Nature's Voice

The State of Nature Report 2019 shows the decline in the UK’s biodiversity is continuing unabated. In this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to Dr Mark Eaton, RSPB Principal Conservation Scientist, about the report which has been collated from data produced in partnerships with more than 70 conservation NGOs, research institutes and UK and national governments. She also meets the RSPB’s new Chief Executive Becky Speight who talks about her first five weeks and post and her vision for the future of Europe's largest conservation organisation. 

The youth movement behind this year’s school strikes is joining other grass roots organisations around the world to call for a Global Climate Strike on September 20th. The RSPB is standing alongside the UK Student Climate Network and is encouraging members and staff to take part. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to the RSPB’s youth development manager Emily Lomax and campaigns officer Natasha Yorke Edgell about taking part and how it might influence governments to act to stop climate catastrophe.

More and more science projects by conservation and environmental charities show that, globally, wildlife and nature are in trouble. The BTOs recent bird communities’ research illustrates both the positive and negative effects of  feeding garden birds while the RSPB’s Reserve Report 2018 reports winners and losers around the country – all vital information in the fight to help nature in the face of habitat loss and climate change.  On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham speaks to BTO research ecologist Dr Kate Plummer and the RSPB’s senior reserve ecologist Kelly Thomas about their findings.

2019 has seen global warming rise up the political agenda - much of it driven by a young people demanding change. At the end of June around 12,000 people from around the country joined The Time is Now mass lobby in Westminster. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to Dan Rouse, a young ornithologist and campaigner who took over the RSPB Twitter feed for the day to report on the event. And she meets the RSPB’s Ruth Davis, deputy director of policy and advocacy in the global conservation team to assess what has changed and hopes for the future.

Calling all Puffarazzi! Two years ago the RSPB’s Project Puffin put out a call for photographs of puffins with fish in their beaks. Hundreds were received and they tell a fascinating story about the lives of these iconic birds who are on the red list of conservation concern. On this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to Dr Ellie Owen about why she’s asking for more photos this year. And she meets Rob Hughes one of the volunteers who identified and counted all the fish in the images you sent.

As May arrives swifts are returning to their UK nesting sites - heralding the start of summer. But their populations plummeted by 53 per cent between 1995 and 2015. It’s a subject that Nature’s Voice has visited before and on this episode Jane Markham meets one of the country’s leading swift experts Edward Mayer, the founder of Swift Conservation, and to Jos Ashpole from the RSPB’s migrant programme about why people love these birds and what is being done to help reverse the decline. 

With political uncertainty over Brexit continuing there are still many questions to be answered about new UK legislation that will be needed to protect the environment once we've left the EU. At the same time schoolchildren around the globe have raised their voices to demand action on climate change. On this edition of Nature's Voice Jane Markham talks to the RSPB's Global Conservation Director, Martin Harper who looks at where we stand now and what needs to be done when it comes to getting strong laws in place. She also meets A level student Annie Magowan whose e-petition calling for more protection for bees has already attracted more than 5,000 signatures. 

The Albatross is a long lived bird – one male on Bird Island in South Georgia was ringed as a chick in 1959 and still going strong. But out of the 22 Albatross species, 15 are in danger of extinction and that’s despite the remarkable success of the Albatross Task Force – set up by the RSPB and Birdlife International more than a decade ago. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to marine biologists Titus Shaanika from the ATF team in Namibia and Cristian Suazo in Chile about their work with the fishing industry to try to reduce the number of Albatrosses killed as a ‘bycatch’. She also meets the RSPB’s Nina da Rocha the Albatross Task Force Project officer to find out more about the task force’s role since it was set up and looks forward to further success in the future. 

Our countryside could fall silent if current declines in wildlife continue. That is why the RSPB has launched Let Nature Sing - a campaign urging politicians to take advantage of the historic opportunity Brexit offers to pass laws to make the UK a world leader in conservation. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham finds out about the campaign’s objectives from the RSPB's deputy director of policy Ruth Davis and talks to folk singer and song collector Sam Lee about how bird song has inspired music for generations.

This year the Big Garden Birdwatch is 40 years old and to celebrate Jane Markham will be meeting Ian Barthorpe who took part in the very first count when he was seven years old.  He is now visitor experience officer at RSPB Minsmere.  She’ll also talk to Green Fingered George – a young blogger - who is one of the new generation of Big Garden Birdwatchers. He took part in the RSPB’s latest TV ad which gave him the chance to meet his wildlife hero Chris Packham. 

