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This is a major new report that the Environment Agency has produced with the National Farmers Union, the NFU Cymru and the Farmers Union of Wales.

See: http://tinyurl.com/y2pdo3

Sutton Fen in the Norfolk Broads has been secured as the RSPB’s 200th nature reserve.

The new nature reserve, by the River Ant near Stalham, has been bought following a successful appeal to raise £1.5 million.

Sutton Fen is one of the finest examples of unpolluted valley fen in Western Europe and one of the most important nature conservation sites in the UK.

This landmark purchase was made possible by the generosity of RSPB supporters who donated money to an appeal launched in late October.  (this includes our South East Essex Group who were able to donate £1500) Together with a grant of £465,300 from the Tubney Charitable Trust, £50,000 from Garfield Weston Foundation and a very substantial legacy bequeathed to the RSPB by the late Miss Lucy Frances Leake, their donations have enabled the RSPB to secure this site for nature conservation and for future generations to enjoy.

With its natural beauty, unique mix of plants and breathtaking variety of birds and insects, Sutton Fen was somewhere the RSPB felt it had to protect.

Bitterns, marsh harriers, garganey and Cetti’s warbler are among the birds which flourish here, alongside a nationally important population of insects, including Norfolk Hawker dragonflies and swallowtail butterflies.

Cranes are known to have bred nearby and the RSPB hopes they can be encouraged to use the site in the future.

The fen is also a haven for plants once found all across the Broads but now restricted to this one site.

Sutton Fen is the latest of three recent major land acquisitions by the RSPB, bringing to life the RSPB’s motto, ‘for birds, for people, for ever’.

Graham Wynne, RSPB chief executive, said: “We are delighted that Sutton Fen is our 200th reserve. The chance to give long term protection to a site as magnificent as this only comes along once in a generation.

“Sadly, such sites are becoming increasingly rare, so it is wonderful to have the opportunity to look after what is nothing less than a national treasure.”

He added: “Taken together, these three new reserves are a fabulous example of how the RSPB works to live up to its motto, providing space for wildlife and for people in a changing world.

“It is work that does not stop with the end of the Sutton Fen appeal. We continue to need the support of our members, who are the real driving force behind everything we hope to achieve.”

For birds: Hesketh Out Marsh.
Thousands of wintering birds are set to benefit from the creation of a huge new wetland along the Ribble estuary in Lancashire.

The RSPB will begin work in March to re-flood 170 hectares of farmland at Hesketh Out Marsh, which was reclaimed from the sea 25 years ago.

The result will be a mix of saltmarsh, saline lagoons and muddy creeks, providing a wetland haven for thousands of wintering birds such as black-tailed godwits, dunlins, avocets, redshanks and wigeons.

For people: Saltholme.
The 380-hectare Saltholme site is situated near the mouth of the River Tees in north east England and within easy reach for millions of people. The RSPB is working with the Teesside Environmental Trust to transform the former industrial site into a new kind of nature reserve.

With around 100,000 visitors expected every year, the site will be one of the largest tourist attractions in the region, offering people the chance to get close to nature.

At least twenty-three new jobs will be created as a result and visitors to the site will bring an additional £1.4 million-a-year to the local economy. An iconic ‘Wild Bird Discovery Centre’ will be at the heart of the site, providing a family-friendly experience of wildlife, and facilities for recreation, education and local community activities.

For ever: Sutton Fen.

-Ends-

For more information, images and to arrange interviews contact:
Ian Robinson, Broads Area Manager, 01603 715191 mobile 07766 441893
Chris Durdin, RSPB Eastern England region 01603 660066
John Clare, RSPB media officer 01767 680551
David Horsfall, Regional Land Agent 01603 660066

Photos
A range of photographs of Sutton Fen is available on www.rspb-images.com and can be supplied free of charge to support this story. Please see which images you would like from those at: http://www.rspb-images.com/respages/result.asp?txtKeyword=Sutton+Fen&NewSearch=True

and request these from Pat Knibb on 01603 697520 pat.knibb@rspb.org.uk Pat can also supply an aerial photo.

Notes to editors:

1. The Sutton Fen purchase totals 170 hectares (365 acres) consisting of 139 hectares of fen and 31 hectares of grassland. There is a public footpath around part of the fen. Plans for the future are undecided, but it is likely that public access to much of the area will not be possible due to poor paths and roads and the fragile nature of the fen and its wildlife

2. The Tubney Charitable Trust, a grant making charity, accepts grant applications from UK registered charities seeking to conserve the natural environment of the United Kingdom through achievement of UK Biodiversity Action Plan targets; and to improve the welfare of farmed animals both in the UK and internationally. For more information, visit the Trust’s website at www.tubney.org.uk

3. RSPB nature reserves, a potted history:

The RSPB’s network of reserves first grew out of its system of ‘watchers’ – farmers, fishermen, gamekeepers and others, paid to keep an eye on rare breeding birds.

The first was appointed in 1901 to guard the pintails at Loch Leven in Kinross.

It was not until 1930, when the RSPB was already 40-years-old, that it acquired its first reserve on Romsey Marsh.

