'Shocking' European bird survey finds 195 species endangered
The Times
2 December 1994
Michael Hornsby
More than a third of Europe's birds are endangered and a quarter have declined sharply over the past 20 years, according to the first survey of its kind.
Four hundred ornithologists spent four years collecting data on 514 species regularly seen in an area stretching from Greenland and the Azores in the west to the Ural Mountains, the Caucasus and Turkey in the east. Melanie Heath, a co-author of the 600-page study, published by BirdLife International, said: "The most shocking finding is that 195, or 38 per cent, of Europe's birds are threatened, in that they are either declining, confined to small areas or rare. We estimate that the numbers of 129 species are falling."
The intensification of agriculture is identified as the main threat to 42 per cent of birds with shrinking populations. Hunting and persecution are blamed for the decline of 31 per cent. Britain is home to two birds the Scottish crossbill and the corncrake out of 24 species given priority by the survey because they are in danger throughout the world. Their fate in Europe could determine their global survival. Scottish crossbills, estimated to number no more than 1,500, inhabit the remnants of ancient Caledonian pine woods in Scotland and are found nowhere else.
Europe's corncrakes were once common in summer. They now breed mainly in Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Latvia, Romania and Poland, where farming is still primitive. Of the 100,000 to 200,000 calling males in Europe, fewer than 3,000 are found in the 12 countries of the European Union. Britain has 489, mainly in the Scottish islands.
The survey shows Britain and Ireland are crucial to the survival of several seabirds. Between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of the global populations of Manx shearwaters, storm petrels and gannets nest on cliffs and offshore islets.
In all, 54 British birds are listed as being of "conservation concern", either because they are highly localised or have small or declining populations. They include the nightjar and the Dartford warbler. The most recent count detected 3,400 nightjar males.
Barbara Young, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "The survey shows stark evidence of widespread decline. Since birds are good environmental indicators, the figures have wider implications for the health of the European environment."
A government decision to allow the commercial development of mudflats in the Medway Estuary, Kent, that support thousands of wintering waders and wildfowl may have been illegal under European law, the House of Lords said yesterday. After hearing an RSPB appeal the matter was referred to the European Court of Justice.