House sparrows have made their homes close to human habitation for centuries but since the 1970s their numbers have plummeted by 60 per cent and the decline is particularly noticeable in our towns and cities. Why is this happening? On this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets Dr Will Peach, head of research delivery at the RSPB to look at the latest theories and talks to RSPB wildlife gardener Adrian Thomas to find out how to look after sparrows in our gardens.

Every autumn starling numbers in the UK are bolstered by hundreds of thousands of birds migrating here from Northern Europe, Russia and the Ukraine to escape harsh winter weather. As they come in to roost at dusk they gather in huge flocks creating spectacular ‘sky art’ -  a natural wonder of the season.  On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets the RSPB’s Annabel Rushton who looks forward to their arrival at the Leighton Moss reserve in Lancashire and to the RSPB’s Martin Fowlie, a keen naturalist, to find out more about why and how they create these breathtaking murmurations.

Climate change is already affecting the migration patterns of birds that visit the UK. Some arrive early and leave later while some don’t visit us at all anymore. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to the RSPB’s Andrew Dodd about how it’s becoming harder for species to adapt to this change. She also meets ecologist Dr Simon Pickering from the green energy provider Ecotricity to discuss the role of renewable energy in averting the worst effects of climate change.

One of the season’s great spectacles is about to begin as birds from as far north as the arctic circle head for the UK to overwinter. Pink-footed geese and whooper swans are just two of the species which will be arriving shortly at Loch Leven in central Scotland – both are on the amber list of conservation concern. On this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets Vicky Turnbull from the RSPB’s Tayside reserves and Graham Jones site manager for the Dee Estuary to look forward to their arrival and get an understanding of the perilous journeys they have to make to get here.

Long before Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest its oak trees were providing homes for nature. August 2018 sees the RSPB preparing to open a brand new visitor centre and take on the management of this historic national nature reserve.  On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to the man running the project and RSPB ecologist Andy Skinner who has been surveying the roots of the Major Oak  - as well as Robin Hood himself!

Are you up for a Wild Challenge this summer? The RSPB’s new online activity awards, funded by their partnership with supermarket chain Aldi, aims to connect children with nature. Wild Challenge is full of ideas to inspire children to get outdoors and during Wild Challenge week, from the 30th of July to August 5th, those who gain their bronze, silver or gold awards will also receive RSPB goodies. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets up with the RSPB’s Rebecca Kerfoot and Aldi’s John O’Maoileoin to find out more.

The annual Swift Survey has been running since 2009, gathering information on where swifts are nesting across the UK.  Swift numbers are 53 per cent down over the last 30 years and data from the survey, coupled with some ground breaking research in Northern Ireland, is providing clues to why this might be happening. On this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to RSPB Northern Ireland’s senior conservation scientist Kendrew Colhoun about using GPS tracking – a world first on a bird so small -  and to Guy Anderson about how your sightings can contribute to this year’s survey.

The government is seeking views on the future of farming.  Michael Gove, secretary of state at the department of farming, food and rural affairs wants the UK to become a global leader when it comes to protecting the planet and on this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to Vicki Swales, head of land use policy for RSPB Scotland, about how farming policy post Brexit could change the countryside for the better. And in Curlew Crisis Month she meets farmer David Bonnar whose work on his upland farm in Northern Ireland is helping the plight of this critically endangered wader. 

When humans move species from one part of the world to another it can cause all sorts of problems - from non-native rodents wiping out entire seabird colonies to non-native water weeds choking our rivers. On this month’s Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets three people who are coping with the impact of these invaders on a daily basis. Laura Bambini is an RSPB Scotland seabird recovery officer, Kelly Thomas, a reserves ecologist who has advice on how to recognise a new threat from the asian hornet and Danny Heptinstall, who as an RSPB policy officer, specialises in invasive non native species and biosecurity.

Field crickets are in danger and the Back from the Brink Field Cricket Project team are working to help increase the population of these chunky little crickets which are just 2 cm long. In the 1980s, there was only one group of fewer than 100 individuals left. This is where  cricket ticklers come in – their job is to find and collect crickets from one site and move them to new homes on restored heathland. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham finds out more from Jane Sears, the RSPB’s senior reserves ecologist and Martin Fowlie – a volunteer cricket tickler!

The government has set its vision for a green future in a detailed 25 year plan to improve the environment. On this month’s Nature’s Voice, the RSPB’s Senior Policy Officer Robin Wynde talks to Jane Markham about the plan and what needs to be done to achieve its goals. And Cambridgeshire farmer Martin Lines, a member of the new Nature Friendly Farming Network, explains why it’s so important that sustainable farming has a voice at this critical time in the debate over the future of agriculture.

