Number of wetlands birds in the UK falls sharply

Farmland and wetland birds and seabirds in the UK have all seen significant declines in the past few years, official figures show. Populations of UK birds that live on farmland were 54 per cent down on 1970 levels in 2014, but while most of the falls occurred between the late 1970s and the early 1990s due to more intensive farming, there were also declines of 11 per cent between 2008 and 2013. Birds that feed and breed on water and wetlands saw populations fall 12 per cent in the five years from 2008, the statistics published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) showed. Seabirds have also been faring badly in recent years, with populations down by more than a quarter (27 per cent ) since 1986, with most of the decline occurring since 2003. Numbers were down 9 per cent between 2008 and 2013, the figures reveal.

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