This was sold in 1950 after the surrounding land was drained and the birds deserted it. Today the Society’s oldest remaining reserve is at Dungeness, announced to the public in 1932.

The number of reserves grew slowly at first but by 1960 the RSPB had acquired some of its most celebrated sites, including Minsmere in Suffolk and Havergate Island, famous as the place where avocets first returned to the UK. The avocet has since become the RSPB’s logo and icon of bird conservation.

During the 1960s the Society began to buy sites where species were under immediate threat and by 1970 it owned, leased or managed 31 reserves.

The 1970s saw an explosion in support for conservation organisations. The RSPB’s membership increased ten-fold to 100,000, and the number of reserves leapt to 75.

Growth has continued and with today’s announcement of the 200th reserve the Society has land in every part of the UK, from Fetlar in the Shetlands to Marazion in Cornwall and from the Lower Lough Erne Islands in County Fermanagh to Berney Marshes in the far east of Norfolk.

3. RSPB reserves factfile:

Geography -

As of March 31, 2006, the RSPB owned leased or managed land totalling 131,127 hectares, an area larger than Greater Manchester.

Biggest: Abernethy - 13,714 ha
Smallest (open to visitors): Fairy Glen - 2 ha
Highest point on reserve: Ben Macdui - 1,309 metres - second highest point in the UK.
Lowest point on reserve: The pilot project fields at the Ouse Washes are up to 1.3m below Ordnance Datum
Most Northerly reserve: Fetlar, Shetlands
Most Southerly reserve: Marazion Marsh, Cornwall
Most Easterly reserve: Breydon Water, Norfolk
Most Westerly reserve: Lower Lough Erne Islands, Northern Ireland
Most isolated reserve: Balranald

Land designated as Sites or Areas of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI/ASSIs) occurs on 150 reserves. In all, almost 4 per cent of the UK’s SSSI land falls within RSPB reserves.

RSPB reserves contain 12 per cent of the UK’s reedbeds, 13 per cent of its shingle, 20 per cent of its native pinewoods, and 25 per cent of its saline lagoons.

RSPB reserves welcome 1.5 million visitors a year.
The most visited reserve is Titchwell Marsh in Norfolk, with 92k visitors a year.
The least visited is Ramna Stacks and Gruney in Yell sound, Shetland. This is a series of steep rocky seabird islands, totalling 11 hectares.

Each year, 61,000 children take part in field teaching days on RSPB reserves.

There are 3,186 volunteers working on RSPB reserves. Together they contribute 237,289 hours a year, the equivalent of 132 extra fulltime staff.

The oldest volunteer is 97, the youngest 10.

People employed on reserves: 547.

In the last financial year, the cost of keeping the reserve network running was £6.5 million. This is estimated to support 203 Full Time Equivalent jobs and £3.8 million of wages in local economies around the UK.

The 1.5 million visitors to RSPB reserves in 2005/06 spent an estimated £12.64 each, supporting an estimated 476 FTE jobs.

Birds:

RSPB reserves support at least 30 per cent of the UK breeding populations of 13 species of Birds of Conservation Concern, including bittern (39%), black-tailed godwit (93%), Slavonian grebe (46%), red-necked phalarope (78%) and roseate tern (80%).

RSPB reserves are also home to:

Fifty-four species of mammal, including 14 of the 17 bat species found in the UK; all six of Britain’s native amphibians and all six of its native reptiles; 37 of the country’s 39 species of dragonfly native to Britain and Ireland; 53 of the 55 species of British butterflies; more than 700 of the UK’s 726 large moths.

Minsmere in Suffolk is home to more than 1,000 species of moths (small and large).

More than half the reserves have at least one nationally rare or scarce plant species. Abernethy in Scotland has the most with 48.

Well over 2,000 species of fungi have been found on RSPB reserves, with more than 1,000 recorded at one reserve alone, Tudeley Woods in Kent.

In the past 2-3 years, sixteen species that are new to Britain have been discovered on RSPB reserves, 12 of them in 2004. They included a spider, a moth, two wasps and 12 flies. One of the flies was entirely new to science.

There are 5,000 cattle on RSPB reserves - most of them on the Nene and Ouse Washes.

Shopping –

In the 2006/07 financial year we expect our reserves shops to sell approximately:
25,000 bird feeders
1,000-1,200 tonnes of bird food
25,000 singing soft bird toys
10,000 pairs of binoculars
60,000 books

Did you know…?

From the Sandwell Valley reserve, you can hear the West Bromwich Albion fans cheering when they score a goal? The Hawthorns (the Baggies ground) is only a couple of miles away.

Hodbarrow Lagoon is the largest stretch of coastal open water in north-west England.

At 5,000 hectares, the Geltsdale reserve in the North Pennines, is one of largest organically farmed areas in England.

Bempton Cliffs reserve in Yorkshire is the largest seabird colony in England with up to 200,000 birds.

Abernethy Forest is the largest remaining stand of Caledonian pine forest in Scotland (c15% of the total).

Fairclough's Pool on the Marshside reserve on Merseyside may have been the site where the first potatoes to be imported into Britain were unloaded.

The Lodge reserve in Bedfordshire is the site of two Iron Age hill forts.