TV presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff takes part in the Big Garden Birdwatch every year with her children. Actor David Neilsen, who plays Roy Cropper in Coronation Street, will be joining the count for the first time. On this month’s Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets them both and finds out what has inspired them to get involved in the 39th Big Garden Birdwatch on the last weekend of January.

This year's State of the UK's Birds report highlights how climate change is affecting our wintering and breeding birds. This annual 'stock take' of bird numbers is a collaboration between the RSPB, the British Trust for Ornithology and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust with the UK's statutory conservation bodies. On this month's Nature's Voice Jane Markham finds out more from RSPB conservation scientist Dr Daniel Hayhow and Dr Teresa Frost from the BTO. 

Back from the Brink is a ground breaking collaboration between eight conservation organisations, funded by the National Lottery. Its aim is to rescue some of our most threatened species before it’s too late and to inspire us all to discover, value and act to save endangered wildlife. On this month’s Nature’s Voice Jane Markham finds out more about the project from Back from the Brink’s James Harding-Morris and Emma Burt and talks to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Pete Wall about one of the species which will benefit – the willow tit – which has seen its population plummet by 94% since 1970.

In a world where we spend more and more time indoors - how can today’s children connect with nature? Throughout the summer the RSPB, in partnership with the supermarket chain Aldi, have been addressing this in parks up and down the UK with the Wild Parks programme. On this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets Martyn Foster, the RSPB’s head of education, families and youth who has been overseeing the project and hears from Ellie, the bug hunter and some of the children and parents who took part.

The government has published the Great Repeal Bill - more formally the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. It states that all existing EU laws will be copied into UK legislation when the UK leaves in March 2019. How will the laws protecting nature and wildlife fare in this transition? On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham speaks to the RSPB’s Conservation Director Martin Harper and Kate Jennings, Head of Site Conservation Policy, about the threats and opportunities for nature contained in the bill?

Corncrakes are secretive birds - you’re far more likely to hear their rasping calls than see one. They were once widespread throughout the UK but their numbers declined catastrophically during the 20th century. By the 1990s they were only found breeding in the Hebrides, Orkney and some parts of the Scottish West Coast including Durness.  Since then, thanks to close collaboration between RSPB Scotland, government bodies, farmers and crofters, corncrake numbers are on the rise. On this month’s Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to the RSPB’s John Bowler who monitors corncrakes on Tiree in the Hebrides and meets Paul Walton, head of habitat and species for RSPB Scotland to discover more about these birds and their changing fortunes

As part of Project Puffin the RSPB wants you to join the Puffarazzi and send in your photos of puffins carrying fish in their beaks. Puffins have recently been added to the red conservation list and your photographs will help research into how they are faring during this breeding season. RSPB Northern Ireland's Liam McFaul is warden of the dramatic Rathlin Island reserve - a great place to see puffins. Jane Markham talks to him, and visitor experience officers Hazel Watson and Ric Else, about about the island's huge sea bird colony. Plus conservation scientist Ellie Owen explains what Project Puffin is all about

Oxford has just become England’s first Swift City – a two year project, with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to give a home to these remarkable summer migrants who spend nearly all their lives on the wing. Since 1995 the number of swifts returning to the UK has fallen by 47 per cent and the project aims to recruit Oxford locals and city visitors to record bird sightings and encourage people to put up nest boxes. On this month’s Nature’s Voice Jane Markham visits Oxford to meet Lucy Hyde who is the Oxford Swift City Project Officer for the RSPB, and volunteers Chris Mason and Jocelyne Hughes.

The National Nightingale Festival brings together events throughout May to give you the chance to go and hear the song of this increasingly rare bird at special venues across the east and south of England. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets acclaimed folk singer Sam Lee who, with guest artists, creates concerts around a campfire to sing with nightingales. She also finds out about the continuing threat to one of the country’s most important habitats for nightingales when she talks to the RSPB’s Adrian Thomas, the campaign manager to save Lodge Hill in Kent.

The little tern is the smallest and one of the rarest breeding seabirds in the UK. They over winter in Africa and on their return they nest in the open on sandy and shingle beaches which leaves them vulnerable to human disturbance, predators and high tides. The Little Tern Recovery Project is a five year programme, in partnership with 10 other organisations, to protect these brilliant little birds. As the project moves into its fourth breeding season Jane Markham meets Fabienne Fossez who runs the team of volunteers on the east Norfolk coast. And talks to Sue Rendell Read, the project manager, and her assistant Anne Parr about its progress.

