Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

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The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, (abbreviated RSPB) was founded in 1889 in England, and is now probably the largest wildlife conservation organisation of its kind in the world. It is the UK partner of Birdlife International, a global alliance of bird conservation organizations.

The RSPB headquarters are at The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, England.

The RSPB owns or manages nearly 200 nature reserves in the United Kingdom, covering over 130,000 hectares.

The Society publishes a quarterly members' magazine, which has been called simply Birds since 1965. Prior to this the members' magazine was called Bird Notes. For children there is the Wildlife Explorers club, which produces the magazines Wild Times and Bird Life.

The RSPB is a registered charity, answerable to the charity commission for ensuring that its funds are used wisely. It is governed by a Council of elected members, chosen for their expertise relevant to running a wildlife conservation charity. The Council is headed by Chairman Ian Newton. There is also a Management Board headed by Chief Executive Graham Wynne, who reports to the chairman of the Council.

The emblem of the RSPB is the Pied Avocet, in recognition of the Society's role in re-establishing the avocet as a breeding bird in the UK at the end of the second world war.

Contents

[edit] Conservation lists

The RSPB believes that "the health of bird populations reflect the health of the planet" [1]. It is one of several organisations that determine the official conservation status list for all birds found in the UK. This consists of three lists - red, green and amber - with red list detailing birds of the highest conservation concern.

For a bird to be on the red list it must fulfill any one of the following four criteria[2]

  • A globally threatened species
  • A decline in the UK population (1800 to 1995)
  • At least a 50% decline in the UK breeding population over last 25 years
  • At least a 50% reduction in the UK breeding range over last 25 years

The UK red list is not to be confused with the IUCN Red List.

The motivation behind the conservation lists is the belief that "we all have a responsibility to protect biodiversity".

[edit] Birds on the RSPB British Red List

For a comprehensive list of all British Birds see List of British birds

[edit] Funding

The Society raised £63 million in voluntary contributions in 2005. Main sources of income were

  • £24m Membership subscriptions
  • £21m Legacies
  • £13m Grants, commercial donations & trusts [3]

RSPB Scotland is a member of the Scotland Forest Alliance, together with BP, Forest Enterprise and the Woodland Trust Scotland. The Alliance has received £10 million of funding from BP over the last ten years [4].

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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