Darwin’s Natural Selection Fund
Friday 20th March
Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s Farmland Birds Bed and Breakfast scheme has been selected by The Big Give to receive match funding through Darwin’s Natural Selection Fund set up by the Reed Foundation. Any donation made through this scheme will be doubled! There is no time limit on the match funding scheme however there is just over £11,000 which the Wildlife Trust could benefit from.
The Farmland Birds scheme provides supplementary winter feeding and nest boxes for a number of threatened bird species commonly found on farmland habitat. The project has had a positive response from the farming community with 40 farms across the county now participating in partnership with the Wildlife Trust.
The target species for supplementary feeding are tree sparrows and yellowhammers. Both of these species are on the red list of birds of conservation concern due to a national population decline of more than 50% in the last 25 years. However, there are still relatively healthy populations in Nottinghamshire. Monitoring of the scheme has shown that yellowhammers and tree sparrows have utilised seed from the hoppers and the latter have been found breeding at a majority of sites, using the nest boxes provided. We are keen to build on the success of the initial phase of the scheme and provide further support for these and other farmland bird species.
This is a wonderful opportunity to support and extend the scheme in a simple and cost-effective way. Just go to http://www.thebiggive.org.uk/project.php?project_id=3626 and donate now!
