 Boom
times for Britain's bitterns
English Nature
The bittern has become one of Britain's greatest wildlife
success stories, says the RSPB and English Nature, as figures
released today reveal the number of these rare shy herons
has increased fivefold in just seven years.
In 1997 only eleven bitterns were found during a UK-wide
survey, but this year experts counted at least 55 bitterns
at 30 sites, including strongholds in East Anglia and around
the Humber with others in Lancashire, Wales, Kent and Somerset.
A government action plan for the bittern hoped for 50 booming
bitterns by 2010, but the target has been broken six years
early.
Dr Gillian Gilbert, the RSPB's bittern researcher, said:Bitterns
are now recovering at a faster rate than anyone dared hope
for only a few years ago, when its numbers were in steep decline.
"The bittern needs extensive wet reedbeds to survive
but decades of drainage, pollution, and lack of management
destroyed most of their available habitat and by 1997 we feared
it faced imminent extinction in Britain."
Dr Andy Brown, head of ornithology at English Nature, said:
“Today’s announcement is testament to the success
of a wide range of partners in restoring this country's reedbeds.
While rescuing the bittern, the work has helped a range of
other spectacular wetland species, from the otter to the marsh
harrier. The future of conservation in England will increasingly
rely on partners working together to restore the fortunes
of some of our rarest species and habitats."
Backed by the European Union and The Cooperative Bank, conservationists
launched an ambitious and successful survival plan for the
bird in Britain primarily creating and restoring a network
of sites, across England and Wales, large enough for bitterns.
Additional effort has been spent on researching the bittern's
ecological requirements and monitoring their numbers.
The bittern is a conservation priority across Europe. Recognising
this importance, the European Union's Life-Nature
programme has part funded two projects in the
UK to help restore the bittern's fortunes. The
latest project, launched last year by a consortium
of organisations [see editors' notes] will restore
and create a network of 19 bittern-friendly sites
across England. It is hoped that when these sites
are mature enough they will help
expand the bittern population to reach the next milestone
of 100 booming males by 2020.
Commenting on the vulnerability of the bittern, Dr Ken Smith,
the head of aquatic research at the RSPB, said: "Habitat
destruction and persecution pushed the bittern to extinction
in Britain by 1886. Fortunately, the bird recolonised a few
decades later. We shouldn't be complacent as pressures still
threaten this vulnerable bird. For example, half the sites
holding booming bitterns this year are at risk from rising
sea levels."
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