Tesco and the RSPB

The RSPB and Tesco partnership aims to secure a brighter future for farmland wildlife. Aiming to work hand-in-hand with 300 farmers and landowners in East Anglia, a key sourcing landscape for Tesco, providing dedicated conservation and habitat advice for Turtle Doves and other at-risk farmland birds. 

Agriculture covers 70% of the UK, so it has a huge impact on our environment. The biodiversity loss seen in the UK in recent years places an increasing pressure on the UK farming industry. It threatens the health of our land, and the stability of supply-chains. From butterflies and bees pollinating our crops to ladybirds and lacewings controlling pests, we need nature. 

For some people, the purring calls of a Turtle Dove are a symbol of a long, hot summer’s day. For others, these birds are associated with a Christmas singalong. Either way, it’s undisputable that they’re an iconic species. Yet, like many farmland birds – which are great indicators for thriving, healthy ecosystems – they’ve suffered dramatic declines, with a 99% loss of the UK breeding population seen between 1967 and 2022.

Evidence shows that the biggest remaining threat to Turtle Doves breeding in the UK is a lack of available food. Seeds from wildflowers, particularly arable plants, are the main food source for these birds – but they’re becoming increasingly hard to find. We have lost more than 97% of our wildflower meadows from the UK over the past 90 years. In the UK, Turtle Doves also require tall dense thorny scrub or hedgerows for nesting, plus accessible fresh water for drinking.

Right now, Turtle Doves have been given a chance. With a hunting ban in place along their migration route in western Europe since 2021, this population has already increased by 25%. We anticipate that we’ll soon start to see more birds on our shores, and so we’ve got urgent work to do ensuring there’s plenty of high-quality habitat for these birds to breed. It’s time to get the UK landscape ‘Turtle Dove Ready’. 

East Anglia, nicknamed ‘the breadbasket of the UK’, is an important sourcing landscape for Tesco. As home to 55% of the UK breeding population, it is also critical for Turtle Doves. Through the partnership, the RSPB and Tesco will be working with farmers to create habitats to protect these birds and other farmland wildlife. 

Farmers will receive advice on creating, improving or restoring habitats which support a full range of farmland wildlife from pollinating insects like bees and butterflies, to ladybirds which eat crop pests. 

Good quality wildlife habitats can not only improve biodiversity and support a range of species, but also support farm resilience by boosting pollination, offering natural pest management, and improving soil health, allowing it to hold water for longer which can provide protection against extreme weather caused by climate change such as drought and flooding.  
 
Maximising on the RSPB’s and Tesco’s networks in the region, the partnership is built upon a foundation of decades of scientific research, innovation, and on-the-ground delivery by the RSPB, putting nature at the very heart of the whole farmland ecosystem.

Together, we’ll be scaling-up the RSPB’s existing industry-leading programmes, Fair to Nature and Operation Turtle Dove.

Along with Natural England and the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, the RSPB is a leading partner in Operation Turtle Dove – a collaborative project with farmers, land managers, communities, and volunteers, aiming to create good quality habitat across the southeast and east of England.  

In 2023, Operation Turtle Dove advisers worked with 370 farmers and landowners, distributed over 20 tonnes of free seeds for supplementary feeding, and helped create 230 hectares of prime Turtle Dove feeding habitat – the equivalent of 323 full-sized football pitches. 
 
Meanwhile, Fair to Nature is a supply chain partner, advisory service and certification scheme run by the RSPB, working with people across the supply chain, its ambition is to help protect and restore nature on farmland, make it easier for people to recognise sustainable products and to support businesses that are committed to making a genuine difference.

As the UK’s leading multi-national retailer, Tesco aim to serve customers, communities and planet a little better every day. As part of their Planet Plan, Tesco’s work to protect nature includes landscape-level efforts to increase biodiversity, manage water resources responsibly and help protect waterways from pollution, protect natural habitats including peatland, and improve soil health. 

The launch of their Nature Programme in November 2023, which aims to protect and enhance nature across supply chains and key sourcing landscapes will see Tesco scaling up cutting-edge innovations within their supply chain, including promoting biodiversity monitoring technologies, as well as supporting the use of low carbon fertilisers by our farmers and growers. 

The programme aims to aid the shift to a nature positive food system and focuses on five key areas of action: protecting nature in key sourcing landscapes, both in the UK and abroad; scaling industry leading innovations to support biodiversity; implementing a nature plan across its own estate and operations; continuing to lead the industry on research into key challenges facing nature and the food system; and playing a leading role in cross sector engagement.