-common farmland birds. In England, about 52,000 agri-environment schemes cover over 69% of utilisable agricultural land (as at July 2013), and other schemes operate elsewhere in the UK. Such schemes have been of major importance in the recovery of threatened species such as Corncrake Crex crex and Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus.
The implementation of Action Plans established under the UK Biodiversity Action Planning (UK BAP) process (http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-5155) helped reverse the formerly negative national trends for several species including Bittern Botaurus stellaris, Corncrake Crex crex, Stone Curlew Burhinus oedicnemus and Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus. Yet other priority species continue to decline - such as Bewick’s Swan Cygnus bewickii, Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris, Pintail Anas acuta, Scaup Aythya marila, Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca, Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria, Lapwing Vanellus vanellus, Curlew Numenius arquata, Redshank Tringa totanus, Common Gull Larus canus and European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur – all of which have UK declines of >25% during the current reporting period.
Most work which was previously carried out under the UK BAP is now focused at country level. Further information about the country biodiversity strategies can be found through the country-level biodiversity web-page. The Environment Departments of all four governments in the UK work together through the Four Countries Biodiversity Group. Together they have agreed, and Ministers have signed, a framework of priorities for UK-level work for the Convention on Biological Diversity. Published on 17 July 2012, the 'UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework' covers the period from 2011 to 2020. Information on the UK Biodiversity Framework can be found at http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/UK_Post2010_Bio-Fwork.pdf.
In the marine environment, domestic implementation of both nature Directives through domestic legislation has afforded protection to qualifying species of those SPAs classified for breeding seabirds. Although identification of fully marine SPAs has not been completed, the UK will identify marine SPAs by 2015 and classify as many as possible by then. This will contribute to the conservation of seabirds (many of which breed within existing terrestrial SPAs) and non-breeding waterbirds.
In September 2009, 31 terrestrial seabird colony SPAs were extended into the marine environment and consultation on an extension to another site is underway. In addition, three entirely marine SPAs (Bae Caerfyrddin/ Carmarthen Bay, Liverpool Bay/Bae Lerwpl and Outer Thames Estuary) have been classified in UK waters for wintering aggregations of waterbirds.
JNCC and Defra are running a project, ‘Risk assessment of seabird bycatch in UK waters’. This project will help to assess the risk to marine birds in UK waters of being caught and killed by commercial fishing gear. It will identify UK sea areas with a high risk to marine bird populations due to mortality caused by bycatch. The work will enable governments to assess whether bycatch will prevent the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD - Directive 2008/56/EC) and to progress the aim of the EU Action Programme of Action for reducing bycatch.
Particular priority has been given to actions that seek to reduce conflicts with protected birds given that such conflicts may act as drivers for illegal persecution. These include the continued support of the Partnership against Wildlife Crime (section 2.4 below), and an initiative, formerly led by the Environment Council, to seek solutions to perceived conflicts (where these exist) relating to the presence of Hen Harriers Circus cyaneus on moorland managed for Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus scotica. Establishment of a practical model of co-existence is being undertaken through the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project launched in 2007, Information can be found at: http://www.langholmproject.com.
A number of LIFE projects have been operational during the reporting period and have continued to help improve the quality of bird habitats. These include:
ERDUK - Eradication of Ruddy Ducks Oxyura jamaicensis in the UK to protect the White-headed Duck Oxyura leucocephala (LIFE05 NAT/UK/000142), September 2005 to March 2011. Project website: https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/nonnativespecies/index.cfm?pageid=244
Restoring Active Blanket Bog in the Berwyn and Migneint Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) in Wales (LIFE06 NAT/UK/000134), August 2006 to March 2011. Project website: http://www.blanketbogswales.org/
Improvement Programme for England’s Natura 2000 Sites (IPENS) (LIFE11 NAT_UK_000384), July 2012 to June 2015. Project website: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designations/sac/ipens2000.aspx
Restoring Active Blanket Bog of European Importance in North Scotland (LIFE00 NAT/UK/007075). March 2001-December 2006. Project website: http://www.lifepeatlandsproject.com/
Scottish machair - Conserving machair habitats and species in a suite of Scottish Natura sites (Machair Life) (LIFE08 NAT/UK/000204), January 2010 to December 2013. Project website: http://www.machairlife.org.uk/
Securing the Stone-curlew: securing the future of the stone-curlew throughout its range in the UK (LIFE11 INF/UK/000418), September 2012 to August 2016. Project website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details/342233-EU-LIFE+-Project-Securing-the-future-of-the-stone-curlew-in-the-UK.