We often report on nature in trouble in the podcast – so many species and habitats in the UK and around the world are under threat. But from time to time it’s worth taking stock of where work to help threatened species is bearing fruit. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to Andy Evans, head of the RSPB’s Nature Recovery Unit, and species recovery officer Stephanie Morren about some of the good news stories from the past year. These range from the appearance of a huge flock of yellowhammers at Hope Farm to progress in saving the albatross from extinction.

Actors Charles Dance and Jason Isaacs are taking a lead in The Climate Coalition's Show the Love campaign this February. They've given their time to star in a short film made by Ridley Scott Associates featuring the poetry of Anthony Anaxagorou and the music of Elbow.  The things we love could change forever due to climate change and that's the message of the video. On this edition of Nature's Voice Jane Markham talks to Fiona Dear from The Climate Change Coalition about the film and campaign and to the RSPB's conservation director Martin Harper about special places under threat.

The Big Garden Birdwatch 2017 takes place between 28-30 January – yes this year you have a choice of three days to take part in the annual count by spending an hour in your garden noting down all the birds you see. And – particularly if you live in the east of the country – you might be lucky enough to spot an exciting visitor or two this time. With berries short in other parts of northern Europe, waxwings have already been spotted on the east coast. On this month’s Nature’s Voice, Jane Markham discovers that we may be heading for a waxwing winter!

The RSPB is aiming to raise a million pounds to acquire 10 million square metres of new space to provide homes for wildlife in the coming year. For this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to Gwyn Williams, the RSPB’s Head of Reserves, about how increasing the amount of land under RSPB management is helping conserve some of the country’s rarest species. And she looks at a success story – the long road to acquiring and reclaiming rare salt marsh at Hesketh Out Marsh on the picturesque Ribble Estuary in Lancashire.

Jewellery designer Alex Monroe has created some very special pieces for the RSPB featuring a curlew, a pair of turtle doves and a harvest mouse. The collection illustrates his great love for wildlife and in particular the wildlife on the RSPB’s Minsmere reserve in Suffolk - a place he’s known since he was a child. He’ll be telling Jane Markham about his inspiration and she’ll be meeting the RSPB’s Adam Rowlands and Matthew Parrott from Minsmere to find out more about one of the RSPB's flagship reserves. Alex will be donating £35 from each piece sold to the RSPB.

The RSPB, in partnership with 50 conservation organisations, have pooled data to provide the most comprehensive assessment of the UK’s wildlife ever - and it’s not good news. More than 56 per cent of our wildlife has declined over the last 50 years and is still in decline. The new State of Nature report  was  launched by Sir David Attenborough – three years after the original report. On this episode of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham meets the RSPB’s Principal Conservation Scientist Dr Mark Eaton, lead author of the report, to look at its findings. And she speaks to Jim Foster from ARC, the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, and finds how, working in partnership, there is good news for some species.

Turtle doves are the fastest declining bird in the UK - their population is halving every six years. Why is this happening and what can be done to help? On this month’s Nature’s Voice Jane Markham talks to the RSPB’s Senior Conservation Scientist Dr John Mallord who has been part of Operation Turtle Dove. His work with Titan the turtle dove – who was satellite tagged two seasons ago - has produced a huge amount of information.  She also meets Samantha Lee who works with landowners in the east of England to help improve the habitat on their key breeding grounds.

This year’s Big Wild Sleepout is upon us and on this edition of Nature’s Voice we go on a night time adventure at RSPB Pulborough Brooks Nature Reserve. We’re on the trail of moths and bats – creatures you may well hear in your own garden if you take part in the Big Wild Sleepout over the last weekend of July. Jane Markham also speaks to the RSPB’s Paul Birmingham about why it’s become such a popular event and why it’s so important to reconnect with nature.

It happens every morning at this time of year - in the countryside and in towns - but how many of us have ever really listened to the dawn chorus? Why do the birds start singing before the sun even rises and does the early bird really catch the worm? RSPB wildlife adviser Ben Andrew talks to Jane Markham about the birds as they start to sing in an Oxfordshire garden, identifying the early risers and what you should listen out for. 

The results of this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch sees the lovely long tailed tit making it back into the number 10 spot on the chart. On this edition of Nature’s Voice Jane Markham examines the results with RSPB conservation scientist Dr Daniel Hayhow.  Nowadays most entries arrive online but in 1979, when it all started, they arrived by post. We hear from Peter Holden who had the task of sifting through and recording the results from huge sacks of mail.

