Ensuring the RSPB remains resilient and ambitious for nature

Since the RSPB was founded 137 years ago, we have been working tirelessly to help create a world where birds, wildlife and people can thrive. But like every other charity and business at the moment, we are facing an extremely challenging economic backdrop, and we must tackle it head on if we are to continue delivering our mission in the long term.

The pressures facing nature and the charities working to protect it are intensifying. Rising costs mean every pound must now work harder for wildlife. Thanks to our brilliant members and supporters our income has continued to grow, but simply not fast enough to keep up with costs – these have increased from around £150 million in 2021/22 to around £185 million today.

We need people to deliver our work for nature. Staffing is our largest cost, and we also face ongoing external pressures in this area: alongside general inflation and the 6.7% rise in the National Living Wage for 2026, recent increases in employer National Insurance contributions have added around £2 million to our annual wage bill.

That’s why the RSPB is now looking at how we operate beyond our nature reserves network – simplifying our structures and reducing our costs, so more of our resources flow directly to saving species and restoring landscapes, both on our nature reserves and beyond.

Achieving this means making some changes within the organisation, and we have started a formal consultation process with our staff. During the consultation period, we will not be able to comment on specific proposals, although we can say that having recently completed a review of our nature reserve operations, we don’t anticipate making further changes to this area.

We are committed to meaningful consultation, minimising compulsory redundancies wherever possible, and supporting our dedicated and talented teams through this process.

Everything that makes the RSPB unique continues: world-leading species recovery and conservation, trusted science, powerful campaigning and policy work, our engagement with people, and our extraordinary volunteers and supporters making meaningful change for nature every day, across all four countries of the UK and around the world.

From wetland waders like Avocets to seabirds like Puffins, protecting birds and their habitats today costs more than ever before. These proposed changes will ensure the RSPB remains resilient, responsive, and ambitious for nature – ready to protect birds and wildlife when they need us most, for the next 137 years and more.