Action for Birds in England

Defra procuring on behalf of Natural England: This is a new memorandum of agreement (MOA) which acts as an umbrella for joint projects between Natural England (NE) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) relating to work on priority birds. It is the latest in a series of agreements between Natural England and RSPB, covering mainly species recovery work, dating back to 2005. The projects involve undertaking urgent/high priority research actions for Section 41 bird species, with NE’s financial contribution emanating mostly from its Species Recovery Programme. Natural England’s contributions are made against delivery of specific outputs and outcomes as set out in a delivery schedule appended to the MoA. The main policy driver for the work programme is the need to take action for birds listed on ‘Section 41’ (i.e. those birds which are considered by government to be ‘of principal importance for the conservation of biodiversity in England’ following the NERC Act 2006), and ultimately to contribute to the delivery of ‘Outcome 3’ of Biodiversity 2020, which seeks ‘an overall improvement in the status of wildlife in England and prevention of further human induced extinctions of known threatened species by 2020.