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TaCTICS - Tackling Climate Change-Related Threats to an Important Coastal SPA in Eastern England (LIFE07 NAT/UK/000938), January 2009 to December 2012. http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/t/titchwellmarsh/coastalchange/
The Alde-Ore Estuary - Securing a sustainable future for wildlife (Alde-Ore) (LIFE08 NAT/UK/000199), April 2010 to March 2014. Project website: http://www.lifealdeore.org/
MoorLIFE: Active blanket bog restoration in the South Pennine Moors (MoorLIFE) (LIFE08 NAT_UK_000202), April 2010 to April 2015. Project website: http://www.moorsforthefuture.org.uk/moorlife
Reintroducing the Great Bustard Otis tarda to southern England (Reintroducing Otis tarda) (LIFE09 NAT/UK/000020), September 2010 to August 2015. Project website: http://greatbustard.org/life_project/
Maintaining and enhancing the Isles of Scilly SPA through the removal of rats from two key islands (Scilly rat removal) (LIFE11 NAT/UK/000387), October 2012 to September 2017. Project website: http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details/343296-isles-of-scilly-seabird-recovery-project
Mink control - Mink control to protect important birds in SPAs in the Western Isles (Hebridean Mink Project) (LIFE00 NAT/UK/007073), – April 2001 to June 2006. Project website: http://www.snh.gov.uk/land-and-sea/managing-wildlife/hebridean-mink-project
Surveys from which the data in this report were derived were funded or organised, inter alia, by the following organisations (and their predecessor bodies): BirdWatch Ireland (BWI), British Trust for Ornithology (BTO); Department for the Environment Northern Ireland; Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust; Joint Nature Conservation Committee; Natural Resources Wales; Natural England; Raptor Study Groups in Scotland, England and Wales; Royal society for the Protection of Birds; Scottish Ornithologists Club (SOC); Shetland Oil Terminal Environmental Advisory Group; SNH and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. We thank especially BTO, BWI and SOC for the use of data and information from the Britain and Ireland Bird Atlas 2007-2011.
Finally, this assessment would not have been possible without the massive voluntary efforts of many tens of thousands of volunteers who have given their time (and resources) to participate in systematic surveys and monitoring of UK birds since the 1960s. We acknowledge their huge input and interest, without which knowledge of the UK’s changing birds would be immeasurably poorer and the implementation of the Directive more difficult.
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1.2. Translation into English (optional)
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Optional
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2. General information sources on the implementation of the Birds Directive - links to information sources of the Member State
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For the topics below give a link to Internet address(es) where to find the requested information, or explain how to access this information.
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2.1. General information about the Birds Directive
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General information provided on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) website: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1373
General information provided on the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland website:
http://www.doeni.gov.uk/index/protect_the_environment/natural_environment/habitats_and_species.htm
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2.2. Information about the SPA network
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JNCC: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-162
The UK undertook a major species-based review of its SPA Network in the 1990s and which is available at http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1412 and http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-2970.
A third network review commenced in 2008 and will report its initial findings in early 2014. The formal objective is to “review the current UK network of terrestrial and coastal Special Protection Areas (SPAs) in order to ensure that UK obligations under Article 4 of the European Union’s Directive on the conservation of wild birds (Council Directive 79/409/EEC, as amended) (‘the Birds Directive’) are met”. Options for a review of marine SPA provision are currently being scoped, for delivery by 2015.
