Natural England

The haunting sight of a barn owl swooping down to catch its prey has become more common in parts of North Yorkshire, thanks to a joint initiative by Natural England and the Probation Service.

In 1999 Natural England Nature Reserve staff teamed up with a group of workers from the probation service to embark on a nest building project. All the materials were supplied by Natural England, with building work carried out by probation service workers. The owl nest boxes were placed around the Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve and neighbouring farms. To date over 100 new barn owl friendly homes have gone up.

When the boxes first went up there were 60 breeding pairs of barn owls in the area, now there are over 100. This is particularly encouraging as over the last 50 years barn owl numbers have decreased, mainly as a result of habitat loss.

The project has been so successful that plans are underway to make similar nest boxes for kestrels, whose numbers have decreased dramatically in recent years.

This week is national nest box week and bird lovers everywhere will be busy making and putting up their boxes. This project in North Yorkshire has shown just how successful these new homes can be.

Craig Ralston, Natural England Nature Reserve Manager, said "This represents a really exciting project. It engages people on unpaid work with the probation service and delivers real benefits to some of the special wildlife and local communities surrounding the Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve. The benefits can also be seen on other sites in the southern Vale of York. These boxes really do make a difference, with, in the case of Barn Owls, up to 80% of the UK population now breeding in such artificially provided sites."

"We hope that this working relationship with the probation service can continue to grow to include habitat management of some of our most important wildlife sites and nature reserves, adding further to the benefits to the British countryside."

Michael Pavlovic, Unpaid Work Practice Manager for York and Selby Probation Service, said "The unpaid work department of the North Yorkshire Probation Service are very proud to have been working alongside Natural England on this ongoing project."

Note for Editors
For photographs and further information, contact Howard Botting on 01609 767439 howard.botting@naturalengland.org.uk or Emma MacDonald on 0113 2303533 emma.macdonald@naturalengland.org.uk

We have a selection of photo’s that can be sent out to accompany the story. These show two of the volunteers with a pair of barn owls, work being carried out to put up the nest boxes and a photo showing one of the barn owl specific nest boxes in situ on the nature reserve. Credits for these photo’s go to – Steve Huddleston – Wheatear.biz

Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings. We increase opportunities to make the natural environment an enriching part of people’s everyday lives, and improve its long term security by contributing to the sustainable management of our natural resources. www.naturalengland.org.uk.

National Nature Reserves
National Nature Reserves (NNRs) are some of the very finest sites in England for wildlife and geology, and provide great opportunities for people to experience nature. They have been established to protect and manage the special wildlife habitats, species and geological features that occur there. These features are of national and often international importance, and many NNRs are important for study and research.  Almost all NNRs have some form of access provision – many are fully open throughout the year.  There are 222 throughout England.

National Nest Box week
The aim of National Nest Box Week is to encourage everyone to put up nest boxes to help our breeding birds and other wildlife.

The natural nest sites on which many of our bird species depend, such as holes in trees and buildings, are fast disappearing as gardens and woods are ‘tidied’ and old houses are repaired. Since National Nest Box Week was launched in 1997 thousands of enthusiastic naturalists across the UK have put up boxes to compensate for this loss. It is estimated that there are now 5-6 million boxes in gardens across the UK. National Nest Box week is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology.