Four vital ways RSPB members have been helping to save nature since 1889

At the RSPB, we know we have the pioneering science and practical expertise to halt wildlife declines and see species thrive. We’ve done it before – our members made it possible. From funding landscape scale habitat restoration to adding their voice to critical campaigns, they take action for nature every day of the year. 

We were formed as a membership organisation back in 1889, and over the past 135 years our members have achieved some huge wins for nature: 

In the early 1900s, only five breeding pairs of Red Kites remained in the UK – and they were hidden in the remote hills of Wales. With the financial support of our members, the hard work of volunteers and the co-operation of local landowners, the RSPB and the Nature Conservancy Council (now Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage) started the first Red Kite re-introduction programme in 1989. Its success paved the way for further Red Kite projects from the RSPB and other organisations. There are now thought to be around 6,000 pairs of Red Kites in the UK – that’s 17% of the global population. 
 
And your impact on species doesn’t end at home. The Albatross Task Force, a partnership between the RSPB and BirdLife International, assembled in 2006 to reduce bycatch (a side effect of the fishing industry where wildlife accidentally becomes entangled). It’s been estimated that, through working with local fishing crews and lobbying for legislation, there has been a 98% reduction in albatross deaths in Namibia. 

In 1930, we purchased our first nature reserve at Romney Marsh. As more people like you have joined the RSPB as members, we’ve been able to protect more of our precious wild places and the species which live in them. We now manage over 170 reserves around the UK! 
 
Since Avocets reestablished in the 1940s at RSPB Minsmere and RSPB Havergate Island, RSPB nature reserves hold over 50% of the UK’s populations. Meanwhile, our members support makes reedbed restoration on sites like RSPB Leighton Moss possible, and Bittern numbers have boomed as a result.  
 
To say thank you for their support, our members get unlimited access to our nature reserves year-round!

From habitat management on reserves to lobbying governments for nature-friendly policy, all our work is underpinned by science and research. 

At RSPB Hope Farm, we develop nature-friendly farming techniques which can be shared widely among the farming community. Since our baseline monitoring began at Hope Farm, breeding farmland birds like the Linnet, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Skylark have at least tripled in number. Lapwings, Grey Partridges, Corn Buntings, and Yellow Wagtails have all returned as breeding species. 
 
Our members’ support also helps us to identify where wildlife needs our help the most. Recently, we were able to organise targeted Seabird Surveys which demonstrated the impact Avian Influenza had on breeding seabird species.

In 1889, a group of women came together in a drawing room in Manchester to end the fashion for feathers which was driving species to extinction. After thirty years of bringing members on board, the plumage prohibition was passed. And we haven’t stopped campaigning for wildlife since! 
 
More recently, their voice has helped to secure increased support for a ban on sandeel fishing in English North Sea and Scottish waters, a ban which would offer a lifeline for threatened seabirds like Puffins and Kittiwakes.  

Earlier this year, after multiple decades of campaigning, Scotland celebrated the passing of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill. This will legally enforce protections for invaluable peatland habitat and will strengthen protections for birds of prey who suffer as a result of persecution.

Right now, the need to save nature has never been more urgent. One in six species are at risk of disappearing from Great Britain, and 12% of species are facing extinction from Northern Ireland. The more members we have on board, the more work we can do. We know we can turn it around for nature, but we wouldn’t be able to do it without our members. Thank you.

If you have been inspired to take action for nature today then you can add your name to our current petitions and e-actions.

With 1.2 million members on board, and many more supporters, we know that we can make people listen. When you sign an RSPB petition, you’re adding your voice to a campaign that has the power to make a change. 
 
If you’ve been inspired by the work our members help us to achieve, then make sure to visit our Membership page to learn more.