Hen harriers will begin their spectacular courtship sky dance in and around March but they remain one of the UK's most threatened birds of prey. Illegal persecution on upland intensive grouse moors is the most important threat to their survival. On this month's Nature's Voice Jane Markham meets Bea Ayling who manages the RSPB's Hen Harrier LIFE+ project about this remarkable bird and to Andre Farrar about his hopes for a new government backed hen harrier action plan. 

Hattie Garlick's new book Born to be Wild is full of ideas to get children outdoors without spending lots of money and in this – the 100th edition of Nature’s Voice – Jane Markham visits Hattie for a sneak preview. The book's published in March, and as an RSPB licensed book, part of the cover price willbe helping save wildlife. We’ll also be looking at things to do outdoors at RSPB reserves as the February half term approaches.

If your image of a scientist is someone in a white coat then RSPB conservation scientists Dr Jennifer Smart and Dr Ellie Owen will dispel that image for good. Their work has them up to their knees in water or harnessed on the edge of some of the UK's highest cliffs! Jane Markham meets them both. But science isn't the only way to help the natural world and she also talks to singer and songwriter Miel de Botton about her song Birds without Borders inspired by the RSPB's campaign of the same name.

Beecroft Academy in Dunstable is centre stage on this episode of Nature's Voice. Jane Markham went on a school visit with RSPB early years education officer Rebecca Kerfoot in the run up to January's Big Schools Birdwatch. And there are lots of new things for teachers, and the children in their classes, can do to prepare for the count which takes place in the first half of next term. 

In the run up to the Paris Climate Change Conference this edition of Nature's Voice looks at how climate change is affecting wildlife. The RSPB's conservation director Martin Harper talks to Jane Markham about the challenges ahead and we celebrate a success story. Bitterns, their reedbed habitats on the coast threatened by rising sea levels and reduced to a handful of breeding pairs in the mid 1990s, are now flourishing at Lakenheath Fen in reedbeds planted with the help of volunteers.

Response for Nature is a follow up to The State of Nature Report published in 2013. Two years on, and after detailed research, the RSPB and more than 20 other conservation organisations have joined forces to call for action from each of our devolved governments to stop the decline in biodiversity across the UK. On this edition of Nature's Voice Jane Markham talks to Philippa Richards the RSPB's project officer for the Response for Nature project. She'll also be visiting Fevered Sleep (the performing arts company) to find out about their response to the State of Nature Report  - an online digital artwork called An Open Field.

This July, sections of the sea wall at Wallasea Island in Essex were breached as part of a project to recreate more than seven square kilometres of rare coastal habitats. These are to compensate for habitat lost for development and rising sea levels due to climate change. It's one of the RSPB's most ambitious ventures to date and has been made possible with the help of three million tons of clean soils from one of its key partners, Crossrail, who are building London's new railway. For Nature's Voice this month Jane Markham was given a guided tour of the reserve by the RSPB's project manager, Chris Tyas, to see how the new saline lagoons and mud flats are shaping up.

The puffin is on the new European Red List of birds under threat. Their main breeding colonies in Iceland and Norway have seen sharp declines in the number of chicks making it through to adulthood, and the alarm bells are ringing for this iconic and much-loved sea bird. On this episode of Nature's Voice, and with this year's breeding season in full swing, Jane Markham talks to the RSPB's Keith Clarkson about the puffins (and their pufflings) breeding at the Bempton Cliffs reserve, and to conservation scientist Dr Mark Eaton about what is going wrong and what can be done to help. Plus, we look ahead to this year's Big Wild Sleepout.

EU legislation – the Birds and Habitats Directives – which protect the most important wildlife species and habitats in the UK and Europe are being reviewed and at risk of being weakened. On this month's nature's voice, Jane Markham visits the RSPB's heathland reserve at Arne in Dorset, one of the world's rarest habitats, and a place which is protected thanks to the Birds and Habitats Directives. She also speaks to Alistair Taylor, the RSPB's Senior Policy Officer for Nature Directives, and looks at the Defend Nature campaign, which is how you can help protect the laws which protect nature. 

The folk rock band Stornoway's new album includes birdsong woven into the music. On this edition of Nature's Voice Jane Markham meets their lead singer and ornithologist Brian Briggs, and fellow band member Jon Ouin, on Oxford's Port Meadow to explore their inspiration. There are also details of how you can download a free track from their album, Bonxie. Plus the Big Garden Birdwatch results are out - Molly and Frankie are back to countdown this year's top ten.