The most wonderful time of the year! What went right for nature in 2024 

Wow! What a year. As we look back over 2024, it’s clear that there’s plenty to celebrate. From award-winning landscape-scale conservation to returning wildlife from the brink of extinction, none of this would be possible without the ongoing support of you, our members and supporters. Thank you! 

A bird's eye view of 2024

This round-up shows the many ways in which your support is helping. Guided by our bird’s eye view, here are 12 top stories that show our impact, both at scale and on the ground. Whether campaigning for laws to help seabirds or restoring vital habitats for wildlife, thanks to you we work globally and locally to protect and save nature.    

So, get comfy, take a moment to unwind, and enjoy a good dose of positivity as we look at what went right for nature in 2024.  

1. Record-breaking breeding birds 

Together, we celebrated a bumper year for Bitterns as the research released this year revealed that 234 male birds were heard booming around the UK in 2023. Half of these – 116 booming males – were recorded on RSPB nature reserves. It’s an astonishing increase from the 11 birds recorded across the UK in 1997 – and their recovery wouldn’t have been possible without RSPB members, who have funded leading research and reedbed creation and restoration.  

Celebrating the news, RSPB Senior Conservation Scientist Simon Wotton said: “It is brilliant to see the hard work of staff and volunteers in managing specialist habitat for Bitterns paying off, with many RSPB nature reserves now acting as a safe haven for this incredible species.” 

And it wasn’t just Bittern populations that were booming. Thanks to you, Crane numbers reached new heights when 250 birds were recorded across UK wetlands, and there was a bumper number of fledging ‘teaspoons’ – or Spoonbill chicks – on RSPB nature reserves. 

2. Turtle Doves on the up 

Turtle Doves have experienced one of the most extreme declines of any bird species in the UK, with the birds hit hard by a lack of suitable food and breeding habitats when they arrive in the UK, and by unsustainable hunting in south-west Europe. But we’re fighting these issues on both fronts.  

Thanks to an enormous collaborative effort from countries across the western European Flyway (a bird migration superhighway) including years of science and conservation expertise from the RSPB, a temporary ban on hunting was extended into its fourth year in 2024. After just the first two years of this ban, numbers  across the western European population of Turtle Doves were up by 25%. An impressively rapid start to what will hopefully be a wider long-term recovery. 

In the UK, the RSPB-led Operation Turtle Dove partnership is working with farmers, landowners, communities and volunteers to make sure there’s suitable habitat and food ready for the birds when they arrive in spring to breed. And in December, thousands of you got behind the Turtle Dove Big Give Christmas Challenge and raised over £100,000 to support this work. Thank you!

RSPB Migratory Birds Programme Manager Dr Guy Anderson said: “Operation Turtle Dove is working with more and more fantastic nature-friendly farmers, land managers and communities every year to ensure the right habitat is available to these special birds when they migrate here to breed. With the commitment and dedication of these hundreds of wonderful people, alongside the successes we are seeing along the flyway, we can look forward to watching the UK breeding population recovering too.”

3. Curlew LIFE provides boost for endangered wading bird 

The Curlew LIFE team have been working with farmers, land managers and communities to improve habitats and raise awareness of the plight of the Curlew in five priority UK landscapes. The UK’s population of Curlews halved between 1995-2022, and in Northern Ireland numbers had declined by a catastrophic 82% since 1987.  

But thanks to your support, they’ve broken records, most notably in Northern Ireland, where there was a 40% increase in pairs on the Antrim Plateau and the first Curlew in living memory fledged from the Trasna Island in Lower Lough Erne Islands reserve. 

Thanking everyone involved, RSPB NI Conservation Officer Katie Gibb said: “The success achieved this year is the result of the accumulation of four years of dedicated conservation work, and commitment from our team and farming partners.” 

Curlew LIFE is a collaborative effort managed by the RSPB with funding from the EU LIFE programme and regional partners. Although wrapping up in December 2024 after four years of success, the habitat improvements and engagement work from the project will continue to reap benefits into the future.

4. Work to prevent first extinction on British soil for 60 years succeeds  

One of the world’s rarest birds, the Wilkins’ Bunting, was facing extinction when an invasive insect was introduced to Nightingale Island, part of the UK Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha, a group of islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. Infestations were killing vast swathes of the island's trees – the birds’ food source.  

