New mapping tool to help protect breeding wading birds in Northern Ireland
Date published:
The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has introduced a new mapping resource designed to enhance the protection of breeding wading birds in Northern Ireland.
This new sensitivity mapping tool developed by scientists from the British Trust for Ornithology in Northern Ireland (BTO NI), includes the most up to date information as of 2023 on protected breeding wader locations in Northern Ireland, providing an efficient snapshot into the density and distribution of breeding waders in Northern Ireland including Curlew, Lapwing, Redshank and Snipe.
This new sensitivity mapping tool now provides publicly available evidence on the distribution of breeding waders in Northern Ireland to inform policymakers and those planning land-use change including development or afforestation proposals.
The maps, however, do not replace the requirements for bird surveys to inform proposals for developments or afforestation.
Researchers from the BTO collated breeding wader data from a number of different sources going back to the 1980s to help indicate what areas are used by threatened wader species such as Curlew. This new tool is particularly important to Curlew since it has been described as the most pressing bird conservation priority in the UK.
The sensitivity map also highlights the location of key wader recovery areas in Northern Ireland where crucially important work has been going on via several wader recovery projects in recent years at the Antrim Plateau, Lough Erne, and south-west Lough Neagh.
This important sensitivity mapping work was one of the key delivery outcomes of a multi-year BTO NI project for the Northern Ireland Environment Agency which was funded through DAERA’s Environment Fund.
This project is an example of how BTO-led citizen science data in combination with data from the RSPB and other NGO partners, can be used to deliver important evidence and practical outputs that inform land use and conservation. The analysis would not have been possible without the time, knowledge and skills of committed Bird Atlas and BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) volunteers in Northern Ireland over many years.
BTO Research Ecologist Hala Haddad said: “Understanding the distribution of breeding waders across the country can help in identifying possible recovery areas in the future and ensure their breeding and foraging habitats are protected. The funding we received from the DAERA Environment Fund has allowed for these species to be better protected from the future challenges they are going to face.”
Dr Sara McGuckin, Head of Natural Science at Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), said: “These breeding wader sensitivity maps are a valuable addition to the information and decision-making tools that are now available to public and private sector decision makers, and the public at large.
“They fill a key gap for a vulnerable group of bird species and reflect the important work carried out by a dedicated body of volunteers.”
The maps are available on the DAERA Natural Environment Map Viewer.
Notes to editors:
- Waders were formerly widespread breeding species across Northern Ireland prior to the 1980s but have declined due to several factors including loss and fragmentation of their preferred breeding habitats and predation of eggs and chicks, leading to low productivity. Waders are now confined to only a small number of remaining key sites in Northern Ireland, where habitats and predation threats have been carefully managed.
- Ten target species were determined based on the list of breeding waders in Northern Ireland which are Amber or Red-listed on the Birds of Conservation Concern Ireland (Gilbert et. al 2021) list in 2023. The species are: Curlew, Lapwing, Snipe, Dunlin, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Ringed Plover, and Little Ringed Plover. Each type of map had a column in its respective attribute table for each target species. Because there was no breeding data for Little Ringed Plover in Northern Ireland, no maps were produced for them.
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