AN ambitious project to save Orkney’s native wildlife from the non-native stoat has been given a funding boost.
Initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is to be given to the Orkney Native Wildlife Project which is set to be the largest of its kind in the world.
A partnership between Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and RSPB Scotland, it is aimed at safeguarding the unique and internationally important native wildlife of Orkney by tackling the threat it faces from the stoat, an invasive non-native predator.
Despite the combined land area of Orkney’s 70 islands accounting for less than one per cent of the UK, the islands are home to more than a fifth of the UK’s breeding hen harriers, internationally important numbers of seabirds and are one of the few places in the UK in that waders such as curlews are still a common breeding species.
Stoats are native to the UK mainland but not Orkney where they were first seen in 2010. Previous attempts to remove them have failed and they have spread across the Orkney mainland and the connected isles. Now only the non-linked islands are stoat-free.
They feed on small birds, eggs and small mammals and are a threat to poultry, the Orkney vole and many birds that are part of Orkney’s thriving wildlife tourism industry.
Development funding of £64,600 has now been awarded to help the partnership develop plans for a stoat eradication project before applying for a full grant of more than £3 million in 2018.
During the nine-month development phase, the partnership aims to consult widely with the local community and develop activities to ensure Orcadians can be involved in helping native wildlife thrive.
“This is an extremely important project for the Orkney Islands,” said Lucy Casot, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland. “Wildlife tourism plays a vital part in the economy of this remote area. With the help of funds raised through the National Lottery, the fragile ecological balance can be restored for the benefit of the rare wildlife that lives there and for the islands as a whole.”
Nick Halfhide, SNH’s director of operations, added: “Orkney is spectacularly important for wildlife, and wildlife tourism is key to the local economy. Stoats are a major threat to the island’s natural and cultural heritage and this project brings a partnership approach to supporting and securing the future of Orkney’s important native wildlife.”
Martin Harper, director of global conservation for the RSPB, said that invasive non-native species were one of the greatest threats to wildlife around the world and were implicated in the majority of bird extinctions to date.
“We know that successful eradications can secure the future of island populations and we are delighted to have secured funding to help the partnership safeguard the future of the Orkney vole.”
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