This is a critical time for conservation. The new UK Government has a lot to grapple with, so the RSPB will have to work hard to ensure nature is at the heart of any changes.
The future depends on how we respond to today’s challenges.
Reserved for nature
The RSPB manages over 200 nature reserves, which provide vital habitats for more than 18,700 species of wildlife and bring people and communities closer to nature.
They are the jewels in the RSPB’s crown and a huge priority for the organisation. However, there will need to be some changes soon. Over the past two years, the RSPB has been working to focus its resources where they’re most needed.
“Like we’ve all found at home, everything costs considerably more than it did two years ago,” explains Chief Operating Officer James Robinson. “Our income has continued to grow strongly, but not at the same rate as our costs have grown.”
The largest expenditure for the RSPB is its nature reserves. In 2024, the RSPB reviewed each of its sites across the UK to decide where the charity could make the most difference for nature and climate while also creating better nature havens for members to visit.
Following consultations with staff, proposed changes to some of these reserves will begin in 2025. In the coming years, this will likely mean some sites will focus primarily on their incredible conservation work, while others will aim to boost their profiles as visitor destinations. Additional sites will reduce facilities where they’re proving unprofitable and staff time is best focused on delivering conservation outcomes.
“To be clear, this doesn’t mean selling off large areas of land to the highest bidder, and it doesn’t mean that any of our flagship reserves will disappear,” says James. “But in a small number of cases, we are reducing our work in particular places in order to do more elsewhere.”
At some sites (fewer than 1%) this will mean working in partnership with other charities, community groups or local councils to find sustainable futures for these places.
‘Over the past two years, the RSPB has been working to focus its finite resources’
We are also developing our education approach, which will keep young people at the heart of what we do. At the time of writing, the changes proposed are likely to have an impact on staffing and volunteering across our nature reserve network.
“We don’t make these decisions lightly,” James says. “And we really appreciate all our colleagues’ years of hard work and dedication.”
Following this thorough review, the RSPB now has a much sharper focus on where conservation action is needed.
“I’m a birder, and I think that RSPB nature reserves are still the best places to go birdwatching in the UK,” James adds. “That won’t change. But from now on we’ll be even more focused on where the generous support of our members can have the biggest impact, boosting numbers of birds and wildlife and restoring the vital habitats they need.”
We’re continuing to grow the area of land that we manage and conserve for nature year-on-year. We’ll keep members updated on these changes on this website.
Business matters
The RSPB is also currently reviewing how we work with businesses. These partnerships allow the RSPB to influence change towards nature-friendly practices in the private sector and boost income.
You may have seen the RSPB’s recent partnership with Omaze, which generates millions for charities through its House Draws. This was a new way of fundraising for the RSPB, and the Cornwall House Draw supporting our work raised a phenomenal £4.9m to help protect and restore our peatlands.
“This was the highest amount in Omaze’s history, and we’re very grateful to all the RSPB members who took part in the draw,” says Katie Wakefield, Head of Business Engagement. “The draw also helped us reach a huge new audience.”
Working with businesses also means the RSPB can reach new sectors. Thanks to advice from the RSPB, landscape company idverde is now creating award-winning and wildlife-friendly green spaces for clients including Manchester City Football Club.
So far, the RSPB has advised idverde on making over 2,289ha of space well-managed for nature.
“But we want to have even more impact. We could just work with businesses whose practices regarding nature are already perfect,” says Katie, “but if we did that, we wouldn’t be helping those that need to make improvements. That would be an injustice to nature.”
Katie explains that the RSPB has a thorough process for deciding on potential business partners and won’t enable greenwashing. Businesses need to be on a genuine pathway to becoming nature friendly.
Good energy
One key group for RSPB collaboration is the renewable energy sector, which plays a crucial role in tackling the climate crisis but can also cause harm when infrastructure is built in the wrong place.
