Conservation project aims to increase Mayo's corncrake population

A NEW €5.9m EU-funded LIFE project aims to revive the fortunes of the corncrake and ensure it remains a part of rural landscapes for years to come.

The project team will operate at coastal and island locations in Donegal, Mayo and Galway as well as associated farmland.

Over a five-year period, Corncrake LIFE will work collaboratively with farmers and landowners to improve the landscape for the highly endangered bird. Measures will includes creating and maintaining areas of early and late cover, wildlife friendly mowing of grass, the provision of refuge areas during meadow harvesting and incentivising later cutting dates.

By the end of the five-year project, the aim is to deliver a 20% increase on the 2018 population of corncrake recorded in Ireland.

Locally-based field officers will provide guidance, direction and support to landowners while community engagement officers will work with stakeholders to establish the corncrake as an asset to the areas it frequents. Knowledge exchange groups and targeted schools programmes will be utilised to highlight the needs of the corncrake and create awareness of its endangerment.

The project was officially launched at Gort a Choirce in Co. Donegal by the Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, and Minister of State with responsibility for land use and biodiversity at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pippa Hackett.

The project is collaborating with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, Údarás na Gaeltachta and Fota Wildlife Park and will explore innovations such as flushing bars fitted to tractors to scare birds away from mowers, thermal imaging drones to find nests, and passive acoustic monitoring using high-tech microphones in an attempt to help locate the highly elusive birds.

Once synonymous with the Irish countryside, the population of corncrake has declined by 85% since the 1970s, with a similar decrease in range, meaning that the species is now effectively confined to Connaught and Donegal, including offshore islands. Supporting corncrake in these remaining strongholds is critical to the survival of this species in Ireland.

Only 188 calling male corncrakes were recorded across Ireland in 2021.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Noonan said: “The call of the corncrake was once a ubiquitous sound in meadows and grasslands across the island of Ireland. However, rapid changes to farming practices in the 1970s spelled doom for the bird.

“The award of this funding demonstrates the ongoing importance of the EU LIFE programme in supporting conservation projects that have a regional or local focus, particularly in rural or peripheral areas. This funding will allow my department, working in conjunction with stakeholders across Government and the communities in question, to put measures in place to help secure the future of this species, which remains a high conservation priority at a national and European level.”

Dr. John Carey of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, who manages the project, said: “The efforts will focus primarily on a combination of habitat creation and restoration, although some new and innovative approaches to corncrake conservation will be explored. The project will be developing knowledge exchange groups with farmers and advisors to share information on how to create and maintain high quality corncrake habitats and ensure that landowners can maximise their potential to receive rewards under the results-based pilot scheme.”