North Wales Assembly Member and Wales Species Champion for the Curlew, Mark Isherwood, has called for a Welsh Government Statement in the Assembly Chamber on the Curlew Crisis facing Wales.
Speaking in yesterday’s Business Statement, Mr Isherwood said urgent action is needed to protect this threatened bird species.
He said:
“Ahead of World Curlew Day, next Saturday 21 April, and Curlew Crisis Month, which will be running throughout May, I call for an oral Statement in the Chamber on the Curlew crisis in Wales. The population in Wales has fallen by 81 per cent and continues to fall by over 6 per cent annually, with country-level extinction expected by 2030. Now, 21 April was chosen as World Curlew Day because of a traditional Welsh tale identifying the first curlew conservationist as St Beuno, a sixth century abbot from Wales and, of course, his feast day is 21 April.
“Because of the seriousness of this crisis, there was a major conference in Builth Wells on 24 January, attended by 120 participants from across conservation, farming, game and rural policy sectors in Wales. That's led to regional workshops - I attended one in North Wales on 23 February - and local meetings.
“There was one in Loggerheads, Denbighshire only two weeks ago. I met the Chair of the Welsh Ornithological Society who said, 'Given the plight of the curlew, we can't wait. We must work with the Assembly and Welsh Government to bring in a special curlew prescription as soon as possible.'
“Well, as Wales Species Champion for the Curlew, I'll now be joining a panel at the Hay Festival to discuss this crisis, our most endangered bird species. Clearly, there are many calls from Species champions because there are many Species Champions here, but this bird is the most endangered species. It's on the ‘Red List’ on both the Welsh and UK Birds of Conservation Concern. Agencies across Wales are working on this crisis.
“Please can we have a Statement in the Chamber so that we can find out further from the Welsh Government how it is working with Natural Resources Wales and the other sectors to address this?”
In her reply the Leader of the House, Julie James AM, agreed that it is an “important issue that we need to address” and urged Mr Isherwood “to meet with the Minister and see what can be done about it in that way”.
Mr Isherwood added: “The Curlew’s distinct and ethereal song is a familiar sound that is deeply ingrained within our culture, but there may now be as few as 400 breeding pairs left in Wales and we need to act now to stop them edging towards extinction.”
ENDS