merrion street

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is unveiling a new Curlew structure Drumshanbo today (4 September) to celebrate the iconic Irish bird which remains under threat.

The structure is aimed at raising awareness for the curlew. The Curlew Conservation Programme, a joint initiative between NPWS and the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, commissioned Donegal artist Brendan Farren, to create these structures from willow. The structure celebrates the importance of the locality for Curlew and to bring the species to mind for visitors and local people alike.

This coincides with the release of the latest progress report from the Curlew Conservation Programme. The report shows that this familiar and much admired bird, which has declined by 97% since the 1980s, is being helped by the actions of local landowners and local communities, in collaboration with local Curlew Action Teams. The report shows that a total of 25 young birds were reared by 42 pairs, meaning a breeding productivity of 0.60 fledglings/breeding pair - which is above the threshold proposed as necessary to maintain a stable population.

The Curlew Conservation Programme engages with local communities, clubs, farmers and landowners. Over the past four breeding seasons, direct assistance and support from the community has allowed the programme to progress in these local areas allowing the Curlew Action Team and relevant parties to work as a collective with one common goal. 

Commenting on the Curlew Conservation Programme Minister Noonan said:

If we don’t work together now, we may be the last generation to hear the Curlew during the summer mornings and evenings across our countryside and children growing up today may never experience what we know as part of what makes our countryside what it is.

Records of Curlew throughout the breeding season (March – July) can be submitted to agri.ecology@chg.gov.ie

Curlew Conservation Programme Progress Report can be found here