The Review has assessed network-scale changes between the 1990s (as reported in 2001) and the 2000s.
Statistics used in section 8.1.1 derive from the current network review and relate to just the totals of each species’ SPA suite – those SPAs selected for each relevant species. It is not the total of qualifying and non-qualifying occurrences within the network as a whole – this latter statistic is not possible to generate. The SPA suite totals are thus presented as minimum values only.
Most coastal SPAs in the UK currently do not extend beyond the low water mark. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee, in collaboration with Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and the Department of Environment Northern Ireland has undertaken extensive survey and data collection to identify important aggregations of seabirds and waterbirds. The target is to identify SPAs in marine waters (to the British Fishery Limit) by the end of 2015, and to classify as many of these as possible by that time.
Further information about SPAs in each of the UK’s countries can be found at:
Scotland: http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/protected-areas/international-designations/spa/
Wales: http://wales.gov.uk/topics/environmentcountryside/consmanagement/conservationbiodiversity/specialprotectionareas/?lang=en
England: http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designations/spa/
Northern Ireland: http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/protected_areas_home/spec_protect.htm
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2.3. Monitoring schemes (Articles 4(1), 10)
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Key multi-species monitoring schemes for birds in the UK include:
Wetland Bird Survey (non-breeding waterbirds) - http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/webs
Goose and Swan Monitoring Programme (non-breeding geese and swans) - http://monitoring.wwt.org.uk/goose_and_swan.php
Rare Breeding Birds Panel - http://www.rbbp.org.uk
Breeding Birds Survey (common breeding birds) – http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/bbs
Waterways Breeding Bird Survey (common breeding birds of waterway habitats) - http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/wbbs
Constant Effort Sites Scheme (productivity assessment) - http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ringing/surveys/ces
Ringing Scheme (movements and survival) - http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ringing/ringing-scheme
Nest Record Scheme (productivity assessment) - http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nrs
Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme (birds of prey in Scotland) - http://www.scottishraptorstudygroup.org/srms.html
Seabird Monitoring Programme (breeding seabird numbers, productivity and survival) - http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1550
Seabird census programmes - http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-4461
National Beached Bird Survey (monitoring seabird mortality) - http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/projects/details/203916-national-beached-bird-survey
Predatory Bird Monitoring Scheme (monitoring of pesticide and other pollution residues) https://wiki.ceh.ac.uk/display/pbms/Home
National Game Bag Census (bag records from shooting estates) - http://www.gwct.org.uk/research__surveys/wildlife_surveys_and_ngc/national_gamebag_census_ngc/default.asp
Avian Influenza monitoring - http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/a-z/bird-flu/
There are an additional range of single species monitoring programmes not listed here. Information on more general environmental monitoring programmes in the UK – many of which include birds – can be found at http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-3713
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2.4. Protection of species (Articles 5-8)
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Information regarding the protection of species (Articles 5-8), which includes international conventions and agreements, conservation listing, priority species, protected areas, surveillance and monitoring, indicators, reporting, and advice can be found here:
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1742
The Partnership against Wildlife Crime http://www.defra.gov.uk/paw/ is a key mechanism for establishing inter-organisational priorities in tackling illegal acts against birds and other wildlife.
Also - Partnership against Wildlife Crime in Scotland - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/paw-scotland/
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2.5. Transposition of the Directive (legal texts)
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Information regarding the transposition of the Directive into UK legislation can be found here:
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1373
Following advice from the European Commission on incomplete transposition of the Birds Directive, the Conservation of Habitats and Species (Amendment) Regulations 2012 and the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (collectively “the amendment regulations”) have been put in place. These place specific obligations on the Secretary of State (or Welsh or Scottish Ministers) to permit the designation of MCZs/NC MPAs to manage and protect bird habitat, including for the re-establishment and creation of biotopes (Article 3(2)(b)-(d) requirements). It also fulfils the requirement to create protected areas for any species not covered by the SPA process in order to meet the Article 3(2)(a) requirements.
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