Golden Eagles make game changing recovery, thanks to National Lottery funding

Golden Eagles are often used as a symbol for wilderness and majesty. With a wingspan stretching over six feet long, they can glide for miles, cruising over heather and peat bog. Until recently, these regal birds of prey were a rare sight in our southern uplands of Scotland. But now, thanks to the support of a wide range of partners and funders, including National Lottery Heritage Fund, the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project is beginning to change the fate of this iconic species, with record numbers now soaring in southern skies. The project has been such a success, that it now plans to extend its reach.

Golden Eagles have a long history across the UK. From east to west, north to south, populations were once healthy with the Golden Eagle playing an important part as an apex predator in the ecosystem. However, over the last couple of centuries, human activity and changes in land use, caused Golden Eagles to be wiped out in Wales and England, with the last resident Golden Eagle in England dying in 2016. They managed to survive in Ireland until 1912, but after that Golden Eagles were almost exclusively limited to Scotland, though with only three breeding pairs in southern Scotland.

However, through a series of translocations over a period of six years and greater cooperation between stakeholders, the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project has boosted the local population to record numbers. Thanks to the project’s work, alongside a small number of locally produced young , there are now around 48 Golden Eagles soaring in southern Scottish skies – the highest number recorded here in the last three centuries. 
 
Since it first began in 2018, under license from NatureScot, the project has successfully translocated 28 Golden Eagle juveniles (aged six to eight weeks) from the Scottish Highlands and islands to the south of Scotland. It is also the first project in the world to successfully translocate 15 free-flying young Golden Eagles (aged between six months and three years) to boost the low population of this iconic bird. 

This project, generously funded by a range of supporters including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, is a partnership project between: 

• The Southern Upland Partnership 

• Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) 

• RSPB Scotland 

• NatureScot 

• Scottish Forestry 

• The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust 

The project has captured the hearts and minds of all its supporters, from conservationists, ecologists, bird of prey workers and vets to landowners, gamekeepers and the wider community, including children, visitors and business operators. Over 30,000 volunteers and project participants have supported the project. 

 This year, the National Lottery celebrates its 30th birthday. We’re celebrating with them by saying thank you to National Lottery players – by playing the National Lottery, you’ve supported a game changing moment for UK nature. 

There are now record numbers of Golden Eagles in southern Scotland and that’s not just great news for Scotland. These translocated Golden Eagles are wandering freely and regularly into the north of England and, with the project’s continued support as it becomes RUN (Restoring Upland Nature), it is hoped the species will recolonise there too.  

The Golden Eagle has benefitted local communities, such as the vibrant town of Moffat in Dumfries & Galloway. It was named the UK’s first Eagle Town in 2021. Its annual Moffat Golden Eagle Festival (the nation’s only Golden Eagle festival) now regularly attracts visitors from around the UK, with keynote speakers over the years including Hamza Yassin, Iolo Williams and Gordon Buchanan, and an inspirational jam-packed festival programme of events.  
 
The festival is supporting economic regeneration within the town, with some businesses developing Golden Eagle themed products to support the charity initiative. A stunning wooden eagle bench, carved exclusively by Moffat’s own Sam Bowsher (winner of the Canadian Discovery TV series A Cut Above), still sits proudly in the town centre three years after it was unveiled. 

In 2021, the project also joined forces with Philiphaugh Estate near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders to open the UK mainland’s first ever Golden Eagle information point – The Eyrie: Eagle Information Point. It is dedicated to telling the story of one of the country’s most iconic wildlife species in the south of Scotland.  

The project’s many successes have been recognised by many awards and accolades including the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) Tony Bradshaw Award for Outstanding Best Practice and the National Lottery’s Scottish Project of The Year Award. 

The project has developed bold new plans to harness its unprecedented success to address the nature-climate crisis by relaunching as a new charity: RUN (Restoring Upland Nature) in 2025. For more information or to donate visit: goldeneaglessouthofscotland.co.uk.