We need your help now!

Our seas and coastlines are changing. Decades of man’s influence – exploiting our sea-fish stocks, unintentionally introducing rats and mink to seabird islands, pollution, disturbance and now rising sea temperatures – mean that seabirds are struggling to adjust. Starving nestlings in Puffin burrows and on Kittiwake nests are the stark face of a worrying future for our seabirds. Our seabirds are the very essence of nature on the island of Ireland – sociable, beautiful, resilient but increasingly vulnerable. From the rare Roseate Terns of Rockabill to the fortress gannetry of Little Skellig, we have a special role in protecting these magical birds. BirdWatch Ireland has been at the forefront of protecting and monitoring our seabirds for the last 40 years. Successes have included the recovery of thenational Roseate Tern population at colonies in the Irish Sea, Gannets thriving on the BirdWatch Ireland reserve of Little Skellig and Little Terns protected from disturbance on the Wicklow coast. However, we now need to expand our conservation efforts to meet the greater threats that confront our seabird populations.

APPEAL TARGET: €100,000

Your donation will make a difference:

• €25 will pay for a new Roseate Tern nest-box.
• €50 will support volunteer wardens for one day, protecting Little Terns.
• €100 will buy a GPS tag for finding Kittiwake and Guillemot feeding areas.
• €250 will provide a school visit to tell children about Puffins and sandeels and the threat from the strange pipefish.
• €1,000 will pay for boat hire and get a survey team onto Illaunmaister off Co Mayo to census the poorly known but very important Puffin and Storm Petrel colonies there.
• €10,000 will pay a fieldworker’s salary for one season.

Future plans include:

• Providing better protection at more breeding colonies.
• Active lobbying for seabird protection at sea.
• More research on seabird feeding areas and distribution outside the breeding season.
• Bringing seabird ecology issues to the classroom.
• New work programmes on our seabird reserves, including the eradication of alien mink from Puffin Island, Co Kerry.
• Research into the possible effects of climate change on our seabird populations.

Please donate to our Seabird Appeal today to help us carry out vital conservation work. We really need your help. Without your valuable support, none of this will be possible.

Get involved!!!! Visit our Campaigns 2010 page and signup to our Save Our Seabirds campaign which is demanding:

• Marine protected areas in Irish waters
• New legislation to promote sustainable fisheries
• Better management of our coasts for wildlife and people