How the RSPB is saving nature with data

As we head towards the end of the year, the minds of many RSPB staff and volunteers turn not to the festive break, but to the Big Garden Birdwatch.

The annual survey of garden birds, which has taken place on the last weekend in January each year since 1979, is a mass participation survey and provides us with an annual snapshot of how garden birds are faring in the UK. It’s also the world’s largest garden wildlife survey.

By taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, thousands of people across the UK play a role in helping us to understand how UK birds are doing.

The data collected over the last 45 years has supported the evidence for the decline of several notable species, including Greenfinches, Song Thrushes and House Sparrows.

Of course, it isn’t just the Big Garden Birdwatch that has provided useful data for our scientists. Special monitoring programmes, such as the Breeding Birds Survey (BBS) and Wetland Birds Survey (WeBS), are carried out by skilled volunteers and provide the backbone of bird monitoring in the UK.

This vital data, provided by citizen scientists, gives us the foundation of our understanding of species trends, which goes on to shape our conservation priorities and programmes. It feeds into our species indicators and national statistics, which ultimately informs reports such as the hugely important State of Nature report.

Without our citizen scientists, none of this would be possible.

Conservation science in the RSPB
For a lot of people, the science that the RSPB does is part of the reason they support us. It underpins the conservation work that we do across the board – on our nature reserves and in the landscapes we work in, in the advice we give and in our influential policy and advocacy work. It shapes our campaigns and communications, and places us as recognised experts in our field.

The RSPB employed its first research biologist in 1964, and from there the Centre for Conservation Science has grown into a highly respected research institution, delivering world class scientific research. This team can uncover problems, develop solutions and see those solutions implemented within and outside the organisation.

This is a privilege of working in an organisation that does research, policy and delivery under one roof. The benefits of co-location of this kind can be great, as the efficiency with which evidence is translated into action can often be greater than when they are separated.

From recognising and understanding the reasons behind the declines of individual species and developing strategies for landscape-scale restoration projects, to the commissioning of new technological solutions and modelling land-use scenarios, the RSPB’s science team allows us to be experts in our field and develop effective and timely solutions to some of nature’s biggest problems. And these problems include some of the most urgent and pressing environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.

Taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch is a small step, but not only are we adding to valuable data collected over 45 years, we are also a part of a scientific movement that has aided in the recovery of Bittern, Red Kite, Cirl Bunting and Common Cranes in the UK (to name but a few).

It’s also contributed to the discovery of the reasons behind the decline of Asian Vultures, helped convince governments to pause the shooting of Turtle Doves on their migration and has even assisted partners in increasing the population of Saiga antelope in Kazakhstan.

Nature is amazing, and amazing science helps us keep it that way.