However, RSPB scientists worked with partners, CABI, FERA and the Tristan da Cuna Government, on a project in which a small wasp was introduced to manage the invasive insect populations. After the mammoth task of transporting the wasps over 10,000km, Wilkins’ Buntings are now benefiting from the team's success. 

David Kinchin-Smith, the RSPB’s UK Overseas Territories Project Manager, said: “This project shows what can be achieved in turning around the fate of a threatened species. Steely determination, ecological expertise and a large helping of luck have all contributed to the success of this work, but hopefully we, and the wasps, have given the buntings a much-needed lifeline.” 

5. Closure of sandeel fisheries offers lifeline to Puffins and other seabirds 

Sandeels are a vital food source for seabirds like Puffins, and we’ve been campaigning for over 25 years to put an end to their decline. Climate change and overfishing have vastly depleted sandeel populations, having a devastating knock-on effect on seabirds. In January 2024, more than 43,000 RSPB members and supporters joined our call to respond to the UK and Scottish government consultations to end industrial sandeel fishing.  

Your voices were integral to the campaign, showing the overwhelming support across the UK for this practice to stop, and the UK and Scottish Governments announced the closure of sandeel fisheries in the English waters of the North Sea and all Scottish waters. Although the European Union is now challenging this curb on sandeel fishing, we are continuing to support the closure.  

RSPB Head of Marine Policy UK Kirsten Carter heralded the closure as the single most important mechanism for helping seabirds build resilience to the many pressures they face: “Seabirds face a barrage of pressures including impacts from overfishing, climate change, poorly planned offshore development, and, most recently, bird flu. This offers them a lifeline to secure their vital food sources and build future resilience.” 

6. 20 years of the Albatross Task Force makes waves for wildlife 

In 2024, we celebrated the 20-year anniversary of the Albatross Task Force: an on-the-ground conservation project led by the RSPB with BirdLife partners to help save albatrosses. A total of 15 of the 22 albatross species are globally threatened. Bycatch, an unwelcome side effect of commercial fishing in which birds get tangled in nets and lines, is a major factor in their decline.

Determined to take action, in 2004 we teamed up with BirdLife International to bring together an international team of experts to work with fishing crews and policy makers to test and demonstrate simple and cheap ways to save albatrosses at sea. And it's working.

For example, through working with fishing crews and policy makers to pass new fishing laws, seabird deaths reduced by an estimated 98% in Namibia's longline fishery, and similarly in South Africa's trawl fishery albatross deaths dropped by an estimated 99%.

As we reflect on 20 years of the Albatross Task Force, we celebrate its many achievements and look to the future with the hope to replicate these successes across other high-risk fisheries for albatrosses worldwide, particularly in the high seas.

7. Hundreds of thousands back Big Garden Birdwatch  

Every January, hundreds of thousands of you give one hour of your weekend to nature. Whether you join us from your garden, your local green space or window, you make your weekend count by taking part in Big Garden Birdwatch. From your results, we can paint a picture of how our garden birds are faring. And in 2024, you submitted 9.7 million birds in total. That’s over 610,000 of you who got involved! Thank you. 

We’d love you to join us again for Big Garden Birdwatch 2025. By counting the birds for one hour between 24 and 26 January, you can play a vital role in helping us understand how UK birds are doing. 

RSPB Chief Executive Beccy Speight explains: “By taking part in the Birdwatch, you and hundreds of thousands of other nature lovers across the UK, play an important role in helping us understand how garden birds are doing. With the nature and climate emergency threatening even our most familiar birds, every count matters. It’s good for wildlife and evidence shows it’s good for our own wellbeing.” 

Sign up to the Big Garden Birdwatch 

8. Swift Mapper reaches 100,000 milestone 

Swifts are much-loved birds that travel more than 7,000 miles from Africa to the UK each summer to nest and raise their chicks. But they are in trouble. In the UK, Swifts have declined by 66% between 1995 and 2022, with the loss of suitable nest sites a major cause for concern. The ‘Swift Mapper’ online mapping and conservation targeting system was developed by Natural Apptitude, funded by the RSPB and with input from other Swift conservation groups to enable people to share their sightings of nesting Swifts.  

