The Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) is encouraging farmers in Wales to get behind the Big Farmland Bird Count (BFBC) 2021, by spending 30 minutes recording the farmland birds they see on their land.
The annual UK-wide count, run by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), is scheduled to run from February 5 to February 14, 2021.
To help farmers understand what’s involved, the union is hosting a joint webinar with the GWCT on Monday, February 1, at 7:00pm via Zoom.
The webinar is free and open to all and will hear from FUW president Glyn Roberts, FUW member John Yeomans and Matthew Goodall and Lee Oliver from the GWCT, who will be discussing the birds that farmers might see and suggest some ideas on what can happen on farms to encourage more bird activity.
FUW president Glyn Roberts said:
The aim of the Big Farmland Bird Count is to raise awareness of the great conservation work being done on farms across Wales and to highlight what can be done to help farmland birds survive this difficult time of year so that the breeding populations are increased.
“I’m looking forward to the special webinar which will help us to understand the importance of recording what birds are present and identify what effects Glastir – Wales’ agri-environmental scheme – has on bird numbers.”
Over 1500 farms are participating in the bird count
Matthew Goodall from the GWCT added:
“We are delighted to be in partnership with the FUW to discuss the BFBC which is in its eighth year attracting over 1,500 farms to participate.
“More importantly we want to impress that this ‘hungry gap’ time in the year means more can be done to help them get into a favourable condition to maximise breeding success this year.”