The trees planted on the colliery spoil heaps at Fairburn Ings in Yorkshire were the first attempt at the restoration of slag heaps in Britain.

The Old Man of Hoy and the summit of Cairn Gorm are both on RSPB reserves.

Minsmere in Suffolk is perhaps the RSPB’s best-known reserve, but it only exists because of the Second World War. The land was flooded to make it impossible for the invading Germans to land tanks there.

Secretary-Public Affairs
RSPB
Stalham House,65 Thorpe Road
Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 1UD
Tel: 01603 697520
Fax:01603 660088

The RSPB is the UK charity working to secure a healthy environment for birds and all wildlife,helping to create a better world for everyone. We depend on the goodwill and financial support of people like you. Click here to join today www.rspb.org.uk/join

Brussels, 12 December 2006

Commission takes legal action against illegal bird hunting

The European Commission has launched legal action against Spain, Italy and Austria over their rules on hunting which are not in line with the EU’s Wild Birds Directive. Currently, these Member States allow the hunting of birds to take place with insufficient controls, thereby failing to sufficiently protect the birds species in question. Spain will receive a first warning letter asking it to follow-up a 2004 ruling by the European Court of Justice. Italy will be referred to the Court and Austria will receive a first warning letter.

"The conservation of bird species is a vital part of nature protection in the EU and is crucial to preventing biodiversity loss," said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas. "Where it takes place under strict conditions, the sustainable hunting of birds is possible.”

Cases against individual Member States

The Commission has sent a first warning letter to Spain, following a December 2004 judgement of the Court of Justice (Case C-79/03) condemning the practice of the hunting of birds in the Community of Valencia. The Court found that by allowing hunting by means of a method known as ‘parany’, Spain was in breach of the Birds Directive. The 'parany' is a device used to capture birds. It consists of limed twigs in a tree to which the hunted birds are lured with decoys. Once the bird comes into contact with the limed twig, it is generally not able to fly away and may be killed by the hunter. Legislation adopted by the Community of Valencia authorising the continued use of 'parany' to hunt was annulled in 2005, but the Commission has reasons to believe that hunting using the method is still tolerated and as such the Spanish authorities have not undertaken adequate measures to comply with the Court judgement.

The Commission has also decided to refer Italy to the Court of Justice over infringements of the Birds Directive in the Liguria region. Regional legislation for Liguria adopted in October 2006 authorises the hunting of the starling (Sturnus sturnus) without complying with the specific conditions for a derogation required under the Directive. The Commission argues that such a general authorisation leads to too many birds being captured or killed.

Finally, the Commission has sent a first warning letter to Austria over legislation in the province of Lower Austria which authorises the hunting of two birds of prey, the goshawk (Accipter gentilis) and the buzzard (Buteo buteo) in the period 1 November – 31 January. These bird species may not be hunted according to the Birds Directive. However, if hunting is considered necessary, then the specific conditions required by the Directive must be met. The Commission considers that Lower Austria has not given justified reasons for permitting the birds to be hunted.

Hunting rules at EU level

Hunting is regulated at EU-level by the 1979 Wild Birds Directive^[1]. This Directive sets out measures for the protection, management and control of all species of naturally occurring birds. Although the Directive contains a general prohibition on the killing of wild birds, it allows certain species to be hunted under certain conditions, provided this is not during the periods of breeding and migration. The Directive does not set fixed hunting periods, as these vary depending on the species and geographical location from region to region. It is for the Member States to fix hunting dates according to scientific knowledge on migration and reproduction periods of the different huntable species.

Exceptionally, Member States may allow the capture or killing of birds covered by the Directive using certain methods or outside of the normal hunting season for a limited number of reasons. However, derogations are only granted where they comply with strict conditions.

The Commission supports sustainable hunting and a ground-breaking agreement on sustainable hunting was signed in 2004 by hunters and bird conservationists at EU-level. For further details see:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/nature_conservation/focus_wild_birds/sustainable_hunting/index_en.htm

Legal Process

Article 226 of the Treaty gives the Commission powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not respecting its obligations.

If the Commission considers that there may be an infringement of EU law that warrants the opening of an infringement procedure, it addresses a "Letter of Formal Notice" (first written warning) to the Member State concerned, requesting it to submit its observations by a specified date, usually two months.

In the light of the reply or absence of a reply from the Member State concerned, the Commission may decide to address a "Reasoned Opinion" (final written warning) to the Member State. This clearly and definitively sets out the reasons why it considers there to have been an infringement of EU law, and calls upon the Member State to comply within a specified period, usually two months.

If the Member State fails to comply with the Reasoned Opinion, the Commission may decide to bring the case before the Court of Justice. Where the Court of Justice finds that the Treaty has been infringed, the offending Member State is required to take the measures necessary to conform.

Article 228 of the Treaty gives the Commission power to act against a Member State that does not comply with a previous judgement of the European Court of Justice. The article also allows the Commission to ask the Court to impose a financial penalty on the Member State concerned.
More information about EU nature protection policies is available at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/nature/home.htm
For current statistics on infringements in general see:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/sgb/droit_com/index_en.htm#infractions