Tim Stowe is celebrating 10 years as the RSPB’s Director Wales. He is proud of what the society has achieved here in the last decade.

COMING back to Wales in 1997 to take up the new post of Director RSPB Cymru was to prove the start of a very exciting time.

Among the most memorable events in the last decade was the 1997 general election that brought New Labour to power with a clear mandate for providing Wales (as well as Scotland) with some devolved Assembly.

For RSPB Cymru, it was particularly important to ensure the founding legislation gave the opportunity to respect the environment and to recognise the environment limits to our much sought-after development. There were prolonged negotiations over the precise words, with the RSPB arguing for a more direct simple wording, while those drafting the then bill wanted something vague and imprecise. Finally, Section 121 in the Government of Wales Act 1998 gave the Assembly a duty to promote sustainable development – one of the first of its kind in the world.

In 1998, the RSPB’s long battle to prevent the destruction of the Cardiff Bay SSSI by a barrage ended, when the newly elected Secretary of State for Wales decided that it was now too late to stop the project. Ironically, 10 years on, another barrage discussion now looms, this time with potential consequences of even greater magnitude. This time the issue is in part about tackling climate change, and the need to generate electricity without releasing polluting gases into the atmosphere. Even as late as 1998 there was barely any mention that the Cardiff Bay barrage might generate electricity. Since then, realisation of the scale of the threat of climate change has grown and the number of windfarms in Wales has increased. So too has our knowledge of their impact, and to date their effect on birds in Wales has been negligible, in part at least because of the efforts that the RSPB and others have made to ensure they are sited in places where they do not threaten wildlife.

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Ten years ago there were around 140 pairs of red kites in Wales. This species was then considered an icon of bird conservation success. Today the population is probably in excess of 500 pairs, so numerous that it is no longer possible to monitor them all. Other important birds have increased in the decade too – the moorland nesting hen harrier is twice as numerous today as it was a decade ago, although still quite rare at around 50 pairs. However, its position in Wales is in stark contrast to that in England, where it is still the most persecuted bird of prey, with a total population of less than one fifth of ours.

For several years ospreys had been sighted in the summer months ‘hanging around’ at various sites in Wales, but the discovery in 2004 of two nesting pairs was a fantastic moment. After a period of frenetic activity, involving many other organisations and individuals, RSPB Cymru was able to provide a viewing scheme for members of the public to experience these amazing birds. Visitors literally flocked to see them, but the loss of the two chicks from a nest fall in high winds was a blow to the project, and to the emotions of all those working so hard to ensure that the birds survived and could be seen. As it turned out, the parents remained at the nest site for the rest of the summer providing great views, and, they have returned to breed successfully over the last three summers – what a star pair.

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