This year, we were thrilled to reach a total of 100,000 records submitted to Swift Mapper. Celebrating the milestone, RSPB Swift Species Lead Laurinda Luffman said: “These records help us understand where colonies and nest sites need to be protected across the UK and find the best places in our villages, towns and cities where new nesting sites can be created. The more records we have in the system, the greater our ability to do this. People receive immense joy from watching these birds and Swift Mapper shows the power of people in conservation – their willingness to get involved can help save our Swifts. Thank you!” 

9. Altyn Dala wins the Earthshot Prize 2024 

This year, we were thrilled that the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative  was the winner of the ‘Protect and Restore Nature’ category of His Royal Highness Prince William’s Earthshot Prize 2024. The initiative is a long-term partnership, that includes the RSPB, dedicated to conserving and restoring the steppe grasslands, wetlands and deserts of Kazakhstan. 

Thanks to the initiative, the local communities and, through support from RSPB members and others, the Saiga Antelope population is now thriving after being on the brink of extinction – with over 2.8 million antelopes roaming the steppe in 2024. This represents one of the most dramatic population recoveries of a mammal ever recorded. The prize will allow the Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative to scale up its work, continuing to help species which live alongside the Saiga, like the Steppe Eagle and the Przewalski’s Horse.  

RSPB Global Conservation Director, Katie-jo Luxton, said: “With nature in crisis across the globe, this prestigious accolade recognises just what can be achieved when governments and civil society organisations come together at the scale needed to create lasting positive impacts for nature, climate and people." 

10. £4.9 million raised with Omaze for peatland restoration across UK 

This summer, RSPB supporters helped break a record by raising an incredible £4.9 million through Omaze’s Cornwall House Draw! With your support, we raised the most money for a charity so far in Omaze history and by entering, you helped to protect precious peatland. Thank you!

Peatlands are one of nature’s greatest superpowers. They provide a home for some of the UK’s rarest birds, plants and bugs, from skydancing Hen Harriers to insect-eating sundew plants. And they play a vital role in helping to tackle the nature and climate emergency. Although peatlands cover just 3% of the planet, they store more carbon than all the world’s forests. The money will be spent across a variety of the RSPB’s peatland sites including Bile Buidhe in the Cairngorms and Black Moss on Orkney.

11. Restore Nature Now march puts wildlife on the agenda  

On Saturday 22 June 2024, tens of thousands of nature lovers, including many RSPB members and supporters, took to the streets of London to speak up for our environment ahead of the general election. The RSPB stood shoulder-to-shoulder with roughly 400 conservation organisations, including Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK, The National Trust, Greenpeace, The Wildlife Trusts, WWT, and over 60,000 supporters.  

Our call was simple. The UK has committed to increasing our wildlife and protecting 30% of our land and seas for nature by 2030. We wanted to let all politicians know that those elected will play a critical role in making this happen. 

We had five shared asks – and they couldn’t be ignored. It was the largest march for nature yet, and we were accompanied by live drumming and very large puppet Avocets! Every chant and cheer helped show that protecting and restoring our natural world must be a top priority for our politicians. We are so glad you came along and together we got our voices heard!  

12. Groundswell of support for nature-friendly farming 

In autumn, we asked you to join us and our partners to rally support for nature-friendly farming – and almost 60,000 of you responded! Thanks to your support of our advocacy work, the UK Government’s autumn budget did not bring cuts for nature-friendly farming. But with current funding woefully inadequate there is much more we need to do in 2025.  

Over 70% of the UK is farmland and over the centuries much of our wildlife has adapted to live there. But the 2022 Farmland Bird index shows us that the abundance of 19 key bird species has fallen dramatically since the 1970s, falling on average by 60%. This includes sharp declines in Tree Sparrows, Corn Buntings, Starlings, Grey Partridges and Turtle Doves.   

While governments have promised to protect and restore wildlife, we will only see real recovery for nature when it’s financially feasible for farmers to be able to farm in a nature-friendly way. And it’s not just wildlife that needs this outcome – healthy soils, clean water and diverse species are the very things we need to grow food and build resilience to climate change. We don’t just want nature-friendly farming, we need it! 

Take a look at the nature-friendly farming petition to hear from the farmers joining us to call for investment in nature-friendly farming. 

This is just a snapshot of what we’ve achieved this year thanks to your support. Together in 2025 we can continue to make a difference for nature!