To reach targets, the UK needs to massively increase its use of renewables. The Climate Change Committee report in July 2024 stated that, to meet 2030 targets, the four nations will need to increase the annual rates of installation for offshore wind by three times, solar by five times, and double annual onshore wind capacity installation.
“And this all needs to be built fast for climate action,” says Isobel Morris, Senior Policy Officer. “But it’s important that we don’t build renewable energy projects in areas that are important for nature. We will oppose plans where they endanger conservation efforts – for example, where they threaten globally important seabirds already under pressure from climate change and avian flu.”
An RSPB study from August 2024, which looked at onshore wind and solar energy, concluded that it’s possible to build enough renewable energy infrastructure to support a net zero energy sector without significant negative impacts.
“If you build a solar farm – which we need more of – on land that was previously intensively farmed, and put wildflower strips between the panels, you can increase biodiversity,” Isobel adds.
The RSPB has been advising solar provider Lightrock Power on ways to enhance biodiversity across their sites. Since 2021, we’ve helped them make 500+ hectares better managed for nature.
This is alongside the generation of 87 megawatts (MW) of electricity from the company’s solar installations.
Homes for all
The UK Government has promised to build 1.5 million homes for people within five years. But could this result in fewer homes for wildlife?
The RSPB’s work with Barratt Developments plc at Kingsbrook, near Aylesbury, has shown this doesn’t always need to be the case. With increases in bird numbers, the nature-friendly housing development shows that people and wildlife can live side by side.
Carl Bunnage is Head of Nature Policy for the RSPB in England. He says: “We agree change is needed to the planning system. But that change has very much got to put nature front and foremost.”
Carl and his team are now responding to a consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework. “It’s a very important document, which really shapes how councils operate across the land and how they make decisions on development proposals in their areas,” Carl explains.
In early 2025, there may be a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill. The RSPB is sharing ideas with the Government about how to make the planning system more nature friendly.
Encouragingly, developments that benefit wildlife are now more commonly discussed. Carl believes this is thanks to key decision makers visiting places like Kingsbrook.
Spaces for nature
A major focus for the RSPB in the future will be landscape-scale conservation.
The RSPB is a partner in the Species Coastal and Wetlands Programme, funded by the Government’s Species Survival Fund, a fund developed by Defra and delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
This is a major coastal and wetland restoration project across south-east England. It runs for 18 months and will enhance habitats for threatened species such as Lapwing, Redshank and Water Vole. The programme will restore and create 246ha of grazing marsh, 7,500m2 of saline lagoons, 4ha of reedbed and 0.5ha of vegetated islands, making these habitats better able to withstand drought and rising sea levels.
Through Operation Turtle Dove, a partnership between the RSPB, Natural England, Fair to Nature and the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, we are working with farmers to provide over 200 hectares of foraging habitat.
By 2023, the western European Turtle Dove population had increased by 25%, after just two years of a hunting moratorium in France, Spain and Portugal. With more years of no hunting, the effect should soon be felt in the UK.
Thank you
The RSPB needs to be bold, proactive and resilient. Your support means a great deal, and it’s vital that your membership fees are put to the best possible use to restore birds, wildlife and their habitats. Look out for further news here, and if you are planning a trip to an RSPB nature reserve, please check details online.
Volunteers make a difference
Over 12,000 volunteers now generously give their time to the RSPB. They’ve played a critical role in the charity’s mission ever since it was founded. Now, a pioneering initiative with volunteers in Northern Ireland will soon make a difference across the UK. The Species Volunteer Network, started in 2022, puts volunteers at the heart of key conservation projects, monitoring the progress of rare species. The project’s Volunteer Skills Passport records the stage each volunteer has reached through training – for example, raptor identification or ecological surveying. This recognises the hard work of the volunteers and could also benefit their careers in conservation. In 2023, 424 volunteers worked on projects as part of the Species Volunteer Network in Northern Ireland and England. The network, and passport, will soon be expanded through Scotland and Wales.
Volunteer badge. Photo: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
