Thirty new field officers are being recruited in a nationwide campaign to stop the Curlew from becoming extinct in Ireland.
The large wader bird, which has a distinctive call, lives in the Irish countryside but is now close to extinction according to new figures.
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Minister Malcolm Noonan said: “The situation for the Curlew is one of the most difficult and pressing conservation concerns of our time, we’ve seen a 96 per cent decline of breeding Curlew since the late 1980s/early 1990s, and it is now threatened with extinction.”
Funding of €500,000 has been provided for the Curlew Conservation Programme which finds and supports Curlew to rear their young chicks.
Now the Department is hiring thirty field officers to work in the Curlew Action Teams nationwide in order to ensure the Curlew’s survival. The recruitment drive comes at a critical time as new field officers need to be in place in advance of the breeding season which begins in the spring.
Minister Noonan added: “This funding will allow us to strengthen that collaboration and work together to protect this iconic and much-loved bird. The Curlew is a link with the wild Ireland of past generations and the farmers and landowners who support out remaining breeding populations of Curlew are vital to its future.”
The Curlew Conservation Programme is run and funded by the NPWS which is under Minster Noonan and is a joint initiative with the Department of Agriculture.
LSL News.