Supported by the Quixwood windfarm biodiversity offset scheme, the aim of the Borders Wading Bird Initiative is to create and manage wetland habitat for wading birds
Background to the Borders Wading Bird Initiative Grant Scheme
A biodiversity offset project has been secured by Scottish Borders Council for the Quixwood Wind Farm, on behalf of the developer NTR plc (Moor Wood Wind Farm) Ltd. This is to compensate for the loss of breeding wader habitat and helps contribute to the cost of seasonal grazing management of wet grassland habitats, the creation of wader scrapes and the cutting of soft rush. Habitat management is being delivered off-site, in core breeding wader areas, within 20 km of Quixwood wind farm. Target species include lapwing, curlew, oyster catcher, snipe and redshank.
Our Borders Wading Bird Initiative StoryMap provides a great introduction to the project and what the project partnership (Tweed Forum, Scottish Borders Council, RSPB and NatureScot) has achieved.
Conservation work completed to date
By targeting specific fields where wading birds are known to breed, to date over 250 ha of wet grassland is now under seasonal (Spring) grazing management to benefit nesting waders – particularly lapwing and curlew. Nearly 70 wader scrapes have been created which help provide areas where wading bird chicks can readily access shallow water (with muddy banksides) where insect larvae can be found, which is crucial for wading bird survival in the first few weeks after hatching.
