Wider than LIFE

The RSPB is launching a radical new approach to nature conservation to make space for wildlife in the 21st Century.

Reaching out beyond its traditional nature reserves, the Society hopes to restore disappearing species to huge swathes of the wider countryside.

Dubbed ‘Futurescapes,’ the programme will see the RSPB working in partnership with others to create whole landscapes where people and nature can co-exist.

Aidan Lonergan, The RSPB’s Futurescapes Manager, said: “Nature reserves are vitally important – they are a refuge from where plants and animals can spread into the wider countryside.

“But that countryside is increasingly unfriendly to wildlife because of decades of habitat loss, which has robbed many species of food and shelter.

“Now climate change threatens to add even further pressure.”

“We need to turn that around. Working with others, we can once again make large areas of the countryside rich in wildlife. We need to move beyond the nature reserve and create really big areas of land, whole landscapes, where wildlife has space to move and thrive.”

“This is a crowded island and we need to meet the needs of wildlife alongside human uses of the countryside. We need our land to do more than one thing."

“If we succeed, it will not just be wildlife that wins. By taking a landscape scale approach for wildlife, we can improve other natural services provided by the land, including carbon storage, water management, and recreation, alongside food production and other important economic benefits.

One of the key areas the RSPB is targeting takes in the LIFE Project area. The North Wales Moors Futurescape is an extensive upland landscape, stretching from Blaenau Ffestiniog in the west to Wrexham in the east.

This is an area of spectacular farmed landscape, a mosaic of upland heath, woodland, grassland and blanket bog. Here, RSPB Cymru already works with many partners including the Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency Wales and Forestry Commission Wales on a wide variety of projects, including the LIFE Project. These include management work for species such as black grouse and the restoration of blanket bogs around our flagship reserve at Lake Vyrnwy.

The North Wales Moors, centred in and around the Berwyn Mountains, boast some of Wales’ best examples of upland bog. Our vision is to enhance the area’s wildlife riches, through working in partnerships, to continue the excellent work the project has begun. This will help protect populations of birds such as black grouse, hen harrier, curlew, golden plover, lapwing, pied flycatcher, wood warbler and ring ouzel.

Reaching out beyond its traditional nature reserves, the Society hopes to restore disappearing species to huge swathes of the wider countryside.

Dubbed ‘Futurescapes’, the programme will see the RSPB working in partnership with others to create whole landscapes where people and nature can co-exist.

Aidan Lonergan, The RSPB’s Futurescapes Manager, said: “Nature reserves are vitally important – they are a refuge from where plants and animals can spread into the wider countryside."

"But that countryside is increasingly unfriendly to wildlife because of decades of habitat loss, which has robbed many species of food and shelter."

“Now climate change threatens to add even further pressure.”

“We need to turn that around. Working with others, we can once again make large areas of the countryside rich in wildlife. We need to move beyond the nature reserve and create really big areas of land, whole landscapes, where wildlife has space to move and thrive."

”This is a crowded island and we need to meet the needs of wildlife alongside human uses of the countryside. We need our land to do more than one thing."

“If we succeed, it will not just be wildlife that wins. By taking a landscape scale approach for wildlife, we can improve other natural services provided by the land, including carbon storage, water management, and recreation, alongside food production and other important economic benefits."

One of the key areas the RSPB is targeting takes in the LIFE Project area. The North Wales Moors Futurescape is an extensive upland landscape, stretching from Blaenau Ffestiniog in the west to Wrexham in the east.

This is an area of spectacular farmed landscape, a mosaic of upland heath, woodland, grassland and blanket bog. Here, RSPB Cymru already works with many partners including the Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency Wales and Forestry Commission Wales on a wide variety of projects, including the LIFE Project. These include management work for species such as black grouse and the restoration of blanket bogs around our flagship reserve at Lake Vyrnwy.

The North Wales Moors, centred in and around the Berwyn Mountains, boast some of Wales’ best examples of upland bog. Our vision is to enhance the area’s wildlife riches, through working in partnerships, to continue the excellent work the project has begun. This will help protect populations of birds such as black grouse, hen harrier, curlew, golden plover, lapwing, pied flycatcher, wood warbler and ring ouzel.